Jason Day calls on an old friend to get putting back on track

Coming off a season where he went winless and missed the Tour Championship for the first time since 2012, Jason Day knew something needed to change.

Instead of making massive swing alterations, Day chose to return to the black TaylorMade Spider Itsy Bitsy putter he used during the 2015 campaign to notch five titles — including the PGA Championship and two FedEx Cup events — en route to the best season of his professional career.

The Spider mallet putter has been a mainstay in Day’s bag since the 2014 Barclays and doesn’t feature an alignment line, something he prefers.

“Trying to get some memories back from 2015,” Day said. “I won quite a few tournaments with that putter, so to have the black putter in the bag was nice, to be able to look down and see that.”

Day returned to Spider Itsy Bitsy during the CJ Cup after finishing 30th on Tour last season in Strokes Gained: Putting. From 2015-18, Day ranked first, second and sixth in the statistical category during the four-year stretch.

While the PGA Tour doesn’t record Strokes Gained: Putting statistics during the Asia Swing, Day finished the tournament ranked 11th in putts per green in regulation — a promising start for someone who hasn’t visited the winner’s circle since the 2018 Wells Fargo Championship.

“I think overall, I had the driver, the irons and the putter working, which was nice,” Day said.

In the last few years, Day has used different variations of TaylorMade’s Spider putter, including a red version that played a role in his 2016 Players Championship victory. Day most recently tried a Spider X “Chalk” that lasted four starts.

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