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South Korea's Tom Kim has switched to the new Scotty Cameron Phantom 9.2 putter at the men's Olympic golf tournament in France.
Throughout his PGA TOUR career, Kim has mostly used a blade-style putter, although he has tried other methods, including this week.
Before the opening round at Le Golf National, the 22-year-old switched to a mallet putter. It paid off as he shot a 5-under 66, a number that surpassed Hideki Matsuyama of Japan (63), and Xander Schauffele of the United States (65).
“It just gave me a different feel for the ball and I did a lot of work on it after the Open Championship and it did well,” Kim said after her first round at the Paris Games. “It didn't make sense to be honest. It actually just happened. They sent it after The British (Open). I didn't really plan to change. The one I was using just worked and made sense.”
Kim began testing the new Scotty Cameron Phantom 9.2 prototype, which made waves when Justin Thomas used it for the first time at the Genesis Scottish Open.
“This particular mallet, which is our Phantom 9, we call it the 9.2 because it has a plumber's neck, it's really influenced by other players,” Brad Cloke, Scotty Cameron's player representative told PGATOUR.COM. “So this is very similar to what we built for Justin Thomas, who was very popular a few weeks ago … so very much in the offseason testing.”
Kim made his TOUR Championship debut last season, and this putter change could be the spark to help him climb into the top 30 in the world.
The plumber's neck, commonly seen on classic blade-style putters, is an integral part of the Phantom 9.2 prototype that helps Kim make the transition from blade to mallet head.
“The plumber's neck is a big thing and I think for Tom (Kim) that's a good thing because it gives him the best in both sports,” added Cloke. “The mallet neck of the maker gives him the familiarity that he sees in the blade but gives him kind of that forgiveness and that part of the mallet frame itself.”
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