News
Looking for a change: What Tiger Woods said about his new TaylorMade putter
The golf equipment world was in a tizzy today when Tiger Woods showed up to the practice green at TPC Potomac with a TaylorMade TP Black Copper Ardmore 3. He put the club in the bag during his Tuesday practice round with Harold Varner III, Billy Hurley, and Rod Pampling, leading many to speculate he could, perhaps, make the switch from his vaunted Excalibur.
Woods told reporters he began practicing with the putter recently.
“I’ve been down in the Bahamas the last week, so I’m really gonna give it a good test today and tomorrow because it’s not Bermuda (greens)… I just want to see how it rolls out here. Put it through its paces.”
Could this really happen? Could he shelve his legendary Scotty Cameron Newport 2?
“I’m trying something out. The way I’ve been putting, I wanted to look for a change. That’s all it is. It rolls good. You never know.”
The way he’s been putting, of course, is not very well. The 14-time major champion is No. 89 in strokes gained: putting this season, and he had a particularly poor performance at the U.S. Open in his most recent action, needing 58 putts across 36 holes.
The Ardmore 3 has 12 degrees of toe hang, so it’s anything but the face balanced putter it might appear to be at first glance.
“It has a little more swing than my (Cameron) putter does. It feels good. I wanted something with more swing than mine…I feel like the toe is moving and swinging. It has a fraction more swing than mine does.”
Woods, who won 13 of his 14 majors with the Cameron, has used a mallet a few times in competition, most notably gaming a Nike mallet at the 2011 Masters.
Woods said he doesn’t feel pressure to put the club in the bag merely because he’s a TaylorMade staffer.
“It’s at my discretion,” Woods said. “If I find something that helps me play better, so be it. If it doesn’t, then it’s not going in the bag.”
Whether he plays the Ardmore 3 in his opening round will be a game-time decision, it sounds like. Woods is paired with Marc Leishman and Bill Haas for the first two rounds. They tee off at 1:20 p.m. ET on Thursday.
With the second major of 2026 now behind us, the PGA Tour arrives in Texas for the CJ Cup Byron Nelson.
GolfWRX Tour Photographer, Greg Moore, is on site at TPC Craig Ranch in McKinney, Texas, and he’s already captured several WITBs and a look at some new colorways of just-spotted L.A.B. Golf VZN.1i putters.
Check out links to all our photos below.
General Albums
- 2026 CJ Cup Byron Nelson – Monday #1
- 2026 CJ Cup Byron Nelson – Monday #2
- 2026 CJ Cup Byron Nelson – Monday #3
WITB Albums
- Brennan Little (Gary Woodland’s caddy) – WITB – 2026 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Adam Svensson – WITB – 2026 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Martin Laird – WITB – 2026 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Lee Hodges – WITB – 2026 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Aaron Wise – WITB – 2026 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Dylan Wu – WITB – 2026 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- AJ Ewart – WITB – 2026 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
Pullout Albums
- New Graphite Design Tour AD shafts – 2026 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- L.A.B. Golf VZN.1i putters (new colors) – 2026 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
See what GolfWRXers are saying and join the discussion in the forums.
Aaron Rai upset the odds to win his first major championship on Sunday at Aronimink, firing a final round of 5-under par to see off his competitors and claim the winner’s check for $3,690,000.
Jon Rahm and Alex Smalley were the best of the chasing pack, with both men sharing runner-up spot which was good enough for each to receive a check for $1,804,000.
With a total prize purse of $20.5 million up for grabs, here’s a look at how much each player won at the 2026 PGA Championship.
Players who missed the PGA Championship cut each received $4,300 each.
1: Aaron Rai, $3,690,000
T2 : Jon Rahm, $1,804,000
T2 : Alex Smalley, $1,804,000
T4: Justin Thomas, $843,866
T4: Ludvig Aberg, $843,866
T4: Matti Schmid, $843,866
T7: Cameron Smith, $637,050
T7: Rory McIlroy, $637,050
T7: Xander Schauffele, $637,050
T10: Kurt Kitayama, $496,707
T10: Chris Gotterup, $496,707
T10: Justin Rose, $496,707
T10: Patrick Reed, $496,707
T14: Matt Fitzpatrick, $364,762
T14: Scottie Scheffler, $364,762
T14: Max Greyserman, $364,762
T14: Ben Griffin, $364,762
T18: Maverick McNealy, $229,128
T18: Jordan Spieth, $229,128
T18: Stephan Jaeger, $229,128
T18: Padraigh Harrington, $229,128
T18: David Puig, $229,128
T18: Harris English, $229,128
T18: Min Woo Lee, $229,128
T18: Joaquin Niemann, $229,128
T26: Nick Taylor, $125,523
T26: Alex Noren, $125,523
T26: Cameron Young, $125,523
T26: Andrew Novak, $125,523
T-26: Daniel Hiller, $125,523
T26: Tom Hoge, $125,523
T26: Sam Burns, $125,523
T26: Hideki Matsuyama, $125,523
T26: Bud Cauley, $125,523
T35: Christiaan Bezuidenhout, $78,805
T35: Patrick Cantlay, $78,805
T35: Ryo Hisatsune, $78,805
T35: Daniel Berger, $78,805
T35: Ryan Fox, $78,805
T35: Haotong Li, $78,805
T35: Aldrich Potgieter, $78,805
T35: Si Woo Kim, $78,805
T35: Martin Kaymer, $78,805
T44: Chris Kirk, $53,743
T44: Matt Wallace, $53,743
T44: Shane Lowry, $53,743
T44: Jhonattan Vegas, $53,743
T44: Denny McCarthy, $53,743
T44: Chandler Blachet, $53,743
T44: Taylor Pendrith, $53,743
T44: Dustin Johnson, $53,743
T44: Nicolai Hojgaard, $53,743
T44: Michael Kim, $53,743
T44: Kristoffer Reitan, $53,743
T55: Collin Morikawa, $34,186
T55: Corey Conners, $34,186
T55: Andrew Putnam, $34,186
T55: Brooks Koepka, $34,186
T55: Mikael Lindberg, $34,186
T60: Sami Valimaki, $29,218
T60: Sahith Theegala, $29,218
T60: Rico Hoey, $29,218
T60: Rickie Fowler, $29,218
T60: Brian Harman, $29,218
T65: Casey Jarvis, $26,900
T65: Jason Day, $26,900
T65: Rasmus Hojgaard, $26,900
T65: Keith Mitchell, $26,900
T65: Sam Stevens, $26,900
Justin Rose WITB 2026 (April): Full WITB breakdown with new McLaren irons
RBC Heritage Tour Report: More minis, course-specific setups, Spider & GTS launches
What’s the story behind Webb Simpson’s custom-stamped irons?
Cadillac Championship Tour Report: Spieth’s sizable changes, McLaren Golf launches, and more
Kristoffer Reitan’s winning WITB: 2026 Truist Championship
Cameron Young’s winning WITB: 2026 Cadillac Championship
Aaron Rai’s winning WITB: 2026 PGA Championship
Nelly Korda WITB 2026 (April)
Justin Rose on the switch to McLaren Golf, learnings from previous equipment moves
Photos from the 2026 PGA Championship
Patrick Reed WITB 2026 (May)
Driver: Titleist GT3 (9 degrees) Buy here. Shaft: Aldila Rogue Silver 130 M.S.I. 70 TX 3-wood: TaylorMade Qi35 (15 degrees)...
Aaron Rai’s winning WITB: 2026 PGA Championship
Driver: TaylorMade M6 (9 degrees) Shaft: Aldilda Synergy Blue 70 TX 3-wood: TaylorMade Qi10 (15 degrees) Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Blue...
Michael Block WITB 2026 (May)
Driver: TaylorMade Qi4D (9 degrees) Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black VeloCore+ 5 X 3-wood: TaylorMade Qi4D (15 degrees @14.25) Shaft: Mitsubishi...
Bryson DeChambeau WITB 2026 (May)
Driver: Krank Formula Fire Pro (6 degrees) Shaft: Project X Prototype 3-wood: Krank Formula Fire (10 degrees) Shaft: LA Golf BAD...
-
Whats in the Bag3 weeks agoKristoffer Reitan’s winning WITB: 2026 Truist Championship
-
Whats in the Bag2 weeks ago
Aaron Rai’s winning WITB: 2026 PGA Championship
-
Tour Photo Galleries3 weeks agoPhotos from the 2026 PGA Championship
-
Equipment2 weeks agoGolfWRX Launch Report: 2026 Titleist GTS drivers
-
Equipment2 weeks agoPGA Championship Tour Report: Fitzpatrick, Koepka among big-name putter switches for Aronimink
-
News2 weeks agoWITB Time Machine: Phil Mickelson’s winning WITB, 2021 PGA Championship
-
Equipment2 weeks agoWhich of Tiger’s major winning irons are your favorite? – GolfWRXers discuss
-
Equipment2 weeks agoLead Tape Report: Adjusting the swingweight of the Wanamaker Trophy
TONEY P
Jul 30, 2018 at 3:42 pm
Even Jack changed putters.
gif
Jun 28, 2018 at 12:22 am
Tiger: — “It puttsputtsputts the ball really really gooder… 😛
ogo
Jun 27, 2018 at 4:24 pm
Putting skill is solely contained within the design and style of the putter… because they are made of exotic metals machined to very high tolerances and designed scientifically. It’s the putter, stupid … 😛
Ben Jones
Jun 27, 2018 at 10:44 am
Looks a little beat up. After using a blade style putter, these are like cheating. I switched from a Scotty to one and immediately started holing putts again.
Lee
Jun 26, 2018 at 11:13 pm
That putter has 40* of toe hang since it has the flow neck not the plumber neck.
Phil
Jun 26, 2018 at 9:12 pm
That putter looks so much better than the red one.
Jeff
Jun 26, 2018 at 8:26 pm
“More swing”
Does the Ardmore 3 really have more toe hang than the Newport 2?
The Dude
Jun 27, 2018 at 8:05 pm
sometimes I wonder if Tiger even knows what he is saying….
Bobby
Aug 16, 2018 at 4:39 pm
Yeah it has more toe hang and swing than his Newport 2 because it’s a slant neck ( I play a #9 it’s similar) vs Newport 2 is plumbers neck and just 1/4 toe hang. He can feel the toe more on this as its heavier, hence the “more swing” he is feeling.
John
Jun 26, 2018 at 7:53 pm
His putting has been atrocious, so changing it up a bit may be a good idea. Bench the scotty if necessary and bring it back out once its been in timeout…….Big Tiger fan and if he can get his putting to catch up to his ball striking, I think he will win again (not a major). If he switches to this taylormade putter, wonder how long before he starts playing the taylormade tp ball? The Tour B XS is a good ball, so maybe not, but who knows.
gif
Jun 26, 2018 at 7:44 pm
Ima gonna get one a those TM Ardmores to feeel wat Tiger feeeeels… oooºººh
Lee
Jun 26, 2018 at 7:29 pm
Welcome to Team Headcase TDub. You are this week’s honorary President.