Sahith Theegala makes surprise putter switch at 3M Open

Entering the 3M Open at TPC Twin Cities with a new attitude, Sahith Theegala carded an opening-round 5 under 66 to place himself nicely entering the closing stretch of the PGA TOUR Regular Season. Looking to take “revenge” on the Minnesota course that hadn’t seen his best, the 26-year-old also added a new flatstick to the bag, replacing a gamer that has seen plenty of action.

“Yeah, probably used the same one for eight or nine years pretty much,” Theegala said after the first round at TPC Twin Cities. “I've had stints where I went away from it, but it was just kind of on the bench. It's the same deal this week, it's just on the bench.”

Theegala replaced his gamer – a Ping Karsten TR 1966 Anser 2 prototype – with a Ping PLD Tyne S.

“I just wanted to see if something different would be interesting,” Theegala said. “This putter's so different than my normal putter. I got enough practice strokes with it, not a ton, but yeah, it felt good.”

Length and balance are two big differences between the old and new putter, according to Dylan Goodwin, PGA TOUR rep for Ping.

“This week he was wanting to test a counterbalance option which we haven’t really explored prior,” Goodwin told PGATOUR.COM. “He plays 37 inches traditionally so we lengthened it to 38 inches and added a longer, heavier grip and tested different putter model options that were heavier than his current gamer.

“He liked the easy alignment features of the PLD Tyne S, which has been a popular model, and stability it provided.”

Theegala sits seventh in the FedExCup and will comfortably make it to East Lake for the final leg of the FedExCup Playoffs. But like all his fellow competitors, he’s looking to see what can take him to the next level. Entering the 3M Open, Theegala sits 56th in Overall Putting Average on TOUR. Last year he ranked fifth.

“He’s not scared to putt Monday through Wednesday with something completely different then switch back to gamer Thursday for competition,” Goodwin said. “He says it makes him fall in love with the Anser 2 all over again.”

But when called upon, the new putter worked on a surprise debut. Theegala drained a 23-foot birdie putt to start his day at the par-4 10th and added two more birdies at Nos. 16 and 18 before back-to-back circles on the fifth and sixth in a bogey-free round.

However, Theegala will need more convincing to ditch the old gamer full-time.

“It will make its way back. I've actually been putting fine with it, just had like three or four bad putting weeks in a row where I lost a little bit,” Theegala noted.

So don’t be surprised to see old reliable back in the bag come crunchtime.

“The gamer will be back probably for Playoffs,” Theegala said with a smile.