Mark Calcavecchia hits his tee shot on Friday on the 2nd gap at Prestonwood Nation Membership.
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Mark Calcavecchia helps you to in on a secret. A hack.
Professional outlets, it appears, supply greater than sizzling canine and headcovers.
They home the “finest” putters, he says.
Imagine it, the 1989 Open Championship winner stated. Possibly take notice. Contemplate him a little bit of a spokesman on this space. This week, he stated he purchased a Ping PLD Anser, full with a putter cowl, off the rack on the clubhouse at Prestonwood Nation Membership, the place Calcavecchia and the PGA Tour Champions circuit are taking part in the SAS Championship.
“I’m determined,” he advised a Champions Tour social media producer, through a video shared by the tour. “I’ll attempt something. It’s an attractive putter. I’m placing fairly good with it immediately, so I’m excited.”
At this level on the video, Calcavecchia confirmed the place he bought the blade.
“These are all the time the perfect putters,” he stated. “Should you get one despatched to you, it’d most likely be hooked and never set proper and have loft on it. I simply checked out this one and it appeared stunning proper off the hop so went proper in my bag.”
Determined occasions name for determined measures, proper? In a take a look at this season’s Champions stats, the 64-year-old has a placing common of 1.828 (which might place him 63rd on tour if he performed in sufficient occasions), and he’s taking 29.31 putts per spherical (which might place him twenty first). Notably, although, Calcavecchia has gone to the pro-shop properly earlier than — he stated on the video that three of his 13 PGA Tour victories have been received that approach.
So we began to dig a bit of. On Google, we looked for “Mark Calcavecchia and putter professional store” and located:
— In 2007, on the then-called PODS Championship (now the Valspar Championship), Calcavecchia received with a putter buy — one week after he snapped a putter over his knee and missed a reduce, based on an Related Press story.
“I simply sort of take a look at it [the putter] and see which one seems to be much less ugly to me,” he advised the Related Press. “Or which one I actually wouldn’t thoughts breaking a while in the course of the course of the spherical.”
— In 2015, on the Principal Charity Traditional on the Champions tour, Calcavecchia received after he went to a Dick’s Sporting Items in Des Moines, based on an Related Press story written by Jimmy Golen. The story stated he went to the sporting items retailer solely as a result of his spouse wanted operating garments — then he rolled in 12 putts on the apply inexperienced.
“That’s how silly it’s; it’s simply all psychological,” he advised the Related Press. “It’s mainly simply look to me and the way it seems to be. … There are occasions after I simply don’t like several of my putters, I’ll simply search for one thing else.”
— In 2010, Yahoo Sports activities’ Jay Busbee reported on Calcavecchia’s dissatisfaction with putters, citing a GOLF Journal story.
“Nicely, there’s one sitting in a rain gutter at a Residence Inn in Akron, Ohio,” Calcavecchia stated in Busbee’s story. “I used to be staying on the second ground and simply reached out the window and put it in there. It’s not very good there within the winter. There’s one in a flower backyard in Westchester [N.Y.]. There are a number of within the ocean. I’ve given extra away to youngsters than I’ve damaged, however typically it simply feels good to interrupt one.”
— In 2022, the Champions tour’s Bob McClellan sat down for a Q&A with Calcavecchia, who revealed he received his first PGA Tour occasion, the 1986 Southwest Golf Traditional, after a locker-room journey.
“We play a apply spherical in Abilene, Texas, it’s blowing about 30, and I had 4 three-putts on the entrance 9,” Calcavecchia stated within the story. “I had solely introduced one putter, my regular outdated Anser, and I stated, ‘I’m going within the professional store to purchase the ugliest putter I can discover.’ I went by means of the locker room to go to the toilet and the Titleist man had put about 20 putters out within the locker room. Then I noticed it, the large outdated black-headed putter referred to as the Lifeless Heart Titleist putter. I stated, ‘That is the ugliest factor I can discover. Can I do that for the again 9?’ And I went out and made every thing, shot like 31 and took all people’s cash after which ended up profitable the match with it. I nonetheless have that putter to today.
“The winner’s test was $72,000. That’s once they gave us the large cardboard checks. I’m flying to West Palm from Dallas by means of Atlanta, and I’m dragging round this large test. All people checked out me like I used to be an entire fool. However I didn’t care. I used to be fairly comfortable. Fairly certain I nonetheless have the test in a storage shed someplace.”
