LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — William Mouw's putter was cold Thursday, so he did what any clear-thinking professional athlete would do.
He boiled it.
Not figuratively. Not in the colorful language golfers use when they are trying to avoid saying what they really think about a club that has just betrayed them.
He put the thing in boiling water. Then he brought it back to Hurstbourne Country Club on Friday and shot 63.
This is why golf should never be mistaken for a normal occupation. A basketball player misses six straight shots, he goes to the gym. A quarterback throws three interceptions, he studies film. A golfer misses a few putts, yeah, he might head to the practice green — or start looking for a cauldron.
"I told my caddie I was going to do it and put it in some boiling hot water," Mouw said. "Funny enough, it just stayed hot all day."
Wait, what?
Funny enough. Mouw made seven birdies, no bogeys and moved to 9-under par at the ISCO Championship, close enough to the leaders to spend the weekend making everybody nervous.
Lucas Glover has played professional golf for more than half his life. He has won a U.S. Open. He has survived pressure, slumps, equipment changes and untold thousands of putts that looked good until they didn't. He has seen some things.
"I've thrown a few and kicked a few and broke a few," Glover said, speaking, of course, of putters. "But I've never boiled one."
There it is. The full history of the golf putter, from weapon to kitchen utensil, in one sentence.
Glover shot 64 Friday to reach 13 under, two shots ahead of Chan Kim among the morning finishers. He has not made a bogey through two rounds, which is a more traditional way to lead a golf tournament.
But even Glover was impressed by the results of Mouw's culinary experiment. He thought maybe Mouw had changed putters. "I didn't ask because he made everything," Glover said. "I didn't want to mess up the mojo."
Notice what he didn't say. He didn't say it couldn't work.
It's part of golf's unwritten code: you do not question another man's superstition when he is making putts. You can question his grip, his club selection, why he tried to hit a 3-wood out of a lie that required a machete and a search party. But if he's found something that works, even if it requires oven mitts, you keep your opinions to yourself.
Mouw said he plans to boil the putter again Friday night. Of course he does. He'd be crazy not to. If a man puts his putter into hot water and shoots 63, he does not let the thing return to room temperature. He keeps the stove on and begins checking local fire codes.
If he shoots another 63 Saturday, every hotel room in Louisville is going to smell like a sporting-goods store operating a seafood boil. Tour players will be calling room service.
Mouw's previous trip to Hurstbourne ended with a course-record 61 and his first PGA Tour victory. The year before that had included a viral octuple-bogey 13 that might have broken lesser golfers. Mouw laughed, came back the next day and shot 67.
That told you something about him. The egg farmer's son from Chino Hills, California, knows that bad things can be cracked, scrambled and eventually served hot. Last year, it was his career. Friday, it was his putter.
Mouw said he hit his targets, controlled his speed and got help from his short game when necessary. Those are the parts golf instructors will approve. But he also made four or five putts that had not been falling Thursday. That is the part that will have 20-handicappers standing over their kitchen sinks tonight.
The reasonable explanation is that Mouw adjusted his speed, saw one putt go in and gained confidence.
Reason tells you to practice. Desperation tells you to cook your putter.
Mouw insisted the whole thing was a joke. Golfers always insist the superstition is a joke. Right up until it starts working. But if he wins again Sunday, that putter will never be allowed to cool. It will travel in its own Crock-Pot.
Glover may be leading the tournament. Chan Kim may be chasing him. A dozen other players may still have a say in what happens over the weekend. But the most important discovery Friday was made by William Mouw.
Golf equipment may not have feelings. But it apparently knows when it is in hot water.
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