The Story Of Why US Open Leaders Rickie Fowler And Wyndham Clark Are Using The Exact Same Putter
Wyndham Clark had an exact replica of Rickie Fowler's putter made - and now they're playing in the final group of the US Open together
The final round of the 123rd US Open is underway and the co-leaders after 54-holes are using the exact same putter.
Rickie Fowler, who has made an astonishing 21 birdies after three rounds, switched to an Odyssey Versa Jailbird mallet in January, and his playing partner in the final round Wyndham Clark has an exact replica.
Fowler historically one of the world's best putters, has used a blade-style putter for most of his career but moved to the larger mallet with a longer shaft in January after trying out his caddie's putter.
He hit some putts with his caddie Ricky Romano's flat stick and immediately took a liking to it, so he asked Callaway's PGA Tour manager Joe Toulon to make him something similar. What came back featured a 17-inch grip, which he has cut down by 1/8inch this week at the US Open, as well as 20-25 grams of lead tape on the sole.
"I was very shocked, because I never really looked into anything that was longer, counterbalanced, or anything like that," he said earlier this year. It’s very interesting, but it’s kind of freeing me up in a way. I’m not changing stroke-wise, or setup, not gripping anything differently than my normal length putter. I just feel like it’s, I don’t know, kind of helping me do some things, and I don’t have to think about it."
Fowler is putting extremely well with it this week after 54-holes at Los Angeles Country Club, topping the putting statistics, and his playing partner in the final group on both Saturday and Sunday is also putting very well using the exact same model - and it's a funny story.
Much like Fowler with his caddie Romano, Wyndham Clark played a round with Fowler at Medalist in Florida and asked for the exact same putter after seeing Rickie make "every single putt."
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"We were playing at Medalist where he belongs in Florida, and I hadn't been putting good, and this was right before Bay Hill, and I played with Rickie, and he just made every single putt," Clark said.
"Afterwards we were practicing a little bit getting ready for it and I hit a couple and I was like, oh, gosh, this is really nice. So I texted the Odyssey guy, and I said, hey, can you make me Rickie's putter? And he's like, well what specs? I said, the exact same.
"So literally had the exact same putter. And I joked with Rickie today, he changed the grip. He changed the grip and cut it an inch, so i was like, all right, I got to change the grip and cut it an inch."
Clark ranks 2nd in the putting statistics this week, behind Fowler. What a story.
Elliott Heath is our News Editor and has been with Golf Monthly since early 2016 after graduating with a degree in Sports Journalism. He manages the Golf Monthly news team as well as our large Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages. He covered the 2022 Masters from Augusta National as well as five Open Championships on-site including the 150th at St Andrews. His first Open was in 2017 at Royal Birkdale, when he walked inside the ropes with Jordan Spieth during the Texan's memorable Claret Jug triumph. He has played 35 of our Top 100 golf courses, with his favourites being both Sunningdales, Woodhall Spa, Western Gailes, Old Head and Turnberry. He has been obsessed with the sport since the age of 8 and currently plays off of a six handicap. His golfing highlights are making albatross on the 9th hole on the Hotchkin Course at Woodhall Spa, shooting an under-par round, playing in the Aramco Team Series on the Ladies European Tour and making his one and only hole-in-one at the age of 15 - a long time ago now!
Elliott is currently playing:
Driver: Titleist TSR4
3 wood: Titleist TSi2
Hybrids: Titleist 816 H1
Irons: Mizuno MP5 5-PW
Wedges: Cleveland RTX ZipCore 50, 54, 58
Putter: Odyssey White Hot OG #5
Ball: Srixon Z Star XV
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