One thing you can say about Lefty is that he thoroughly embraces the “fix du jour” for his golf game.  He is more optimistic than a door-to-door soliciting evangelist when it comes to whether the claw, the Super Stroke putting grip, or, now, the Phrankenwood is going to deliver his beleaguered golf game from the rubbish pile back to the mountain top.

After two rounds at the Wells Fargo Championship it looks like Phranken from the tee is making his putter respond…..you can connect those dots yourself.  His 28-under win at the Waste Management was inspirational and a third at the WGC Cadillac Championship at Doral are the lone season highlights in an otherwise journeyman’s performance so far this season.

Phil has been fiddling away with the technology trying to find the elusive consistency that can bring him what he really cares for…more majors.  Remember this is the guy who won the 2006 Masters with two drivers in his bag.  His garage is so full of previous game changing equipment iterations-the clutter must resemble Thomas Edison’s workshop in his prime.

We recall his brief interlude with the broomstick last year that was discarded with dismay.  The claw putting grip seemed to be to his liking and some of the moss magic returned.  Then he abandoned the claw a few weeks ago to embrace the oversized Super Stroke 3.0 Slim putting grip that once again seemed to make the 3-footers less harrowing.  But, as it has been throughout his career, his driver has been his dybbuk and errant drive positions have made it impossible for him to score consistently in the sixties.  Witness his T-54 in the Masters with at a course with virtually no rough to speak of.

Enter the “Phrankenwood”.  With the help of the Callaway equipment gurus Phil has put together a hybrid driver/three wood.  Almost a modern Brassie it has a three-wood 250cc head, most modern drivers are the full 460cc’s, driver loft and shaft at 8.5 degrees and 45 inches respectively.  From the mouth of Evan Gibbs, manager of Callaway’s performance analysis group, “the key for Phil was getting a club that let him hit down on the ball slightly (his personal preference) while also producing low spin and the ability to move the ball in both directions”.

Through two rounds it is frankly doing what he wants it to do.  “I like to hit shots…carving it certain ways to pins, changing trajectories, and so forth.  This driver allows me to do that, to hit different shots….and it reacts the same way as my irons”.  If he wins this week you can bet Callaway will have the Phrankenwood on shelves at Dick’s Sporting Goods across the nation by The Players.

May, 2013