Why did Sam Burns switch putters for the first time in 6 years? Real reason explored

The most important aspect of a golfer's performance is probably their equipment, and Sam Burns is no exception to that. Ever since Burns turned pro in 2017, there has been only one putter that he has been using, the O-Works Black 7S mallet by Odyssey.

The reps at Odyssey have tried to offer several new and modified putters to Sam Burns, but he has refused to move from his first choice. However, at the 2023 Tour Championship, Burns switched to the new Ai-One 7S. It was an unexpected change for Odyssey and everyone around him.

Burns explained that he made the switch because his game seemed to be getting worse. Speaking via Golf Digest, he said:

“I spent time on the [Callaway Tour] truck a couple weeks before [the Tour Championship] looking at some putters. Didn’t have a lot of confidence in my current putter. I’d been putting well but just had a couple of weeks where the ball wasn’t going in the hole.”

Then he was handed the Ai-One 7S, which is very identical to Burns' original putter. Despite being rather picky about putters, Burn took to this one quickly.

“I tried it a couple of times on the truck and really liked it. It looked good and felt good, so I took it out on the putting green to see what happened,” he said.

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Sam Burns' putter switch leads to better performance

As soon as Sam Burns switched his putter, his lines became cleaner. Just a few hours after using the putter, Burns started to gain some confidence with the putter.

“The initial look was my exact putter, but with cleaner lines. Looks are a big thing for me. To go from testing to using something different in less than an hour is something that doesn’t happen very often for me,” he said.

Burns asked Odyessy reps if he could use it in competition, and since then he's never looked back. He finished T9 at the Tour Championship, with the sixth highest putting score.