#Tiger Woods might have new putter for PGA Championship

SAN FRANCISCO — Tiger Woods appears to have something new in store for this PGA Championship: his putter.

Woods has won all but one of his 15 majors with a Scotty Cameron Newport 2 GSS, the putter he borrowed from Mark O’Meara in 1998 and never returned. The only other time he switched at a major was at St. Andrews in 2010, when he used a Nike Method.

Woods has experimented with other putters since then, such as a TaylorMade variety in 2018 before going back to his regular putter at the Tour Championship, which he won.

This week he has been working with a putter just like his Cameron Newport but with adjustable weights in the sole to adjust to green speeds. Golf Channel reported it would be in the bag Thursday, and Woods used it during a practice round Wednesday with Steve Stricker and Davis Love III.

“It’s basically the same putter with a little bit more flexibility,” Stricker said. “He’s able to change the weights around a little bit, but the length is the difference. He’s got a little more length on there, and that’s just so he can practice a little bit more without back pain. That’s what excites him the most is that he was able to put in a lot of time with this putter. And watching him putt, it looked exactly the same to me. He rolled the ball great.”

Notah Begay III, a longtime friend who now works as an analyst for NBC and Golf Channel, said Woods was looking “to create some new sensations in his hands.”

“The extra weight might give him something to at least work on and focus as he tries to find that putting stroke,” Begay said.

Will he make the switch? And if he does, for how long?

“I promise you, old faithful is back at the place where he is staying right now,” Begay said on Golf Channel. “It is not far away.”