Phil Mickelson lit up the greens like a Christmas tree yesterday at Pebble Beach, sinking several clutch putts, including a 30-footer that took the wind out of Tiger Woods’ sails immediately after Woods holed a shot out of the sand.
While Mickelson notoriously flirted with a belly putter late last year, he has returned to the heel-shafted blade style of putter that has long been his signature. The Odyssey putter Mickelson used to win the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am is a prototype of Odyssey’s PT 82 head with White Hot XG insert.
According to Odyssey, Mickelson recently modified the putter’s loft from five degrees to three degrees. The length of the putter is 34 inches, and the grip is a Lamkin 3-GEN R.E.L. pistol grip in white.
Odyssey makes a retail replica version of this putter, the Limited Edition PT 82 blade with a White Ice insert.
Mickelson’s switch from five degrees of loft to three degrees is notable, and could reflect a recent change to his degree of forward press or some other stroke tweak. Also notable is the fact that while Mickelson stands at six feet, three inches tall, his putter is a full inch shorter than the so-called retail “standard” of 35 inches for men. It’s just a another example from the tour of how putter fitting is vital to maximizing one’s potential on the green.
