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How Tiger Woods has done since switching to that mallet putter

By Andy Wittry | PGA.com
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How Tiger Woods has done since switching to that mallet putter

Tiger Woods notably switched to a TaylorMade mallet putter – an Ardmore 3 to be exact – at the Quicken Loans National in June and he has since earned three top-10 finishes in the four events he's competed in with the new club, including a runner-up finish at the PGA Championship.

Tiger's strokes gained putting have ranked in the top 20 at each tournament (the data isn't available from The Open) and his putting on Sundays has been terrific in the last two months. He consistently cut down on the number of putts in the final round, while also making putts from a longer combined distance.

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Here's a closer look at how Tiger has done since switching putters.

Quicken Loans National

Finish: T4

Strokes gained putting: 4.774 (7th)

Putts (Greens in regulation): 88 on 53 (T7)

Sunday: 27 putts (2nd fewest for Tiger during tournament) for 125'3" feet of putts made (most of tournament)

After a slow start in the first round in which Tiger ranked 92nd in strokes gained putting (-1.197), he ranked eighth, 20th and third in the next three rounds, respectively. He was able to consistently make putts from distance, with feet of putts made totals of 122 feet, 95 feet and 125 feet in the final three rounds.

The Open Championship

Finish: T6

Strokes gained putting: Not available

Putts per hole: 1.64 (T32)

Sunday: 28 putts (lowest of tournament)

WGC-Bridgestone Invitational

Finish: T31

Strokes gained putting: 2.778 (T16)

Sunday: 27 putts (tied for fewest for Tiger during tournament) for 106'10" feet of putts made (most of tournament)

Tiger had 29 putts for a combined 58'11" feet of putts made during the third round of the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational. The next day, he had two fewer putts but had nearly twice the distance of feet of putts made – 106 feet and 10 inches.

Tiger sank birdie putts of 10'1", 11'8", 17'9" and 20'9" during the final round.

PGA Championship

Finish: 2nd

Strokes gained putting: 5.053 (10th)

Sunday: 23 putts (fewest for Tiger during tournament) for 81'10" feet of putts made (most of tournament)

Tiger's performance on Sunday at the PGA Championship at Bellerive was nothing short of impressive, in large part because of his approach shots that set him up for success with his putter. He only two-putted once on the front nine and just five times all day.

Of Tiger's 13 one-putts, eight of them were set up by an approach shot that landed within five feet of the pin and 11 were within 10 feet. He capped off his round and his runner-up finish at the Championship with a 19-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole on Sunday.

2018 PGA Tour Season

One-putt percentage: 41.24% (19th)

Strokes gained putting average: .384 (27th)

Overall putting average: 1.517 (33rd)

Putting from 3': 100% on 418 attempts (1st)

Putting from 15-20': 30.99% on 71 attempts (2nd)

Birdie or better conversion percentage: 33.78% (13th)

Tiger leads the PGA Tour this season with a perfect record on putts inside of three feet of the pin and he's second in middle-distance putts from 15 to 20 feet. His total strokes gained putting in 2018 is 15.725 and he has gained 12.605 strokes from just the Quicken Loans National, WGC-Bridgestone Invitational and PGA Championship combined.