Brooks Koepka makes shock putter change in Phoenix as woes on the green continue

If there's anyone who could perhaps be forgiven for tinkering with their flat stick, it's Brooks Koepka.

The American, whose use of an exquisite Terryllium Scotty Cameron Newport stretches back near enough a decade, has endured some serious struggles on the green in recent times, with much of his drop-off in form attributed to his habit of dropping strokes with the putter.

Now, as he continues his much-publicised re-entry onto the PGA Tour, Koepka has raised eyebrows by finally benching the Scotty for the timebeing. His quest to regain some form with the short stick has lead him, like so many others, to TaylorMade's Spider Tour X, which he was spotted practicing with earlier in the week and put in play for Round 1 of the Waste Management Open in Phoenix.

The Spider is a common choice on tour for players departing a traditional blade-style putter in the pursuit of more forgiveness. Rory McIlroy, Scottie Scheffler and Tommy Fleetwood all game variations of the Spider Tour, as does a host of non-TaylorMade players. 

Whatever's happening with Koepka's putting, however, seems deeper rooted than his choice of flatstick, as the American struggled once again on the greens in his opening round in Phoenix. 

Coming into the tournament ranked 158th out of 160 on tour in total putting despite making the cut last week at Torrey Pines, he closed his first Phoenix Open round four over par, much of which can be attributed to the bevy of makable putts he missed along the way.

Whether Koepka will persist with the putter in an attempt to save his weekend remains to be seen, but either way, this doesn't seem like a saga set to end any time soon.