The Specs on Phil Mickelson’s New Belly Putter

Phil Mickelson’s latest addition (Courtesy of Odyssey)

MAYBE YOU HEARD. PHIL MICKELSON slipped a belly putter into his Callaway golf bag last week at the Deutsche Bank Championship. I’m being facetious. Of course you heard. The belly putter is all the rage. It’s dominating golf news.

So, in case you’re curious, here’s the dope on Phil’s new magic wand, as reported by the Hot List 365 blog at GolfDigest.com:

According to Odyssey, Mickelson’s belly putter is an Odyssey Sabertooth with a White Hot XG insert. The club is 45.5 inches long with a lie of 70 degrees. The putter also was custom weighted to put more weight behind the face. Lefty worked with Austie Rollinson, Odyssey's principal designer, on the putter.

The plan was to build Phil a belly putter like the one used by PGA champion Keegan Bradley, a Mickelson pal and practice partner. But Rollinson made some tweaks after he and Lefty met recently at the Odyssey Putting Lab in Carlsbad, California. The Mickelson version is a half-inch shorter and two degrees more upright than Bradley’s.

Phil had mixed results with it last week outside of Boston, finishing in a tie for 10th. His 9-under total included a 63 in the third round.

Do you think the switch will help Lefty putt better and win more?

−The Armchair Golfer

Chad Campbell on DQ: ‘Just Kind of Slipped My Mind’

CHAD CAMPBELL SHOWED UP at the Deutsche Bank Championship early in the week, practiced a few days, and played in the first round on Friday, shooting 72. Then Campbell got disqualified because he forgot to register. Sigh.

PGA Tour players must register when they arrive at a tournament before play starts. PGA Tour officials realized that Campbell hadn’t registered after they went through all the forms on Friday night. Campbell is out of the tournament and FedExCup Playoffs.

What Chad said:

Q. Unfortunate, I know. Just what’s going through your head right now?
CHAD CAMPBELL: You know, just can’t believe you make a mistake like that. Obviously disappointed that I’m not getting to play today, but that’s the rules. That’s the way it goes.

Q. 83rd on the FedExCup points list. I know that makes it even tougher for you.
CHAD CAMPBELL: You know, it would have been nice to go out there and play good today and finish up the week pretty good and hopefully get into next week. But that’s the way it goes.

Q. Was there any reason that you didn’t do it? Did you get here late or was there anything --
CHAD CAMPBELL: No, not really, just kind of slipped my mind.

Q. When did you arrive this week?
CHAD CAMPBELL: Tuesday, Tuesday night.

Q. Anything remotely ever happen like this?
CHAD CAMPBELL: Yeah, a little bit worse. I went to Hawaii one time and didn’t commit. It’s starting to be a trend.

Can someone explain to me what’s going on this summer? Who will it be next week?

−The Armchair Golfer

(Source: ASAP Sports)
(Image: Keith Allison/Flickr)