The big winner was ‘eager’ to improve. So you made 1 pro shop purchase

In 2007, at what was then called the PODS Championship (now the Valspar Championship), Calcavecchia won by buying a putter — one week after he hit the putter on his knee and missed the cut, according to the report. The Associated Press the story.

“I just want to look at it [the putter] and see which one looks less bad to me,” he told the Associated Press. “Any one I wouldn’t mind breaking during the cycle.”

In 2015, at the Principal Charity Classic on the Tour of Champions, Calcavecchia won after going to Dick’s Sporting Goods in Des Moines, according to the report. The Associated Press Story by Jimmy Golen. The story goes that he only went to the sporting goods store because his wife needed running clothes – and then 12 putts on the green.

“It’s stupid like that; everything is mental,” he said The Associated Press. “Actually, it just seems to me and the way it looks. … There are times when I just don’t like any of my putters, I’ll just look for something else.”

– In 2010, Yahoo Sports’ Jay Busbee reported on Calcavecchia’s dissatisfaction with putters, citing a GOLF Magazine the story.

“Well, there’s someone sitting in the rain gutter at the Residence Inn in Akron, Ohio,” Calcavecchia said of Busbee. “I was living on the second floor and I just took out the window and put it inside. It’s not very nice there in the winter. There is one in a flower garden in Westchester [N.Y.]. There are several in the sea. I give more kids than I give out, but sometimes it’s just fun to break it.”

– In 2022, Bob McClellan of the Champions Tour sat down for a Q&A with Calcavecchia, who revealed that he won his first PGA Tour event, the 1986 Southwest Golf Classic, after a walk into the lobby.

“We’re playing a practice round in Abilene, Texas, it’s windy at about 30, and I four-putt out of nine,” Calcavecchia said in the story. “I had only brought one putter, my regular old Anser, and I said, ‘I’m going into the store to buy the worst putter I can find.’ I went through the locker room to the bathroom and the Titleist guy had about 20 putters in the locker room. Then I saw it, an old putter with a black head called a Dead Center Titleist putter. I said, ‘This is the worst thing I can find. Can I try this with the back 9?’ I also went out and did everything, I shot like 31 and took everyone’s money and ended up winning the tournament with it. I still have that putter to this day.

“The winner’s check was $72,000. That’s when they gave us big cardboard checks. I’m flying into West Palm from Dallas via Atlanta, and I pull up next to this big check. Everyone looked at me like I was a complete idiot. But I didn’t care. I was very happy. I’m sure I still have the check in a shed somewhere.”

Nick Piastowski

Golf.com Editor

Nick Piastowski is a Senior Editor at Golf.com and Golf Magazine. In his role, he is responsible for planning, writing and promoting news on the golf course. And when he’s not writing about how to hit the golf ball forward and straight, the Milwaukee native is probably playing the game, hitting the ball left, right and short, and drinking a cold beer to wash down his scores. You can contact him about any of these topics – his news, his game or his beer – at nick.piastowski@golf.com.