152 - Method From The Madness...

Massive news in the golf world; Tiger Woods has changed his putter! I know, I know, earth-shattering stuff! Ahem. Ok, so it isn’t the most serious thing in the world but with new sales estimated to be in excess of £28m because Woods has switched allegiances, it is definitely serious to the big manufacturers.

Woods has used a Scotty Cameron wand since 1999, describing it as being “irreplaceable”. In that time he won an amazing 72 titles but since returning to the game after his extra marital manoeuvres came to light he has really struggled on the green. Suddenly “irreplaceable” means “scapegoat”.

The world number one has a lucrative sponsorship deal with Nike that has helped him become the first billionaire sportsman so it is no surprise that the putter he has gone for is the Nike Method 001. Actually, the move to the Method is down to the slower greens of St Andrews apparently.

Woods said: “I’ve always struggled on slower greens. This putter does come off faster with the new groove technology. It rolls the ball better, and rolls it faster.”

The putter (left) has wins under its belt already with Lucas Glover using it when he won in the US Open at the Black Course of Bethpage in 2009.

Stewart Cink stroked his way to victory with it too at Turnberry last year to win the British Open. The most successful player using the new blade is Paul Casey who has won three PGA Tour titles after switching and raves about the Method.

“I fell in love with this putter the first time I used it,” said Casey. “You can really feel the difference in how the ball comes off the face and see the difference in how it rolls. It has really helped my confidence.”

So will the 001 be the missing piece of the puzzle for Woods or is it the act of a desperate man trying to claw his way back to some sort of form? We will see this weekend when the putter makes its first appearance in Eldrick’s bag at St Andrews.