Equipment

Hayden Buckley (T3 at the US Open) made drastic last-minute putter changes

Published

2 years ago

Jun 18, 2022

Hayden Buckley wasn’t exempt to play in the 2022 U.S. Open, so he had to do it the hard way by going through qualifying (he survived a 5-for-1 playoff). Now, the 26-year-old, former University of Missouri golfer finds himself T3 after opening the event with a pair of 2-under-par rounds of 68.

On Tuesday ahead of the event, Buckley completely overhauled his putting; he changed his putter, putter grip, and the way he holds the putter (he switched to cross-hand for the first time).

In the house at -4! @hbuckley13 finishes his second round with an unlikely birdie. #USOpen pic.twitter.com/4gUs3iomvt

— U.S. Open (USGA) (@usopengolf) June 17, 2022

During the qualifying round for the event, Buckley was using a blade-style putter, but that changed on Tuesday at The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts.

According to Odyssey putter rep Joe Toulon, Buckley switched into an Odyssey White Hot OG putter with a double-bend hosel, White Hot face insert and a red Odyssey Stroke Lab shaft. He also changed into a SuperStroke Traxion Flatso 1.0 grip.

Uniquely, Buckley has the grip turned 90 degrees so that the flat side of the grip faces toward the target when he’s addressing the golf ball.

Buckley isn’t completely new to using a mallet putter, though. At the 2022 Bay Hill Invitational in February, GolfWRX photographed Buckley’s WITB, and he was using an Odyssey Toulon Las Vegas mallet style putter.

While perusing Buckley’s WITB, I noticed he was using a 2022 Titleist Vokey prototype 54-degree wedge, with a “Knuck If You Buck” stamping. Aside from the obvious play on his last name, it’s also a reference to a Crime Mob rap song called “Knuck If You Buck” (although I personally prefer Lil Wayne’s Dedication 2 freestyle remix).

As Buckley heads into the weekend at the 2022 U.S. Open, he’ll need to overcome a one stroke deficit, sitting behind Collin Morikawa and Joel Dahmen. He’s also tied with Jon Rahm, Rory McIlroy, Aaron Wise, and Beau Hossler. Toulon pointed out that Buckley’s new White Hot OG is actually one of three in the final two groupings on Saturday (Dahmen and Rahm also use versions of the putter model).

For all of our photos from the 2022 U.S. Open, click here.

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Related Topics:hayden buckley Odyssey us open

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Andrew Tursky

He played on the Hawaii Pacific University Men's Golf team and earned a Masters degree in Communications. He also played college golf at Rutgers University, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism.

1 Comment

Sam

Jun 18, 2022 at 6:54 pm

That’s 90 degrees, not 45

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Whats in the Bag

Xander Schauffele WITB 2024 (May)

Published

22 hours ago

May 17, 2024

GolfWRX Staff

Xander Schauffele what’s in the bag accurate as of the PGA Championship.

Driver: Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond (10.5 degrees @10.1)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana PD 70 TX (45.5 inches)

3-wood: Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond (15 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana PD 80 TX

Check out more in-hand photos of Xander Schauffele’s clubs in the forums.

Hybrid: Callaway Apex UW (21 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana D+ 90 TX

Irons: Mizuno MP-20 (3), Callaway Apex TCB ’24 (4-10)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue Mid X100 (3), True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 (4-10)

Wedges: Callaway Jaws Raw (52-10S), Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (56-10S @57), Titleist Vokey Design WedgeWorks Proto (60-K @61)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100