For Schwartzel, the Fat Lady Swings

PALM HARBOR, Fla. – Bobby Grace waved a putter shaft in front of a few interested observers on the putting green at The Transitions Championship on March 17.

Photo by Associated Press

Charl Schwartzel lines up a putt during the third round at the CA Championship at Doral.

“You know, this here putter, second place last week,” he said, beaming with pride.

Except Grace, who is selling putters independently after stints with both Cobra and MacGregor, wasn’t bragging about his latest and greatest invention. He held the Fat Lady Swings, the same mallet-head model that Zimbabwe’s Nick Price won a bunch of majors with in the early 1990s.

It’s another Southern hemisphere golfer wielding Grace’s flatstick to great effect. Grace was speaking of South African Charl Schwartzel, who finished second at the WGC-CA Championship at Doral. Schwartzel’s done even better than that with the Fat Lady. As the story goes, Schwartzel borrowed the putter from his father’s bag and immediately won consecutive European Tour events in his homeland in January.

In a day and age where it seems you’re told your clubs are obsolete within six months, I found it refreshing to see a clubmaker take such pride in the success of an oldie but a goodie.