The old putter Nick Taylor used to hole his miraculous putt to win the RBC Canadian Open
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Nick Taylor and his longtime TaylorMade Spider Tour Red putter have been through highs and lows together, and they even survived a three-month breakup last year. Through it all, there the putter was, on the fourth playoff hole of last week’s RBC Canadian Open, 72 feet from the hole, helping Taylor deliver an incredible stroke to become the first Canadian in a half-century to win their home open.
Speaking with GolfWRX.com on Tuesday ahead of the U.S. Open, Taylor reminisced about his history with the putter, which now shows all of the scars from their many years together.
“I put it in play in 2018 when I was fighting for my card in Reno,” Taylor recalls. “I changed putters three times that week. Three times during the same tournament.”
When Taylor and his TaylorMade Spider first joined forces, he was at a low point, searching for the right feel on the greens. In danger of losing his PGA TOUR card, Taylor eventually found the Spider Tour Red, which was officially released to the public back in 2016 when Jason Day put the design on the map.
The red putter emerged as his favorite of the three putters he used in Reno, and he gave it the starting role for the entire next event, the 2018 Wyndham Championship.
With his PGA TOUR status in jeopardy, Taylor finished T8 to secure another year on TOUR.
After that, it was smooth sailing for awhile. Taylor continued using his Spider putter for years, and he won the 2020 Pebble Beach Pro-Am with it in the bag.
In 2022, however, their relationship hit the skids, and Taylor decided to bench his longtime Spider Tour.
“I had maybe a three-month hiatus from it last year; I just wasn’t putting as well as I wanted to,” Taylor said.
Maybe the breakup is what actually saved the relationship, though, because they reunited, stronger than ever, after the short stint apart.
“I put it back in play after about three months, and it just felt great again,” Taylor said. “Maybe the timeout was all it needed. It’s been great the whole year, so it’s staying in for awhile.”
And there the putter was, on Tuesday on the practice green at Los Angeles Country Club ahead of the 2023 U.S. Open, right there in Taylor’s hands as the now three-time PGA TOUR champion looks to win another national open.