The Masters: Collin Morikawa explains mid-tournament putter switch

Collin Morikawa will be the first to admit that he likes to chop and change his equipment. One area of the bag in particular has caught the eye this week.

Morikawa went into the week with a new putter in his set-up, the TaylorMade Spider Tour X. That remained in his hands for the first round, where Morikawa fired a steady, if unspectacular round of 71.

The world No.20 took 30 putts in his first trip around Augusta National, a respectable number, but clearly, he wasn’t satisfied.

That’s because come Friday’s second round, Morikawa had opted to put a more familiar shape in the bag, his TaylorMade TP Soto blade.

That’s the putter that he won the Open Championship with, but what prompted him to ditch the same putter that Masters leader Scottie Scheffler is using?

“I came into this week not putting well or not feeling comfortable with the putter that I had in my hands,” Morikawa said after his third round of 69, to leave him on a total of six-under-par.

“Went full 180, switched to the mallet, switched to the Spider, and was feeling great, to be honest.

“I felt really, really good. Felt better than I’ve kind of felt all year. But sometimes you don’t know how it’s going to feel in the tournament. Through that Thursday and then Friday morning round, it was just for me to finish the round, like I just wanted to get the putter out of my hands because I couldn’t get comfortable with it.

“And thankfully I had a backup, a copy of what I’ve putted with in the past, pretty much the past year and a half.

“Felt like old times and nice to have that in the bag again.”

While we don’t recommend switching out your putter all the time, especially not after you shoot under par at Augusta National, clearly it’s worked for Morikawa.

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Over both the second and third round, Morikawa took 27 putts with the familiar blade back in his hands.

“I look back at a lot of my tournaments I’ve played, sometimes you search – you’re just trying to find a feel,” he continued.

“That’s all it is. Once you find a feel, you can repeat and just put it on repeat all throughout the week.”

It’s not just Morikawa’s putters that operate on something of a revolving door in his bag. This week, he’s got the TaylorMade Qi10 LS driver in play, which substituted Morikawa’s old school SIM that was in play last week. He’s also previously used the core model of the Qi10.

When it comes to his equipment, nothing is ever certain, but it looks like Collin’s blade is here to stay. For now.

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Lewis Fraser As bunkered’s Performance Editor, Lewis oversees the content that’s designed to make you a better player. From the latest gear to tuition, nutrition, strategy and more, he’s the man. A graduate of the University of Stirling, Lewis joined bunkered in 2021. Formerly a caddie at Castle Stuart Golf Links, he is a member of Bathgate Golf Club where he plays off four.

Performance Editor