A small marking is paying big dividends for Paul Casey at THE PLAYERS

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – Paul Casey has long been one of the TOUR’s best iron players, an attribute that’s especially useful around TPC Sawgrass. A small change to his putter has helped Casey capitalize on his exceptional approach play and put him in contention at THE PLAYERS Championship.

A small dot atop his Scotty Cameron 009M prototype putter has helped Casey with his ball position after he discovered that he was addressing the ball off the toe of his putter. Before this week, Casey had no sightlines or alignment markings atop the club. But, after doing some video work last week, he noticed that his improper address position was forcing him to reroute his stroke to hit the ball on the center of the face.

Casey received the modified putter Monday at TPC Sawgrass. A week later, he’s one stroke off the lead entering Monday’s final round in the delayed PLAYERS Championship.

“It's the same 009 Scotty that I've been using for a long, long time, but … I put the dot on top purely to get the ball position,” Casey said about the Newport-style putter. “I've been lining up with the ball on the toe. … Nothing else has changed, but it feels like I'm swinging the putter a little bit better, keeping the head down better. That's it.”

Casey gained more than three strokes on the greens in the first three rounds at TPC Sawgrass, making three putts from outside 20 feet. He started the week ranked 160th in Strokes Gained: Putting this season, losing nearly a stroke per week on the greens.

Casey is 21st in Strokes Gained: Approach this season. He’s ranked in the top 15 in that stat in each of the last eight seasons, including second last year and first in 2017. He was second in Strokes Gained: Approach through the first three rounds at TPC Sawgrass, gaining more than seven strokes on the field.

“What an opportunity,” Casey said. “I love the fact that I’ve got an opportunity.”

A small change to the shortest club in his bag has given him that chance.