Dubai: Drive for show, putt for dough goes the golf adage. And Tiger Woods has putted for plenty of dough, approximately $90 million in prize money, 72 tournament victories and 13 major titles with his old Scotty Cameron putter. But like Woods' former squeaky clean image, his putter is now history.
For the first time in 11 years and more than 200 tournaments Woods will be using a new "flatstick" today when he gets on to the first green at St Andrews to begin his quest for a third successive victory at the "Home of Golf" at around 12.20pm UAE time.
Woods himself called his putting "just awful" at the AT&T National two weeks ago and is clearly so distraught at his inconsistency on the greens that he is prepared to leave the club he once called "irreplaceable" in the locker.
But perhaps the most surprising critic of Woods' putting this week was the man who will be carrying his bag, caddie Steve Williams, who described his boss's performance on the greens since his comeback as "sub-standard".
Woods will feel stung by the comments of his biggest ally, not least because of the timing of them - in an interview on the PGA Tour website - where Williams said: "The one part of Tiger's game this year that has been very sub-standard is his putting. He hasn't putted well in any of his events.
"The key to playing well at St Andrews is putting. The greens are very generous so you don't miss that many greens. You can have a lot of 40-, 60-, 80-foot putts there and if you complete the week without a three-putt, you're going to be near the lead," said Williams.
"But he loves to play St Andrews, he knows how to play the golf course... I've made it very clear to him what he has to do and that the onus is going to be on putting," Williams added. But Nike, Woods's principal sponsors, will be rubbing their hands at the change. By switching to Nike's Method putter, Woods will earn his manufacturer a forecasted $50 million in sales.
But in a year that has seen other sponsors desert the World No 1 in the wake of his sex scandal, Woods claimed on Tuesday that it was the St Andrews greens, slower than when he won there in 2000 and 2005, that forced him into the change.
"I've always struggled on slower greens," said Woods. "I've always putted well on faster greens. This putter does come off faster with the new groove technology. It rolls the ball better, and rolls it faster. So these greens, I've had to make very little adjustment in how hard I'm hitting it compared to if I had my older putter."
The next four days will show if the switch has worked.
