How Chris Kirk’s caddie helped design new putter with two key innovations

Chris Kirk has revealed that his caddie Michael Cromie helped design his new putter.

The caddie, who has an unusual dynamic with Kirk, gifted him a new putter for the FedEx St. Jude Championship in Tennessee.

Cromie also performs the critical role of reading putts for his charge.

“Michael (Cromie) is doing a really good job with AimPoint, which is kind of new for us,” Kirk said at the St. Jude.

“People watching on TV at home at The Open were kind of laughing because they see me – Michael is reading the putt, I don’t like for him to hold the flag while he’s doing it because I feel like it might mess up his balance a little bit, so I’m off to the side holding the flag, looking in the crowd or whatever, just waiting for him to point at where he wants me to line the putt up.

“It’s gone really well. It mentally has been very freeing for me because I can just focus on hitting a good putt down that line and watching that line spiral. I’ve really enjoyed the change, and today was certainly a good day for it.”

With the assistance of TOUR Odyssey representative Cody Hale, Cromie created a new flatstick for the FedExCup Playoffs first leg, a surprise for the six-time PGA Tour winner.

“The putter I’m using was something that Michael, my caddie – it was kind of his idea, along with (Hale) … and they kind of got together and talked about something that they thought I would like,” Kirk said.

The pairing came up with the design for the “Chris Kirk No. 7” as Kirk called it, that features a variation of a No 7 T putter head with a custom neck and a clean custom paint job that doesn’t include sightlines, before handing it to him in Memphis for the FedEx St. Jude event.

“(It) had some similarities to one that I’ve had some success with in the past, but a little bit kind of added stability versus the one that I was putting with, that I used at the U.S. Open and through (The Open),” Kirk said. “It was a putter that I got 10-plus years ago. So just kind of an updated technology version of that.”

Following a victory at The Sentry to start the season, Kirk and Cromie again made news during THE PLAYERS Championship when they discussed their unusual strategy for keeping Kirk composed when playing golf. The two frequently utilise the diversion behind the ropes to discuss everything from general knowledge to music or Civil War facts.