Throwback putter propels Jason Day to first win in five years

Sometimes you have to look back to move forward.

Last week, Jason Day put an old putter back in the bag, a TaylorMade Itsy Bitsy Spider Ghost, for the Wells Fargo Championship. He missed the cut by a stroke at Quail Hollow – but he gained nearly two strokes on the greens.

Day, 35, kept the Spider Ghost in the bag for this week’s AT&T Byron Nelson, and the faith paid off. The Australian carded 23-under total at TPC Craig Ranch for a one-stroke victory over Austin Eckroat and Si Woo Kim, his 13th PGA TOUR title and first since 2018.

Day ranked No. 28 for the week in Strokes Gained: Putting (2.703), draining putts at key junctures to hang around the first page of the leaderboard, then rising to the top with a final-round, 9-under 62 outside Dallas. He stuffed a wedge close on the 72nd hole and drained a 2-footer for the winning birdie. It was a short putt, but not a stress-free one.

“I was quite nervous over that putt,” Day said. “So many things go through your head where you're like, ‘Oh, man, what happens if you miss it?’”

The throwback Spider Ghost, though, carried the day.

Here are the clubs Day used to win at TPC Craig Ranch.

Driver: Ping G430 LST (9 degrees @ 10)

Shaft: TPT prototype

3-wood: TaylorMade SIM Max (15 degrees)

Shaft: Mitsubishi Kuro Kage 80 X

7-wood: TaylorMade Stealth (21 degrees)

Shaft: Mitsubishi Kuro Kage 80 X

Irons: TaylorMade P770 (4), TaylorMade P7MC (5-PW)

Shafts: KBS C-Taper 125 S+

Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM9 (52-08F, 56-10S), Titleist Vokey Design WedgeWorks Proto (60-T)

Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400

Putter: TaylorMade Itsy Bitsy Spider Ghost

Ball: Bridgestone Tour B X

Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Cord