Brooks Koepka makes a rare switcheroo. Here’s how it happened

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Brooks Koepka just wanted to put the ball in the hole, and that led to one of the most notable gear shifts of the five-time major champion’s career.

After more than a decade playing a Scotty Cameron Teryllium blade, Koepka switched at the last minute to a new TaylorMade Spider Tour X L-neck this week at the WM Phoenix Open.

Koepka, playing his second event this week since returning to the PGA Tour from LIV Golf, was searching the greens at Torrey Pines a week ago. He was last in the field in Strokes Gained: Putting among those who made the cut. He missed more than seven shots on the green in three rounds with Shot Link Data.

To help out, Koepka actually made a weekend visit to the Scotty Cameron Gallery in nearby Encinitas for a practice session with Scotty Cameron’s Director of Fitting and Player Development, Paul Vizanko.

Koepka and Vizanko were at it again Monday at TPC Scottsdale, working for hours on Koepka’s putting.

“Trying to put the ball in the hole,” Koepka said candidly Wednesday of Monday’s session. “Yeah, like, I just never felt comfortable on the ball. You’ve got to have everything in the frame of the target. Just working on things like that. Simple things, placement. My shoulders were open. My legs are always a little bit open, but I just try to minimize the lines that go through so much.

“I’ve been pretty bad for the better part of two years. I don’t know what’s going on, but I have to figure it out.”

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What wasn’t apparent Monday or even during Wednesday’s pro-am was that a change was imminent. Koepka had four players with him Monday: his Scotty Cameron T22 Teryllium Newport 2 putter, an identical spare and two TaylorMade Spider Tour X hammers. One Spider had a short sloping shoulder, while the other had an L neck like his Camerons.

Koepka used T22 for most of the last five years, since 2020soon after the model was released in late 2019 as a tribute to Scotty Cameron’s Teryllium debut. It replaced a T10 Newport 2 dating back to Koepka’s college days at Florida State that featured a button design as opposed to silicone points to hold the insert in place.

He has played with blades before, mostly playing a Scotty Cameron Phantom X T5.5 at the 2024 Mastersbut the Newport 2 blade always seems to go back in the bag.

Also on Wednesday, Koepka used Cameron during his pro-am, and the player was the only putter in his bag afterward when he returned to the green.

But later that afternoon, Koepka said Golf weekIt’s Eamon Lynch he was spending this week on the Spider Tour X. Not only does the Spider Tour X mark a departure to a more forgiving hammer from his blade, but it’s also the first putter Koepka has used in his career without a ground face.

Koepka went with the L-neck Spider Tour X, the same model that Scottie Scheffler switched to in 2024 and has since won 14 PGA Tour titles and 16 events worldwide, including American Express two weeks ago. The spider was too The winningest playing family on the PGA Tour last seasonamassing 13 wins during the FedEx Cup season from seven players.

Through 12 holes on Thursday, Koepka didn’t look like he had found the same magic as Scheffler as he was four under on the day and missed two shots on the green, 119th in the 123-player field.

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