We’re at the point of the PGA Tour season where new golf clubs sneak their way into the bags of Tour pros, as equipment manufacturers look to put the final tests in place for the next cycle of releases hitting stores in 2027.
But there’s one player who’s gone in a different direction, and he’s just found himself back in the winner’s circle, and the first time as an individual.
Andrew Novak ran away with victory at the VidantaWorld Mexico Open using a T.P. Mills putter from back in the day that looks like it needs a little tender loving care.
But why is the now two-time winner on Tour using a putter that shows plenty of wear and tear?
“I was just truly one of the worst putters on the PGA Tour for about eight months,” said Novak, who switched to the T.P. Mills blade back in August at the Wyndham Championship. “And I turned a bunch of 66s and 67s into 69s and 70s, and that doesn’t really get it done out here.”
He’s not wrong. Before the swap, Novak ranked 155th out of 159 players on the PGA Tour in Strokes Gained: Putting and had missed five of his last seven cuts.
“Bounced around a few different putters,” Novak said, “and would work with some of the reps, do all these, you know, testing on machines and basically get told every Monday and Tuesday that I’m aiming the putter elite. I’m very consistent, rolling it great. Everything I’m doing is perfect.
“And then I go and I’m the worst putter in the field. And I got very frustrated with that every single week, being told that there’s nothing wrong with my putting and then just being dead last.”
En route to victory in Mexico, Novak gained over 12 shots on the greens for the first three rounds with the blade that he had to do some searching to find.
“So went in the closet and dug out a putter that I used for a long time back in the day,” Novak said. “It’s rusted out, it’s old, but I know it works.”
Novak admitted that he didn’t even know the loft and lie of the putter. Maybe some things are better off left unknown. But it has helped change his attitude on the greens.
“I think maybe I was just overthinking some things,” he said. “And, yeah, I’ve just gone back to hitting putts.
“I might do some chalk line stuff now for, like, start line, but really keeping it very simple and trying not to overthink it.”
Novak didn’t completely ignore modern technology, however; he switched from the Z-Star Diamond to the Srixon Z-Star XV this week for less spin.
In a sport obsessed with high-tech sensors, launch monitors, and constant innovation, Novak’s triumph serves as a refreshing reminder that feel and trust still hold the final word. A modern ball may have cut through the Mexican breeze, but it was an old, rusted flatstick from the back of the closet that ultimately carried him home.
