Jordan Spieth had a L.A.B. VZN.1i putter in the bag during Wednesday’s pro-am at TPC River Highlands.
CROMWELL, Conn. — Jordan Spieth changing to a mallet putter is a little like Indiana Jones walking into a cave without his whip. It could happen, but it would look weird and everyone would notice.
On Wednesday morning at TPC River Highlands, Spieth had a black L.A.B. Golf VZN.1i putter in the bag during the Travelers Championship pro-am, a notable development because Spieth has used a heel-toe weighted blade for most of his career. He won three majors with a Scotty Cameron 009 and recently has been using a T.P. Mills Trad II.
For a player whose putting, creativity and general short-game wizardry have long been part of his identity, testing mallets, especially one that has torque-reducing lie angle balance, makes this a big deal.
Spieth’s VZN.1i has two wide, white alignment lines on the topline and a futuristic L.A.B. profile that is designed to help golfers aim and align the face more easily. He was also testing a putter with a single white alignment line.
The VZN.1i features a hollowed-out head, multiple sole weights and a 303 stainless steel insert that has a deep milling pattern. Spieth has been using a 35-inch version with a 70-degree lie angle that came straight out of the demo bag at TPC River Highlands, but L.A.B. made and shipped a 35.5-inch model with a 69-degree lie angle to course, and that putter was brought to Spieth as he played his pro-am Wednesday morning.
The key idea behind L.A.B. putters is lie-angle balance. In simple terms, the company designs its putters to reduce the tendency of the head to twist open or closed during the stroke. That is why L.A.B. has become such a major part of the zero-torque putter conversation and why more tour players are at least curious enough to test them.
Spieth loves that the putter sits perfectly flat at address and allows him to make the type of stroke he prefers, L.A.B. Golf PGA Tour rep Joe Miera said. That second part is important. Spieth is not looking to become a robot. He has never putted like a player trying to pass a geometry exam. He sees lines, feels speed and reacts. The appeal of the VZN.1i could be that it lets him keep that natural feel while giving the face a little more help staying stable.
There are also performance reasons to be curious. Spieth enters the Travelers Championship ranked 57th on the PGA Tour in Strokes Gained: Putting, but the details are more complicated. He ranked 117th in Total Putting, 110th in putts between from 4 and 8 feet, and 86th on putts from inside 10 feet.
Whether the VZN.1i replaces the T.P. Mills this week is still the question. But Spieth testing it this seriously, with a new build delivered mid-pro-am, is news.
For now, the old blade is still nearby. But this week, it may be a spectator instead of a participant.
David Dusek is a senior writer at Golfweek covering equipment.
