GolfWRX: Tony Finau Experiments With 48-Inch Broomhandle Putter Ahead of Truist Championship

Tony Finau, who had quietly become one of the better putters on the PGA Tour in 2026, turned heads at Quail Hollow Club this week by testing a 48-inch broomhandle putter ahead of the Truist Championship.

Solid Numbers, But Inconsistency Remains

Since switching to a Ping Scottsdale Tec Ally Blue earlier this spring, Finau climbed to 18th in putting average on Tour and is gaining strokes on the greens for the first time since 2022. Despite those improved metrics, he described his putting as "inconsistent" and felt an off week was the right moment to experiment with something new.

An Unorthodox Hold on a Long Putter

The club in question is a Ping PLD Onset Oslo in a 48-inch length, one of three options provided by Ping principal design engineer Tony Serrano. Its head geometry mirrors the Ally Blue that Finau had been gaming, offering some continuity in feel.

What makes this experiment particularly striking is the grip. After 45 minutes with the conventional broomstick anchor technique—elbow toward the target, club pressed into the chest—Finau found it impossible to make a consistent stroke and feared it would trigger the yips. His solution: externally rotating the lead forearm so the thumb points down the grip toward the ball, an approach he describes as far more "repeatable and natural."

Finau confirmed the long putter is likely to be in play Thursday.

Strokeslab's Take

Finau's case highlights a fascinating tension between objective SG data and subjective feel—even solid numbers don't silence a player's internal doubt. His reinvention of the broomstick grip also raises questions around anchoring rules, making this an experiment worth tracking beyond just one tournament.