When Wyndham Clark two-putted on the 18th green of the Los Angles Country Club to win the US Open on Sunday, Rickie Fowler could be forgiven for claiming a little bit of credit for his compatriot’s surprise first major win. Fowler – who alongside Xander Schauffele shot the lowest score ever in US Open history with a 62 in the first round – had also been in contention for his own first major at the start of the day, but a difficult final round saw the Californian finish five back at five under par.
However, a change in putter at the start of the year by Fowler was the catalyst for Clarke to follow suit and as the two Americans strutted out to play their final round in LA together on Sunday, they both had the same style putters in their bags.
Ryder Cup star Fowler switched to an Odyssey Versa Jailbird mallet putter in January. Despite playing the majority of his career with a blade-style putter, he was convinced to make the change after trying out his caddie’s own putter.
After road-testing Ricky Romano’s flat stick, he took an immediate shine to it and asked Callaway’s PGA Tour manager Joe Toulon to create something similar. The result was a putter with a 17-inch grip and 20-25 grams of lead tape on the sole.
Talking about the new putter earlier in the year, as per the PGA Tour, Fowler said: “I was very shocked, because I never really looked into anything that was longer, counterbalanced or anything like that. It’s very interesting, but it’s kind of freeing me up in a way. I’m not changing stroke-wise, or setup, not gripping anything differently than my normal length putter. I just feel like it’s, I don’t know, kind of helping me do some things, and I don’t have to think about it.”
