When Michael Kim’s third shot to the par-5 18th hole at TPC Twin Cities on Friday hit the green and peeled back to just over 24 feet from the hole, there was a collective disappointment in the crowd. The shot was nothing to turn your nose up at, but from that distance, Kim was unlikely to hole the birdie putt, and a birdie would give the 33-year-old former University of California standout a 59.
But after sizing up the putt, Kim knocked it in the back of the hole to card the 16th sub-60 round in PGA Tour history and take the lead midway through the second round at the 3M Open in Blaine, Minnasota.
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The putter that got the job done and helped Kim make an astonishing 11 birdies on Friday is a zero-torque TaylorMade Spider ZT Black, a dark version of the original TaylorMade Spider ZT.
Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy and a host of other players use TaylorMade Spider Tour putters, but while the zero-torque version is popular at retail, not many pros are using it. The biggest difference is, of course, that the zero-torque version has a shaft that goes directly into the head above the center of gravity (CG) location, and that reduces the putter’s propensity to rotate open or closed as you make your stroke. The result for many golfers is that it becomes easier to return the face back to square and get your putts started on your intended target line.
On Friday, Kim had a staggering Strokes Gained: Putting of +6.68 for round two, ranking first in the 143-man field. Kim also made over 145 feet of putts Friday.
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The first golfer to win a major championship using a zero-torque putter came last season when J.J. Spaun won the U.S. Open at Oakmont using a L.A.B. DF3. Today, Kim became the first player to shoot a sub-60 round with one.
David Dusek is a senior writer at Golfweek covering golf equipment.
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: The TaylorMade putter Michael Kim used to shoot a 59
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