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Amid golfers' frustrations, putters are kicked, thrown, flipped, slammed, snapped and sometimes find a watery grave. But few are punished emotionally, though J.J. Spaun might be one of the few to admit how he’s truly felt about his flatstick.
MORE: What's the difference between onset and zero-torque putters
“I found myself kind of resenting my putter at times when I’m out on the course,” Spaun admitted this week at the Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth.
Yes, that’s the zero-torque L.A.B. Golf DF3 putter he used to win last year’s U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club. The one with which he fashioned his most famous stroke—a 64-foot putt for birdie at the 72nd hoe that wrapped up Spaun’s first major win.
But truth be told, the putter hadn’t really been working for him in the time since. Spaun ranked 74th in SG/putting last season, and he’d slowly gotten worse this year, losing a half-stroke to the field (155th), even amid getting his third career win in San Antonio the week before the Masters.
No wonder he was moody on the greens.
““That’s been the only issue all year," Spaun said. My ball striking’s been pretty solid. The weeks that I putt just slightly better than average, I contend. Valero, I won and I was not even like that high in putting.”
Clearly in need of an attitude change with his putter only a couple of weeks before he defends his U.S. Open title at Shinnecock Hills, Spaun finally decided to sub it out at Colonial. The results have been encouraging, though not spectacular, and Spaun, after a third-round 68, is only two strokes off the lead of Eric Cole (63) going into Sunday.
“It’s good to switch it up and see it kind of solidify that it was a good decision these first two rounds and hopefully keep it going this weekend, next week, and keep it into going into the U.S. Open,” Spaun said.
In a first-round 64, Spaun made four confidence-boosting 8-foot birdie testers and another from 14 feet. For Friday’s 68, the birdies came from short range, other than his first roll from 21 feet. Saturday’s third round featured one make from 32 feet and another from 11, and there was also his bunker hole-out for birdie at the 15th. But Spaun also three-putted from distance at 14 for bogey, and he missed other chances from 7 and 8 feet.
Spaun’s change in putter is fairly drastic. He went from the zero-torque head that was center-shafted to L.A.B.’s OZ.1i HS, which is the clubmaker’s first heel-shafted design. It also features a different face with a steel-milled insert.
Sam Hahn’s, L.A.B.’s co-founder, told Golf.com that Spaun’s alignment had become difficult as the DF3’s platinum finish began to wear off, and he couldn’t make out the alignment aid. Spaun worked with L.A.B.’s Liam Bedford last week while at home in Arizona and found the right feel with the new model.
“Despite the fact that the face rotation and all that stuff was on par with his DF3, he just loved the way it looked and had confidence setting up with it and knew where he was looking,” Hahn told Golf.com. “All of us golf psychos know what that journey’s like, and sometimes just a fresh look can change everything.”
Of course it does. Though we also know that feelings can change with one bad stroke. So Spaun’s older putter can take heart—the doghouse isn’t always a permanent home.
Continue reading...
MORE: What's the difference between onset and zero-torque putters
“I found myself kind of resenting my putter at times when I’m out on the course,” Spaun admitted this week at the Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth.
Yes, that’s the zero-torque L.A.B. Golf DF3 putter he used to win last year’s U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club. The one with which he fashioned his most famous stroke—a 64-foot putt for birdie at the 72nd hoe that wrapped up Spaun’s first major win.
But truth be told, the putter hadn’t really been working for him in the time since. Spaun ranked 74th in SG/putting last season, and he’d slowly gotten worse this year, losing a half-stroke to the field (155th), even amid getting his third career win in San Antonio the week before the Masters.
No wonder he was moody on the greens.
““That’s been the only issue all year," Spaun said. My ball striking’s been pretty solid. The weeks that I putt just slightly better than average, I contend. Valero, I won and I was not even like that high in putting.”
Clearly in need of an attitude change with his putter only a couple of weeks before he defends his U.S. Open title at Shinnecock Hills, Spaun finally decided to sub it out at Colonial. The results have been encouraging, though not spectacular, and Spaun, after a third-round 68, is only two strokes off the lead of Eric Cole (63) going into Sunday.
“It’s good to switch it up and see it kind of solidify that it was a good decision these first two rounds and hopefully keep it going this weekend, next week, and keep it into going into the U.S. Open,” Spaun said.
In a first-round 64, Spaun made four confidence-boosting 8-foot birdie testers and another from 14 feet. For Friday’s 68, the birdies came from short range, other than his first roll from 21 feet. Saturday’s third round featured one make from 32 feet and another from 11, and there was also his bunker hole-out for birdie at the 15th. But Spaun also three-putted from distance at 14 for bogey, and he missed other chances from 7 and 8 feet.
Spaun’s change in putter is fairly drastic. He went from the zero-torque head that was center-shafted to L.A.B.’s OZ.1i HS, which is the clubmaker’s first heel-shafted design. It also features a different face with a steel-milled insert.
Sam Hahn’s, L.A.B.’s co-founder, told Golf.com that Spaun’s alignment had become difficult as the DF3’s platinum finish began to wear off, and he couldn’t make out the alignment aid. Spaun worked with L.A.B.’s Liam Bedford last week while at home in Arizona and found the right feel with the new model.
“Despite the fact that the face rotation and all that stuff was on par with his DF3, he just loved the way it looked and had confidence setting up with it and knew where he was looking,” Hahn told Golf.com. “All of us golf psychos know what that journey’s like, and sometimes just a fresh look can change everything.”
Of course it does. Though we also know that feelings can change with one bad stroke. So Spaun’s older putter can take heart—the doghouse isn’t always a permanent home.
Continue reading...
