MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Before Lucas Glover went on his late-season tear — that now includes five top-6 finishes in his last six starts and back-to-back victories at the Wyndham Championship and on Sunday at the FedEx St. Jude Championship — he ranked 194th on the PGA Tour in strokes gained: putting (out of 198 players).
Glover’s renaissance on the greens has many layers, including his work with former Navy SEAL Jason Kuhn to overcome the putting yips, but one crucial element was his switch to a L.A.B. (Lie Angle Balance) putter at the urging of Brad Faxon, a south Florida neighbor who has become one of the Tour’s top putting gurus.
“I’d be lying if I told you I knew it was going to help Lucas. I was hoping it was going to help,” Faxon said in a text. “I watched him for a little over a year struggle on short putts with every kind of conventional method known.
Full-field scores from FedEx St. Jude Championship
“I saw the improvements [the long-shafted putter] had for players like Adam [Scott] and Webb [Simpson] and just thought this is a shot in the dark.”
Glover agreed to give the L.A.B. putter a try, but Faxon explained, “I don’t know how to use a long putter.” In his garage, with little guidance, Glover turned to online videos of players, primarily Scott and Scott McCarron, using the long putter and, essentially, taught himself.
“I ordered Adam Scott’s specs from the rep. I told [my manager Mac Barnhardt] to order his putter, we’re about the same height and I’ll figure it out,” Glover said. “I watched some videos of [Scott] McCarron and Adam [Scott], YouTube and whatever I could find. McCarron had some talkie-talkie that I watched and really liked, that was pretty cool and just watched Adam putt.”
The results have been dramatic, with Sunday’s closing 69 evidence of how the new putting method has transformed Glover from a below-average Tour player on the greens to one of the game’s most consistent.
Included in Sunday’s final round was a 20-footer for par at No. 13, a 29-footer for bogey at No. 14 and an 11-footer for par at the 17th hole, and in his last 22 rounds since he changed putters, he’s picked up strokes on the field in strokes gained: putting 15 times.
