Watson Switching To a Long Putter? Say It Ain’t So, Bubba!

After missing the cut at last week’s Deutsche Bank Championship, Bubba Watson was looking for some answers, especially on the greens, where his 30 putts on Friday and another 31 on Sunday contributed to a 5-over 147 (75, 72) and left him just six shots better than DFL. Well, now it appears that the longest hitter on the PGA Tour may be going over to the dark side, what with his recently posted video showing him putting with a significantly longer flat stick than he has used to date.

“I’ve got a new putter,” says Watson, who notes that he’s not maneuvering what used to be a short stick “as good as I want to.”

Bubba tells us it’s a Ping Anser putter (53 inches long, according to the title of his vid) with tungsten inserts, but somehow neglects to point out the elephant on the putting green -- the reigning Masters champ has the darned thing shoved up into his arm pits.

Watson heads into this week’s BMW Championship at Crooked Stick ranked 166th in strokes gained-putting. Watson heads into this week’s BMW Championship at Crooked Stick ranked 166th in strokes gained-putting. Despite that lowly stat, a Ping spokesperson tells us by phone that Bubba has no plans to put the big bat in his bag.

“He’s just goofing around. He’s not switching to a 53-inch putter,” says Mike Gallagher, Ping’s social community coordinator. “That’s just a way to relax and get ready for the week.”