Brooks Koepka, returning to the PGA Tour after LIV Golf, made a last-minute switch to a TaylorMade Spider Tour X putter for the WM Phoenix Open. The five-time major champion struggled with his putting at the previous week's Farmers Insurance Open, prompting the change from his longtime Scotty Cameron blade. The new mallet-style putter mirrors the one used successfully by world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler.
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Brooks Koepka's putting woes reached a low point at the Farmers Insurance Open, where he ranked last in Strokes Gained: Putting among those who made the cut, losing more than seven strokes on the greens over three rounds. "It can't get worse, right?" Koepka remarked Sunday night after the event at Torrey Pines.
Seeking improvement, Koepka visited the Scotty Cameron Gallery in Encinitas, California, over the weekend with Paul Vizanko, Scotty Cameron's director of Player Fitting and Development. They continued working on his stroke Monday at TPC Scottsdale, focusing on alignment and setup. "Trying to get the ball in the hole," Koepka said Wednesday during his pre-tournament press conference. "Yeah, like, just really never felt comfortable over the ball. You've got to have everything squared up to the target. Just working on things like that. Real simple stuff, setup. Shoulders were open."
Despite these sessions, Koepka opted for a equipment change. After using his Scotty Cameron T22 Teryllium Newport 2 blade—his gamer for the past five years—during Wednesday's pro-am, he switched to the TaylorMade Spider Tour X with an L-neck hosel. This marks his first departure from a milled-face putter and a shift to a more forgiving mallet design, similar to the one Scottie Scheffler adopted in 2024, leading to 14 PGA Tour victories.
"This Spider putter is really easy for me to line up," Scheffler said before his 2024 Players Championship win. "I don't have to use the line on the ball. I line the putter up really well, and I line up in the middle of the face."
The switch comes during Koepka's second PGA Tour start since leaving LIV Golf, where family travel limitations were a key factor in his departure. At the WM Phoenix Open, a familiar venue with two prior wins, Koepka aims to regain form. Through 12 holes in the first round Thursday, he stood at 4 over, losing two strokes on the greens.