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The other club he needs more than ever is his putter. He went back to a conventional-length putter a few weeks ago after several years of using a belly model. Both his '07 victories came using the belly putter. "But the last five events [coming into the Masters], I really putted very poorly," he admitted. "It's just simply a lack of feel, and that's kind of what I find with the belly putter. I think you can significantly reduce your feel, especially on short, breaking putts from five, six feet."
That's exactly the kind he had left on the 18th after he blew his birdie try past the hole. He rolled the par putt in decisively. "That last five-footer, I had to play a cup and a half outside the right edge," he said. "When everything is kind of jammed up in your center [with a belly putter], it's hard to move only the putter back and forth two inches because your whole body has to move. You can't just move your arms and hands and shoulders like you can with a regular putter.
"I got frustrated because I was hitting it a lot better and not getting anything out of my rounds. I finally decided, I can be a decent putter with the belly putter but I'm not going to be a great putter and run the tables with it. I just made a commitment and said, I'm going back to the short putter. I'll get my feel back."
His putting feel was sharp on this day. On the third green, he watched Johnson Wagner race his putt 10 feet past a nasty pin location, prompting Flesch to leave his 30-footer for birdie eight feet short. The ensuing par putt broke left and was downhill. He rolled it in. "That was a big putt," Flesch said with a big smile. At the seventh Flesch left a treacherous birdie attempt to a tabletop pin position 10 feet short and still faced a downhill slider that had the potential of sailing off the green. He drained it. At the 10th, he ran in another good six-footer for par.
For a guy who was fighting to save his spot on Tour only last summer, earning a return trip to the Masters this week was big. He's going to enjoy every minute. And...why not?
