Collin Morikawa has been searching for a new flatstick for what seems like forever, but he may have found it through his friend, Kurt Kitayama.
The two-time major league winner has tried no fewer than half a dozen putters in the past 10 months, but the one that got the win this weekend was the new TaylorMade Spider Tour X Flow Neck that Kitayama’s brother took off during a friendly a few weeks ago.
After closing with a 67, where he received more than 1.6 Strokes Gained: Putting, Morikawa earned his first victory since October 2023 at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am this weekend. He pointed out that the putter was actually made for Kitayama on Saturday night, after he lost a stroke on the green, but managed to score a 62 to get into contention.
TaylorMade Spider Tour X Custom Putter
WALL THIN UNDERCUT CONSTRUCTION We’ve created a more stable structure by removing a lot of weight to create the high MOI and performance Spider is famous for. STEEL WIREFRAME Allows engineers to better control weight distribution and CG position. HYBRAR ECHO® DAMPENER HYBRAR is behind the face to dampen unwanted vibrations, delivering high pitch and sound on every putt for the best possible feel. DIFFERENT CG AREA Each Spider Tour model features different CG areas for optimal putter placement. TSS WEIGHTING TSS weights provide balanced weight and help improve the performance of all putter lengths. GUNMETAL PVD FINISH Hard PVD coating creates a beautiful high quality finish. TRUE WAY EASE™ The patented alignment system provides visual clarity and helps golfers better see the line to the hole. WHITE TPU PURE ROLL™ INSERT Made from a combination of Surlyn and aluminum, the white TPU Pure Roll™ insert creates a soft feel. The grooves are angled at 45° to promote proper forward rolling and better sound, feel and overall roll characteristics. The white insert also creates a better match with the white True Path alignment. CONVENIENT HOSE DESIGNS The Spider Touring Series includes two different hose types and designs. A slight slant produces a hanging toe, and a double bend produces a balanced facial design.
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ALSO AVAILABLE AT: PGA Tour Superstore, TaylorMade
He then said he would probably “not be satisfied” with his putter for the rest of his career.
“It’s a comforting thing for me. I think I play a lot with my gut and I play a lot with my gut, and unfortunately, that changes a lot,” he said Saturday night.
Morikawa has played many different blade putters throughout his career, usually sticking to the TaylorMade TP Soto for the past three seasons, but last year, he started experimenting with more mallet putters. That led to him starting the year with the new Spider ZT Black, before switching back to a TaylorMade widebody, similar to the one Nelly Korda used to win the LPGA season opener.
That was after his first appearance at the Sony Open and before his debut at the Phoenix Open where he said he played a match with Kitayama, his brother Daniel and Min Woo Lee at home in Las Vegas. The blade was wide and he didn’t feel it, before he saw the flowing neck that Spider Daniel was using.
“I was setting myself up, I didn’t do anything. I tried maybe on the 13th hole,” said Morikawa on Sunday. “I felt better. I jokingly said I might have to take it. Then I just putted the rest of the round with that putter.”
The new Spider Tour X by Collin Morikawa.
TaylorMade
Morikawa said he was drawn to that putter because of the “T” back alignment aid and the unique flow neck as he wanted to feel more release at impact.
“It looks good where he lets it flow a little bit but doesn’t have a lot of hanging toe like the neck looks because of the hammer look,” Morikawa said on Saturday.
That weekend before the WM, Morikawa said that he made roll putts with that Spider and put it in the bag that week and it stayed in the bag at Pebble.
He nailed a go-ahead 30-foot birdie putt on 15 and another 8-footer on 16, before using a putter from the green on the 72nd to 2-putt for a tough birdie putt to beat Lee by one shot.
He jokes that he’s not sure the putter has staying power right now — he’s lost .05 putting strokes all week — but it seems like it’s his to keep.
“I don’t know if he will want it,” Morikawa said of Kitayama. “He looked at it again this week, I think he’s trying to repeat it with a different team or whatever.
“But it’s mine now.”
With the win, the TaylorMade Spider has now won four of the first five events on the PGA Tour this season. Ironically, the last player to win with a blade putter on the PGA Tour, as reported by Alistair Cameron of PGATour.com, was Kitayama in July.
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