Equipment

Tiger Woods opts for lead tape on his Newport 2 rather than a heavier putter: Here’s why it makes sense

Published

5 years ago

Jul 19, 2019

After days of speculation about which putter Tiger Woods might end up with an attempt to tame the greens at Royal Portrush, we now officially know he settled on his old faithful GSS Scotty Cameron but with a twist—some added lead tape.

The whole reason the speculation was in high gear early in the week was because of Tiger was spotted with a new custom Scotty that had the Studio Select weights in the sole to increase head weight to help with slow greens, something Tiger has talked about in the past—especially when it comes to the greens at The Open Championship.

View this post on Instagram

@tigerwoods is messing around with one of these this week @theopen

A post shared by GolfWRX (@golfwrx) on Jul 15, 2019 at 10:07pm PDT

We can even look back a few years ago when Tiger finally put a Nike putter in play, the original Method (those were nice putters) and talked about both the increased head weight and the grooves on the face to help get the ball rolling on slower greens.

The decision to stick with the old faithful with added lead tape goes beyond just a comfort level, even if the two putters look the same at address, it’s about feel and MOI around the axis.

Let me explain. Sure the putter heads weight the same, but depending on where the mass is located it will change the MOI. The putter with the Select weights vs. lead tape in the middle will have a higher MOI because there is more weight on the perimeter of the head—it’s like a blade vs. cavity back iron. Sure, two 7-irons can weigh the same but the performance will vary significantly.

For a player with such deft feel like Tiger Woods, any change like that can could cause doubt. Tweaking an already great putting stroke and on the eve of the last major of the year is not really something you want to do, which is why it isn’t surprising he stuck with his legendary Newport 2.

Lead tape in the middle allows Tiger to increase the head weight with very little change to the natural rate of rotation for hit putter and hopefully manage the slower Portrush greens better.

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Ryan Barath

Ryan Barath is a club-fitter & master club builder with more than 17 years of experience working with golfers of all skill levels, including PGA Tour players. He is the former Build Shop Manager & Social Media Coordinator for Modern Golf. He now works independently from his home shop and is a member of advisory panels to a select number of golf equipment manufacturers. You can find Ryan on Twitter and Instagram where he's always willing to chat golf, and share his passion for club building, course architecture and wedge grinding.

16 Comments

Jon

Aug 7, 2019 at 3:36 pm

Why would the rate of closure change between the two options? That closure relates to toe hang which is determined by the CG location along the heel – toe plane and the shaft axis. If you have lead tape in the cavity or equal weights placed on the heel and toe, the CG in this plane hasn’t shifted. MOI would increase with the latter but the toe release shouldn’t change.

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bobbyg

Jul 29, 2019 at 9:30 pm

Method 001 is a great putter. Wish Nike was still making clubs. There player stuff was clean and performed.

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s

Jul 24, 2019 at 12:06 am

For me heavier the putter, less worried about putting yips. All the blade putters these days feel very light in my hands yet most average golfers like me don’t have access to those professional grade fast greens. Do lighter putters have any distinctive advantages over heavier ones, besides they “may” work better on the very fast greens?

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Dave r

Jul 22, 2019 at 9:23 pm

I see it worked real well.

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- s
  
  Jul 24, 2019 at 12:07 am
  
  Ouch,, lol
  
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geohogan

Jul 22, 2019 at 8:01 pm

I can’t imagine there being a huge amount of difference considering..
impact of a putt is 1/1000 second.

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Bruce

Jul 21, 2019 at 10:15 am

The putter head probably weighs in excess of 300 g. Adding lead tape – even the heavy 1 g per inch is a painfully slow at to adjust weight. He could add few grams at best so we are talking 1%. You won’t feel that change, but it may adjust your head so you think it’s heavier and gain confidence.
Also, Tiger knew his game was lacking and he was going home so why make permanent changes.

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Tiger

Jul 20, 2019 at 11:12 pm

Can’t even make the cut, he needs to be worried about more than lead tape!

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Pelling

Jul 20, 2019 at 7:48 pm

Tiger seems to put the lead tape in different places. Most of the time it’s on the sole, but here it is behind the face.

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Greg C

Jul 20, 2019 at 3:08 pm

I own three Macgregor Bobby Grace putters, 2 M5s and one M5K with the accessory weight sets. I’m good without the lead tape.

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hardpan1

Jul 19, 2019 at 9:29 pm

I’ve always heard heavier putter for fast greens, lighter putter for slow greens…hmmm

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- Putt Stuff
  
  Jul 20, 2019 at 9:50 pm
  
  This!!!!!
  
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Christopher

Jul 19, 2019 at 6:47 pm

I can’t imagine there being a huge amount of difference considering the head is solid stainless steel. The reason MOI and COG change with irons is due to the differing materials. There isn’t a huge difference between something like Titleist MBs and CBs, it’s far greater between MBs and say the Titleist AP1 (which can move extremes around due to their construction) irons. We know that movable weights on drivers (which have the biggest difference between the weight of their head components) only move the COG millimeters.

It would be a coin-toss between different MOI and what Tiger feels and hears with a heavier putter. I imagine it’s down to Tiger wanting to use (and look down on) old-faithful and the feel of his Ping grip and the familiarity of it’s shaft.

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DB

Jul 19, 2019 at 2:43 pm

I find it amusing that some people say use a heavier putter for slower greens and others say a heavier putter is for faster greens. Nobody can agree.

Also his Nike putter did not have grooves cut into the face, you can even tell on the picture posted. Yes there are black lines obviously, but no actual grooves cut onto the face like the retail version.

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- Doug
  
  Jul 19, 2019 at 8:59 pm
  
  Hot dang if you’re not right about the fake grooves. You can see the milling lines going through the black.
  
  Reply Report comment
- MKPAPA
  
  Jul 25, 2019 at 2:52 pm
  
  The grooves were filled totally with rzn and whole face was milled. As is the case with most of the Tour Stock Method’s.
  
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Whats in the Bag

Jimmy Stanger WITB 2024 (April)

Published

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Apr 2, 2024

GolfWRX Staff

Jimmy Stanger what’s in the bag accurate as of the Valero Texas Open. More photos from the event here.

Driver: Titleist TSR2 (10 degrees, A1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: UST Mamiya LIN-Q Red M40X 6F5

3-wood: Titleist TSR2 (15 degrees, A1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: UST Mamiya LIN-Q

Check out more in-hand photos of Jimmy Stanger’s equipment here.

7-wood: Titleist TSR2 (21 degrees, D1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: UST Mamiya LIN-Q Blue M40X 8F5

Irons: Titleist T200 (3), Titleist T100 (4-9)
Shafts: UST Mamiya LIN-Q White M40X 100 (3), KBS $-Taper 125 (4-9)

Check out more in-hand photos of Jimmy Stanger’s equipment here.

Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (46-10F, 50-08F, 56-10S, 60-04T), WedgeWorks (60-A)
Shafts: KBS Hi-Rev 2.0 135 X

Putter: Scotty Cameron Tour Rat II, Scotty Cameron Tour Rat II

Check out more in-hand photos of Jimmy Stanger’s equipment here.

Grips: Lamkin Crossline Cord

Ball: Titleist Pro V1

Check out more in-hand photos of Jimmy Stanger’s equipment here.

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Equipment

Project X HandCrafted shafts return with new HZRDUS T1100

Published

5 hours ago

Apr 2, 2024

Brian Knudson

Project X let us into the world of HandCrafted shafts with the 2015 HZRDUS Black shaft, which was a big success on professional tours and at retail. Almost 10 years later, we still come across some of those original HZRDUS Black and Yellow shafts in bags on the PGA Tour.

The HandCrafted label on a Project X shaft was the mark of high-end, low-volume manufacturing where the shaft was hand rolled in the company’s San Diego R&D lab. Since then, Project X retired that label and moved on to the “Small Batch” nomenclature. Many golf shaft degenerates have begged for Project X to bring back the HandCrafted shafts, and now, the squeaky wheels are getting the grease with a brand new Project X HZRDUS T1100 HandCrafted shaft.

“We are beyond excited to be able to bring back a HandCrafted line of graphite shafts,” Don Brown, Vice President of Marketing and Innovation for Project X said. “When producing a HandCrafted shaft, each shaft is rolled by hand, painted by hand and the logos are even applied by hand, all in our San Diego lab, ensuring the utmost care is taken along the way.”

The newest HandCrafted shaft is a reintroduction of the famed HZRDUS T1100 from 2017 (View our original launch story HERE). The chrome ion finished HZRDUS T1100 was beloved by higher-speed players for its ultra-stiff profile with very low launch and spin. Toray T1100G carbon fiber was at the heart of the shaft and the strongest fiber available for Project X to create an ultra-stable shaft for the fastest swingers in golf.

The new 2024 Project X HZRDUS T1100 HandCrafted shaft will be low launch and low spin with a very stiff profile for the fastest swingers. 4D Optimized Carbon utilizes a spread tow weave that is used in specific parts of the shaft to enhance stability and control. This spread tow woven fabric is angled at 45 degrees through to increase torsional resistance in the shaft to control the twisting of the head during the swing. Each HZRDUS T1100 HandCrafted shaft is rolled in Project X’s San Diego Lab, like the original, and trimmed to final frequency to ensure consistent performance and precision.

Project X went with a graphics package that will pay homage to the original shaft with a HZRDUS logo done in silver with bright neon green outline in the middle of the shaft and the HandCrafted logo just below the grip. The shaft will have a silver sheen to it, but you will also be able to see the spread tow carbon fiber through the paint in the sun.

The new HZRDUS T1100 HandCrafted will be available in 60- and 70-gram weights with 6.0 (stiff) and 6.5 (X-stiff) flexes while the 80-gram model will only be available in the 6.5 flex.

We don’t have a retail date yet for these new HZRDUS shafts, as Project X can only create so many per day. The first ones have been sent to tour — we spotted them at this week’s Valero Texas Open. We will keep you updated on an official launch date.