The Specs on Phil Mickelson’s New Belly Putter

Phil Mickelson’s latest addition (Courtesy of Odyssey)

MAYBE YOU HEARD. PHIL MICKELSON slipped a belly putter into his Callaway golf bag last week at the Deutsche Bank Championship. I’m being facetious. Of course you heard. The belly putter is all the rage. It’s dominating golf news.

So, in case you’re curious, here’s the dope on Phil’s new magic wand, as reported by the Hot List 365 blog at GolfDigest.com:

According to Odyssey, Mickelson’s belly putter is an Odyssey Sabertooth with a White Hot XG insert. The club is 45.5 inches long with a lie of 70 degrees. The putter also was custom weighted to put more weight behind the face. Lefty worked with Austie Rollinson, Odyssey's principal designer, on the putter.

The plan was to build Phil a belly putter like the one used by PGA champion Keegan Bradley, a Mickelson pal and practice partner. But Rollinson made some tweaks after he and Lefty met recently at the Odyssey Putting Lab in Carlsbad, California. The Mickelson version is a half-inch shorter and two degrees more upright than Bradley’s.

Phil had mixed results with it last week outside of Boston, finishing in a tie for 10th. His 9-under total included a 63 in the third round.

Do you think the switch will help Lefty putt better and win more?

−The Armchair Golfer

God Puts Long Putter in Bag

THE GROWING POPULARITY OF THE long putter has now spread from country club gates to the pearly gates, as God Almighty announced in a statement that he has added the “broomstick” to his set after a few experimental practice sessions. The creator of the universe has watched with interest as players have won with long putters for three consecutive weeks on the PGA Tour.

Adam Scott was the first, rolling to an impressive win at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational. PGA Tour rookie Keegan Bradley followed, winning the PGA Championship with a belly putter in his first major appearance. And on Sunday in Greensboro, North Carolina, Webb Simpson claimed his maiden PGA Tour victory using a long putter.

The strong momentum of the long putter among the professional ranks caught the attention of God—who historically is not easy to impress—and was the impetus for the switch.

The Lord admitted that he putted “very well” with a conventional putter but wanted to try the long putter to see what all the fuss was about.

God expected some good-natured barbs from St. Peter, who is part of his regular group, but said with a chuckle, “I can handle Simon Peter. I’ve long known his weaknesses, both on and off the golf course.”

God characterized himself as a recreational golfer, yet declined to reveal how many rounds he has logged this year. Asked how much he plays, God simply said, “More than the Pope and less than President Obama.”

Next up, he added, is one of his favorite golf outings, the annual father-son tournament.

−The Armchair Golfer

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(This is an ARMCHAIR GOLF spoof.)

Keegan Bradley Proud of Irish Heritage

Editor’s note: Brian Keogh is a golf correspondent for The Irish Sun and a contributor to The Irish Times, Golf Digest Ireland and other golf publications. The following excerpt from Brian’s Irish Golf Desk is used with permission.

By Brian Keogh
Special to ARMCHAIR GOLF

HEROIC US PGA CHAMPION Keegan Bradley wants to dig up his Irish roots and make an appearance in the Irish Open. And his legendary aunt Pat Bradley—a Hall of Fame player and the winner of six major titles—reckons it was his “Irish toughness” that helped him come back from a 15th hole triple bogey to snatch the Wanamaker Trophy from Jason Dufner after a heart-stopping play-off.

Auntie Pat, whose grandparents hailed from Ballycotton in Cork, insisted: “He showed some Bradley toughness.

“We’re an Irish family and we have that Irish toughness and he showed that today. I am just so very proud of him the way he fought back and brought it home.”

Pat, 60, won 31 LPGA events in a Hall of Fame career including three majors in 1986 alone. Her mother Kathleen celebrated her wins by ringing a cow bell in their home town of Westford, Massachusetts. The cow bell is now in the Hall of Fame but Auntie Pat grabbed a ship’s bell on Sunday night to ring in her nephew’s second tour win and his first major in his first major start.

She said: “It’s a wonderful win to honour his father, who is a PGA pro for many many years and Keegan’s honoured his dad with this win. I’m going to ring the bell after this.”

The Bradley clan are regular visitors to Ireland, where Pat is an honorary member of Kenmare and the Old Head of Kinsale, where some of her major trophies are on display. Three of her six brothers—Chris, Tom and John—regularly tee it up in the annual Brothers International Golf Classic at Kenmare, winning it in 2001.

And that’s why golf’s latest major champion is keen to show his Irish cousins his skills by making an Irish Open appearance some day.

Keegan said: “I’m really proud of my Irish heritage. I have a shamrock on my bag and my logo’s a shamrock too.

“The Bradley family is intensely Irish and my aunt is very proud of her roots in Cork and so am I. She goes over there every year with my uncles when they play in the Brothers Tournament.

“I went over when I was about eight in 1994 but I can’t remember too much about it so I really want to go back again. I’d really love to return to Ireland and play in the Irish Open some day. That would be really cool.”

Brian Keogh covers golf for The Irish Sun and contributes to a variety of golf publications. Pay him a visit at Irish Golf Desk.

‘Rapid Rewards’ for Keegan Bradley at PGA Championship

PGA TOUR ROOKIE KEEGAN BRADLEY won the 93rd PGA Championship at Atlanta Athletic Club in his first appearance in a major.

Back in a moment.

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Bradley, who earlier this year won the HP Byron Nelson Championship, birdied two of the last three holes after carding a disastrous triple bogey on the par-3 15th to force a playoff with front-runner Jason Dufner. Dufner stumbled on the closing four-hole stretch, making three consecutive bogeys.

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On the first hole of the three-hole aggregate playoff, Dufner nearly holed his approach shot.

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“I’m disappointed now,” Dufner said, “but there’s a lot of good things to take from this week.”

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“I just kept telling myself, ‘Don’t let that [15th] hole define this whole tournament,’” said Bradley, the nephew of LPGA Hall of Famer Pat Bradley.

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Bradley won the three-hole aggregate playoff by one stroke to win the year’s final major, “Glory’s Last Shot.”

Back to wrap up after this.

It’s Bridgestone or nothing.

“Oh, it feels unbelievable,” Bradley said.

That’s it until next time.

−The Armchair Golfer

Who Are Those Guys? Scott Stallings Edition

Editor’s note: In “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,” Butch (Paul Newman) and Sundance (Robert Redford) kept saying, “Who are those guys?” That line reminds me of the PGA Tour some weeks, including this last one.

ON SUNDAY I WAS FLIPPING from the U.S. Senior Open to the Greenbrier Classic. I hoped Olin Browne would hang on to win his first major. I also was curious to see who would kiss the trophy at The Greenbrier at Old White.

As it turned out, it wasn’t Anthony Kim or Webb Simpson or Bill Haas. The Greenbrier Classic winner in a sudden-death playoff was PGA Tour rookie Scott Stallings, the sixth rookie to win on the circuit during the 2011 season.

So this bears repeating: Who are those guys? Or, rather, who is this guy? More on that in a moment.

Playing with AK, the 54-hole leader, Stallings knocked his drive out of bounds on the 71st hole and made a bogey that could have put an end to his hopes. But the 26-year-old rookie sank a dramatic birdie on the par-3 finishing hole to crash the playoff with veteran Bob Estes and Haas.

Then, like a relief pitcher running in from the bullpen in the late innings of a tight ball game, the excited Stallings sprinted into the playoff after signing his scorecard. Yes, he actually ran. Crazy fun stuff.

“Running from the back of the green to the tee to go to the playoff is something I’ll never forget,” said Stallings. “I’ve been working with a trainer for about a month, so he should be proud.”

The pumped-up rookie lofted another beautiful short iron on the 168-yard par 3 and the ball landed in nearly the same spot as before. After Haas and Estes missed their longer birdie putts, Stallings sank the seven-footer for his first PGA Tour win and high-fived and bear-hugged his caddie.

If you’re in the dark on Stallings like I am, here’s the sheet on him.

Stallings was an all-state high-school golfer who went to Tennessee Tech, where he won seven tournaments and was an All-American in 2006. He played the mini tours and missed making it through PGA Tour Qualifying School by a single shot in 2009. After finishing 53rd on the Nationwide Tour money list in 2010, Stallings went back to Q School last fall and walked away with his PGA Tour card after a T11 finish.

The rookie missed his first five cuts this season. A breakthrough came at the Transitions Championship, where Stallings finished third after Kenny Perry helped him get into the event with a sponsor exemption. (Perry and Stallings have the same agent.)

Now, with his first tour win, Stallings is in Akron this week for the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational and in Atlanta next week for the PGA Championship. He has gone from 562nd to 119th in the Official World Golf Ranking and from 88th to 26th in the FedEx Cup standings. That’s quite a sprint.

−The Armchair Golfer

More ‘Who Are Those Guys?’:
Keegan Bradley
Gary Woodland

Who Are Those Guys? Keegan Bradley Edition

IN “BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE Sundance Kid,” Butch (Paul Newman) and Sundance (Robert Redford) kept saying, “Who are those guys?” That line reminds me of the PGA Tour some weeks. Like last week, for instance.

Keegan Bradley beat Ryan Palmer in a sudden-death playoff to win the HP Byron Nelson Championship, his first PGA Tour victory. I didn’t see it, so I missed my chance to be filled in on Bradley’s bio by the CBS golf crew. I’m in total darkness. I know less about Bradley than I did about Gary Woodland, who won the Transitions Championship. I had at least heard of Woodland.

First of all, Bradley is to be congratulated. To win on the PGA Tour is a huge accomplishment under any circumstances. The 24-year-old Vermont native held it together down the stretch on a difficult golf course and beat a tour winner in a playoff. That says a lot. It has become a trend, too. Bradley is the sixth first-time winner on tour this year.

But, besides being young and from The Green Mountain State, who the heck is he? Well, he’s the nephew of LPGA Tour great Pat Bradley. I know that Bradley.

Keegan Bradley played golf at St. Johns University, not exactly a collegiate golf powerhouse. Apparently, he won his share of college tournaments. Last year he played on the Nationwide Tour, where he had a second and two thirds en route to a 14-place finish on the money list.

In his first full year on the PGA Tour, Bradley has three top tens in 16 starts. He drives it long. He’s a Boston Red Sox fan. He listed their World Series victory as his biggest thrill outside of golf. Ben Hogan and his father are in his dream foursome. And he accepts his phantom status. “Going under the radar is kind of my thing,” he said.

Bradley had done a great job of staying under the radar until yesterday’s big win on national television. Now it will be much tougher to sneak up on anyone, especially if he can keep mustering the game to close out wins on Sunday.

−The Armchair Golfer

Related:
Who Are Those Guys? Gary Woodland Edition