Webb Simpson makes extremely rare putter switch at 2024 Wells Fargo Championship

As seven-time PGA TOUR winner Webb Simpson admits himself, he’s “stubborn” when it comes to his equipment.

For example, Simpson still uses a Titleist TS2 3-wood from 2018, a Titleist 913.Fd 5-wood from 2013, and Titleist 680 Forged irons from 2003.

Also, up until this week at the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship, Simpson was using an Odyssey V-Line Tank Cruiser armlock putter that he started using around 2016. Simpson began using the putter, and armlock-style putting stroke, after the USGA anchoring ban in 2016, and he’s mostly used it ever since.

This week, though, Simpson is completely switching things up with a new Odyssey Ai-One “Cruiser” Jailbird broomstick putter.

What brought about the sudden change?

“Inconsistent putting,” Simpson told GolfWRX.com on Tuesday at Quail Hollow Club. “I’m stubborn in a lot of ways when it comes to my equipment, but I have to be open minded – I just hadn’t putted consistently well in a while. And I’m like, ‘Man, I feel my ball-striking coming along. Like I feel better; for real, better.’

“If I can just get something in my hands that I’m consistent with. Being on TOUR, you see it every year, guys get on little runs. I can put together four to five tournaments where I’m all the sudden back in the majors, or in the FedExCup Playoffs. You can turn things around quick out here. I’m like, ‘Man, whatever’s going to get me there, great.’”

As Simpson explains it, he gained inspiration to try out the new Jailbird broomstick putter from Akshay Bhatia, who used a nearly identical putter build to win the recent 2024 Valero Texas Open.

“My caddie, David Cook, caddied for (Bhatia) at the (Texas Children's Houston Open) and he putted beautifully,” Simpson said. “Then, I watched (Bhatia) on TV at Valero, and he putted beautifully. And, I’m like, ‘I’m just going to try it.’”

Simpson is breaking into unknown territories with the new broomstick-style putting stroke, however.

“I’ve never tried it for more than a putt or two, and I just ordered what Akshay uses,” Simpson said. “It was pretty awkward at first, but the more I used it, the more I’m like, ‘Man, it’s pretty easy.’ And a buddy of mine who’s a rep out here, John Tyler Griffin, he helped me with some setup stuff. And he said at Hilton Head, he wasn’t putting well, then tried it, and now he makes everything. He was very confident. So I’m like, ‘Alright, I’ll try it.’”

With palpable excitement after using an armlock Odyssey V-Line Tank Cruiser for nearly a decade, Simpson will be trying his hands at a new broomstick-style Odyssey Ai-One “Cruiser” Jailbird putter this week at the Wells Fargo Championship.