Equipment
Paul Casey hilariously roasts commenters about his Scotty Cameron putter weight
It’s not everyday that PGA Tour players call out Internet commenters on their wrong takes. Well, that is until you start speculating about Paul Casey’s putter, I guess.
After GolfWRX photographer Greg Moore posted photos of Paul Casey’s new Scotty Cameron putter, GolfWRX members and Instagram commenters began theorizing about why there was a weight plug in the heel. There seemed to be a general consensus that Casey was trying to remove weight to make the heel section lighter.
Ahead of the 2022 WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play event, I caught up with Casey to explain exactly what’s going on.
Before we get to his response, first a bit of the backstory.
Before the weight (on the top), and after.
For years, Casey had been using the same Scotty Cameron GSS Proto putter, with a smooth sole. In 2022, however, Casey started using a very similar looking Scotty Cameron GSS Proto putter, except this one had a weight plug added to the heel. This led commenters to speculate on the reason for the added weight plug.
The only problem is, they were wrong.
When I cornered Casey at the WGC Dell-Technologies Match Play to get his take on the matter, he had already seen the posts and he was seemingly just waiting to respond. Here’s what he had to say…
“People have no idea, it’s quite funny. I read a post the other day, some guy claiming he knew what was going on.
There’s a post on there, the guy is like, ‘Oh, he drilled it out and he removed weight from the heel.’
First of all, no.
So what you got to remember is – go ask Scotty – every time you see a plug, it’s adding weight, it’s not removing weight. If you remove weight, you just grind it off. You never see it. To remove weight, you just shave the bottom.
So that plug is… he drilled a hole. You lose about 6 grams. That plug is about 12-13 grams. That gives you about a net gain of about 6-7 grams. Adding the weight to the heel is like adding weight to the heel of a driver. It makes the toe lighter, and it makes the toe faster. In other words, it makes the putter rotate more.
My tendency through the years, and why I went cross handed a while ago, is that I tend to – I don’t shut the blade going back, but it’s probably shut to the path. I don’t rotate the putter. I don’t open the putter as much as I’d like to. So that weight in the heel and lightening the toe allows the putter to rotate better… Look, everybody’s an expert, but I know why I did it.”
Additionally, ahead of The 2022 Players Championship, Casey also added a dot to the topline of his putter, whereas his previous putter had a blank topline with no alignment markings.
According to Casey, after he posted an Instagram video of his putting stroke in February, he noticed that he was aligning the golf ball too much on the toe of his putter. After watching the video back, he realized that he needed to add a dot to the top.
Before the dot (on the left) and after.
“There’s an Instagram post I put out probably the beginning of the year in February or something like that. I was just doing some gate work, and I was filming my putter from behind. I didn’t notice until I actually put the post out that I was setting up with the ball toward the toe, which is a habit of mine that I’ve had for awhile. You can see it’s on the toe.
“I didn’t notice until I put it out there. I said it’s too much towards the toe. So I just went with the dot. I don’t like a line on the putter. The dot is just nice and simple because then it gets the ball in the sweet spot…everything else stayed the same. Same loft, same lie, same grip. Same stampings. The weight appeared at the beginning of the year, and then the dot appeared the week of The Players. I asked for it three or four weeks before, but sometimes it takes time.
My existing putter has a little Sharpie dot on the top and I practice with it (laughs). I just put a black Sharpie dot. It’s in the locker right now with a black Sharpie on top. The one I’m using now has an official dot.
We just put it on there to see what it would look like. You can always get some acetone and wipe it off.”
And there you have it. There’s no better source for why Paul Casey made changes to his putter than Paul Casey himself. It’ll be interesting to see if any commenters dare correct Casey on this one.
It should also be noted that the switch worked, since Casey finished 3rd at The Players (and won $1.38 million).
To join in on the forum thread about Casey’s new Scotty Cameron putter, click here.
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- Kevin Tway what’s in the bag accurate as of the Wells Fargo Championship. More photos from the event here.
Driver: Ping G430 LST (10.5 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X
3-wood: TaylorMade Stealth 2 (15 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana D+ 80 TX
5-wood: TaylorMade Stealth 2 (18 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana D+ 90 TX
Irons: Wilson Staff Utility (2), Titleist T100 (4-9)
Shafts: Mitsubishi MMT 100 TX (2), True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 (4-9)
Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (48-10F @47, 52-12F @51, 56-14F), SM7 (60-10S)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 (48-56), True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400 (60)
Putter: Scotty Cameron T-5 Proto
Grip: Scotty Cameron Black Baby T
Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Plus4
More photos of Kevin Tway’s WITB in the forums.
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Editor’s note: This is an excerpt from a piece our Andrew Tursky originally wrote for PGATour.com’s Equipment Report. Head over there for the full article.
The timing of Lowry’s putter changeup was curious: Was he just using a Spider putter because he was paired with McIlroy, who’s been using a Spider Tour X head throughout 2024? Was Lowry just being festive because it’s the Zurich Classic, and he wanted to match his teammate? Did McIlroy let Lowry try his putter, and he liked it so much he actually switched into it?
Well, as it turns out, McIlroy’s only influence was inspiring Lowry to make more putts.
When asked if McIlroy had an influence on the putter switch, Lowry had this to say: “No, it’s actually a different putter than what he uses. Maybe there was more pressure there because I needed to hole some more putts if we wanted to win,” he said with a laugh.
To Lowry’s point, McIlroy plays the Tour X model, whereas Lowry switched into the Tour Z model, which has a sleeker shape in comparison, and the two sole weights of the club are more towards the face.
Lowry’s Spider Tour Z has a white True Path Alignment channel on the crown of his putter, which is reminiscent of Lowry’s former 2-ball designs, thus helping to provide a comfort factor despite the departure from his norm. Instead of a double-bend hosel, which Lowry used in his 2-ball putters, his new Spider Tour Z is designed with a short slant neck.
“I’ve been struggling on the greens, and I just needed something with a fresh look,” Lowry told GolfWRX.com on Wednesday at the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship. “It has a different neck on it, as well, so it moves a bit differently, but it’s similar. It has a white line on the back of it [like my 2-ball], and it’s a mallet style. So it’s not too drastic of a change.
“I just picked it up on the putting green and I liked the look of it, so I was like, ‘Let’s give it a go.’”
Read the rest of the piece over at PGATour.com.
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Equipment
Webb Simpson equipment Q&A: Titleist’s new 2-wood, 680 blade irons, and switching to a broomstick Jailbird
With seven career wins on the PGA Tour, including a U.S. Open victory, Webb Simpson is a certified veteran on the course. But he’s also a certified veteran in the equipment world, too. He’s a gearhead who truly knows his stuff, and he’s even worked closely with Titleist on making his own custom 682.WS irons.
On Wednesday at the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship, I caught up with Simpson to hear about his experience with Titleist’s new prototype 2-wood, how Titleist’s 680 Forged irons from 2003 ended up back in his bag, and why he’s switching into an Odyssey Ai-One Jailbird Cruiser broomstick putter this week for the first time.
Click here to read our full story about Simpson’s putter switch on PGATOUR.com’s Equipment Report, or continue reading below for my full Q&A with Simpson at Quail Hollow Club on Wednesday.
See Webb Simpson’s full WITB from the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship here
GolfWRX: It seems like you’ve been a little all over the place with your irons in the past six months or so, and now going back to the 680’s. Is that just a comfort thing? What’s been going on with the irons?
Webb Simpson: Titleist has been so great at working with me, and R&D, on trying to get an iron that kind of modernizes the 680. And so the 682.WS took the T100 grooves, but kinda took the look and the bulk and the build of the 680’s into one club. They’re beautiful, and awesome looking. I just never hit them that well for a consistent period of time. It was probably me, but then I went to T100’s and loved them. I loved the spin, the trajectory, the yardage, but again, I never went on good runs. Going through the ground, I couldn’t feel the club as well as with the blade. So last week, I’m like, ‘Alright. I’m gonna go back more for…comfort, and see if I can get on a nice little run of ball striking.’
So that’s why I went back.
View this post on Instagram
OK, that makes sense. I know you had done some 2-wood testing recently. Is that in the bag right now?
It’s like day-by-day. I used it at Hilton Head every day. Valero, I used it one round. And this week, me and my caddie will do the book every morning, and if it’s a day where we think we need it, we’ll just put it in and take the 3-wood out. I love it because it’s a super simple swap. Like, it doesn’t really change much.
Yeah, can you tell me about that club? I mean, we don’t really know anything about it yet. You know? I haven’t hit it or anything, obviously.
It has grooves like a 3-wood. Spin is perfect. And it’s honestly, like, everything is in the middle of a 3-wood and driver number. Trajectory, spin, carry, all of it. So, a Hilton Head golf course is almost too easy to talk about because, you know, there, so many holes are driver 3-wood.
Valero, our thinking was we had two par-5’s into the wind, and we knew that it would take two great shots to get there in two. So instead of hitting driver-driver, we just put it in. And I used it on those holes.
Hilton was a little easier because it was off-the-tee kind of questions. But Colonial will be a golf course where, you know, there’s a lot of driver or 3-woods. It’s kind of like a backup putter or driver for me now. I’ll bring it to every tournament.
So it’s, like, in your locker right now, probably?
Well, it would be. It’s in my house [because Webb lives near by Quail Hollow Club, and is a member at the course.] It’s in the garage.
Oh, yeah, that’s right. Do you know what holes you might use it out here if it goes in play?
Potentially 15, depending on the wind. Second shot on 10. Could be 14 off the tee. The chances here are pretty low (that he’ll use the 2-wood). But, like, Greensboro would be an awesome club all day. I’m trying to think of any other golf courses.
There’s plenty that it’ll be a nice weapon to have.
It’s interesting, the wave of 2-woods and mini drivers. Like, it’s just really taken off on Tour, and all the companies have seemed to embrace it.
Yeah. The thing I had to learn, it took me, like, at least a week to learn about it is you gotta tee it up lower than you think. I kept teeing it up too high. You need it low, like barely higher than a 3-wood. And that was where I got optimal spin and carry. If you tee it up too high, you just don’t get as much spin and lose distance, I don’t know if that’s just a mini driver thing.
And you obviously have a Jailbird putter this week. What spurred that on?
Inconsistent putting. I’m stubborn in a lot of ways when it comes to my equipment, but I have to be open minded – I just hadn’t putted consistently well in a while. And I’m like, ‘Man, I feel my ball-striking coming along. Like I feel better; for real, better.’
If I can just get something in my hands that I’m consistent with. Being on Tour, you see it every year, guys get on little runs. I can put together four to five tournaments where I’m all the sudden back in the majors, or in the FedExCup Playoffs. You can turn things around quick out here. I’m like, ‘Man, whatever’s going to get me there, great.’
My caddie, David Cook, caddied for Akshay at the Houston Open and he putted beautifully. Then, I watched Akshay on TV at Valero, and he putted beautifully. And, I’m like, ‘I’m just going to try it.’
I’ve never tried it for more than a putt or two, and I just ordered what Akshay uses. It was pretty awkward at first, but the more I used it, the more I’m like, ‘Man, it’s pretty easy.’ And a buddy of mine who’s a rep out here, John Tyler Griffin, he helped me with some setup stuff. And he said at Hilton Head, he wasn’t putting well, then tried it, and now he makes everything. He was very confident. So I’m like, ‘Alright, I’ll try it.’”
And you’re going with it this week?
Hundred percent.
Alright, I love it. Thank you, I always love talking gear with you. Play well this week.
Thanks, man.
See Webb Simpson’s full WITB from the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship here
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Todd Dugan
Mar 25, 2022 at 12:51 pm
Adding weigh to the heel simply moves the center of gravity closer to the heel. It does not make the toe rotate faster. That is a myth. Its always explained that that’s how movable weight technology works. Its not. By moving the CG on a wood, you’re playing with gear effect. That sight dot is probably a hair off now too.
Jonathan
Mar 27, 2022 at 8:28 pm
You are exactly right. But if Paul Casey has fooled himself into thinking it will help his putting good for him.
Pingback: TOUR REPORT: Adam Scott’s latest club switch, and a 5-wood from 12 years ago – GolfWRX
DG
Mar 25, 2022 at 9:44 am
This validates the ridiculous thoughts about “toe hang”. Casey is correct. It’s simple physics. If the toe is lighter (or the heel is heavier), then it speeds the toe up allowing for the head to more easily release through impact during the stroke. Putters that have more “toe hang” do the exact opposite, contrary to what the public has been led to believe.
Jonathan
Mar 27, 2022 at 8:31 pm
Prove it on a SAM puttlab. You can’t because the theory is garbage.
Rawer
Mar 24, 2022 at 3:52 pm
GSS or SSS putter?
BJ
Mar 23, 2022 at 11:27 pm
i love it… he’s on here and just laughs at everyone on here. Bob in particular lol
Bob
Mar 23, 2022 at 5:52 pm
Lame vs. lame. Lame.
Ricky Bobby
Mar 23, 2022 at 2:24 pm
3rd? If you ain’t first, you’re last.
El Culebrón es King
Mar 23, 2022 at 1:10 pm
GWRX has so many geniuses, lol….
gwrxmods daddy
Mar 24, 2022 at 5:19 pm
Gwrxmod?? is that you?????? how did you drag yourself out of your cave if you dont have a spine???