Playing with Rory McIlroy pressured Shane Lowry into making putter change

17/05/2024 16:02

Shane Lowry has mostly depended on a version of Odyssey’s well-known 2-ball putter design during his professional career.

He has utilised a variety of types, including the Odyssey Stroke Lab Exo 2-ball, the White Hot Pro 2-Ball blade, and the White Hot OG 2-ball as of early 2024.

The 2-ball design and Lowry had seemed to go hand in hand.

However, Lowry made an unexpected switch to a new TaylorMade Spider Tour Z mallet putter ahead of the 2024 Zurich Classic team event, when he was partnered with fellow Irishman Rory McIlroy.

Lowry made an odd putter changeup at this odd time: Was he only utilising a Spider putter because McIlroy, who has been using a Spider Tour X head all of 2024, was his partner? Was Lowry just having fun since his buddy was playing in the Zurich Classic and he wanted to match them? Did Lowry try McIlroy’s putter and end up switching to it because he loved it so much?

It turns out that McIlroy's only influence was inspiring Lowry to make more putts which drove him to change his putter.

Lowry laughed when asked if he was trying to ape McIlroy with his putter change.

"No, it's actually a different putter than what he uses. Maybe there was more pressure there because I needed to hole some more putts if we wanted to win," he said.

In response to Lowry’s observation, McIlroy uses the Tour X model, whereas Lowry moved to the Tour Z model, which is sleeker and has two sole weights that are closer to the face of the club.

Despite deviating from his usual design, Lowry’s Spider Tour Z putter boasts a white True Path Alignment channel on the crown that brings back memories of his previous 2-ball designs. Unlike his 2-ball putters, which have double-bend hosels, Lowry’s new Spider Tour Z has a short slant neck.

"I've been struggling on the greens, and I just needed something with a fresh look," Lowry told GolfWRX.com.

"It has a different neck on it, as well, so it moves a bit differently, but it's similar. It has a white line on the back of it [like my 2-ball], and it’s a mallet style. So it's not too drastic of a change.

"I just picked it up on the putting green and I liked the look of it, so I was like, 'Let's give it a go.'"

Lowry's new Spider Tour Z remains in his bag for solo events.

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