How Rory McIlroy inspired Shane Lowry’s putter switch

For most of Shane Lowry’s professional career, he’s relied on some variation of Odyssey’s famous 2-ball putter design. He’s used many different models, such as an Odyssey Stroke Lab Exo 2-ball, a White Hot Pro 2-Ball blade, and, as of the beginning of 2024, a White Hot OG 2-ball.

Lowry and the 2-ball design had been seemingly inseparable.

Ahead of the 2024 Zurich Classic team event, however – where Lowry paired up with fellow Irishman Rory McIlroy – Lowry made a surprising switch into a new TaylorMade Spider Tour Z mallet putter.

The timing of Lowry’s putter changeup was curious: Was he just using a Spider putter because he was paired with McIlroy, who’s been using a Spider Tour X head throughout 2024? Was Lowry just being festive because it’s the Zurich Classic, and he wanted to match his teammate? Did McIlroy let Lowry try his putter, and he liked it so much he actually switched into it?

Well, as it turns out, McIlroy’s only influence was inspiring Lowry to make more putts.

When asked if McIlroy had an influence on the putter switch, Lowry had this to say: “No, it’s actually a different putter than what he uses. Maybe there was more pressure there because I needed to hole some more putts if we wanted to win,” he said with a laugh.

To Lowry’s point, McIlroy plays the Tour X model, whereas Lowry switched into the Tour Z model, which has a sleeker shape in comparison, and the two sole weights of the club are more towards the face.

Lowry’s Spider Tour Z has a white True Path Alignment channel on the crown of his putter, which is reminiscent of Lowry’s former 2-ball designs, thus helping to provide a comfort factor despite the departure from his norm. Instead of a double-bend hosel, which Lowry used in his 2-ball putters, his new Spider Tour Z is designed with a short slant neck.

“I’ve been struggling on the greens, and I just needed something with a fresh look,” Lowry told GolfWRX.com on Wednesday at the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship. “It has a different neck on it, as well, so it moves a bit differently, but it’s similar. It has a white line on the back of it [like my 2-ball], and it's a mallet style. So it’s not too drastic of a change.

“I just picked it up on the putting green and I liked the look of it, so I was like, ‘Let’s give it a go.’”

Clearly, the switch worked out. Lowry and McIlroy went on to win the Zurich Classic that week as teammates, and Lowry’s new Spider Tour Z is still in the bag as of Wednesday at the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship.