Rory McIlroy closed with 6-under 65 to win the Deutsche Bank Championship by two shots over Paul Casey. One week after he changed putters at The Barclays and finished 77th in the field in strokes gained: putting (minus 5.6), McIlroy found his stroke with the new flatstick at TPC Boston.
McIlroy led the field in putts per green in regulation (1.604) and gained 5.301 strokes on the field (T7) with a Scotty Cameron Concept M1 mallet that replaced his Nike Method Origin B2-01 putter.
According to McIlroy, switching to a mallet reduced head twisting, allowing the face to remain square at impact.
“I feel like with the putter change to a mallet, it doesn’t encourage that face to close that much, which is the bad putt I was getting,” McIlroy said. “So just sort of encourages the face to stay a little more square through impact.”
In just his second start with the new putter, McIlroy used it to record the shot of the final round. Tied for the lead with Paul Casey on the par-4 12th hole — a hole he made double and triple-bogey on over the first three days — McIlroy rolled in a 22-footer for birdie that gave him a lead he would never relinquish.
It was one of seven birdies during a near-flawless final round that saw McIlroy pick up his 12th TOUR victory, and first since the 2015 Wells Fargo Championship.
In addition to the strong putting week, McIlroy led the field in driving distance, averaging 312.9 yards with a Nike Vapor Fly Pro driver that’s been in play since the end of last season.
Here’s a look at the rest of the equipment in McIlroy’s bag.
Driver: Nike Vapor Fly Pro (Mitsubishi Rayon Diamana S+ 70 XTS shaft), 10.5 degrees
3-wood: Nike Vapor Speed (Fujikura Rombax Pro 95 X shaft), 15 degrees
5-wood: Nike Vapor Speed (Fujikura Rombax Pro 95 X shaft), 19 degrees
Irons: Nike VR Pro Blade (4-9; True Temper Project X 7.0 shafts)
Wedges: Nike Engage (47, 52, 56 and 59 degrees; True Temper Project X 6.5 shafts)
Putter: Scotty Cameron Concept M1 Prototype
Ball: Nike RZN Tour Platinum
source: pgatour.com
