Rory McIlroy switches putters ahead of TOUR Championship, seeks 'familiar feel'

ATLANTA – Rory McIlroy is attempting to defend his FedExCup title this week at East Lake Golf Club. And he expects to do so with the same putter that he used to overcome a six-shot final-round deficit and chase down Scottie Scheffler a year ago.

After playing the first two FedExCup Playoffs events with a Scotty Cameron Phantom X 5.5, McIlroy said Wednesday that he “more than likely” will return to the TaylorMade Spider Hydro Blast that he has used for the bulk of the last several years. He spent Tuesday afternoon practicing with the familiar putter in the bag.

McIlroy benched the Spider Hydro Blast ahead of the Playoffs in favor of the Scotty Cameron mallet, hoping to get “a different look.” He entered the Playoffs 83rd in Strokes Gained: Putting (+0.078), a statistical average he topped at both the FedEx St. Jude Championship and the BMW Championship. The impetus for changing back was less about statistics and more about feel.

“There was a lot of putts last week that had a lot of break on them from short distances, and I felt with the shorter line on the putter I just couldn't trust my aim as much as when I have the spider and have that slightly longer line,” said McIlroy.

In the same group as Viktor Hovland on Sunday at Olympia Fields, McIlroy watched the 25-year-old Norwegian card a blistering back-nine 28 to fire a course record and claim the BMW Championship. While Hovland made nearly every putt he looked at, McIlroy’s back nine was a much more frustrating endeavor despite nabbing three birdies. The three-time FedExCup champion was consistently missing on the low side of the hole, repeatedly squandering opportunities to keep up with Hovland.

McIlroy had birdie looks on the first three holes of his back nine but missed putts of 15, 11 and 13 feet before finally getting one to drop on No. 13. He missed a 17-footer for birdie on 14. Then, after carving a long iron from 242 yards to within 8 feet on the par-5 16th, McIlroy’s eagle attempt didn’t hit the hole. He tapped in for birdie and added another on No. 17, but the tournament was well out of reach. He finished fourth, five shots back of Hovland.

It’s not the first time McIlroy has toggled between putters this season. He began the year with the Spider mallet putter before switching to a Scotty Cameron blade-style putter at the World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play in March. He finished third in the event at Austin Golf Club but missed the cut at the Masters with the putter in the bag. He switched back to the Spider at his next event, the Wells Fargo Championship. He kept it in the bag through the end of the Regular Season, tallying seven consecutive top-10 finishes, including his win at the Genesis Scottish Open.

He switched to the Phantom X 5.5, a winged mallet putter, ahead of the FedEx St. Jude Championship, then tinkered with it mid-tournament, sending his caddie Harry Diamond to a local golf shop to have the putter shortened half an inch.

“I just felt like where my right hand was at the top, it just felt a little too up,” McIlroy said at the time.

The return to the Spider Hydro Blast will give him a familiar feel on the greens. McIlroy hopes that will translate to a familiar feel standing on the 18th green Sunday with the FedExCup trophy in hand.

“I've done really well with that putter over the last few years,” he said. ”I've had some of my best putting weeks of my career at this golf course on these greens with that putter, so hopefully I can rekindle that again.”

He will start the TOUR Championship at 7 under, three shots back of Scheffler. He tees off Thursday at 1:49 p.m. ET alongside Jon Rahm.