Tiger Woods ditches £70MILLION putter for one kinder to his back as he shoots into contention at PGA Championship

TIGER WOODS ditched his £70million putter and roared into contention at the USPGA Championship with a back-up that is better for his back.

Woods fired an opening round two-under 68 at Harding Park in San Francisco to blow away the cobwebs on only his fifth round of competitive golf since February.

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Woods was walking putts into the hole with his new flat stick[/caption]

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Woods’ putter with which he has won 14 of his 15 Majors looks like it has been through a lot[/caption]

But it was not the swashbuckling recovery shots or monster drives that caught the eye – rather the great equaliser he sneakily placed in his bag.

Woods, 44, won 14 of his 15 Majors using his famed Scotty Cameron Newport 2 putter.

He cherishes it so much that he won’t even let son Charlie play with it.

Seeing it in a pro shop, you wouldn’t think twice about picking up the chipped and battered putter with a worn-out sweetspot.

But Woods’ fellow pros reckon that one club is worth £70m.

He was offered a “seven-figure sum” by a Japanese investor for it in the past, but politely said no.

And PGA Tour star Marc Leishman has said: “I bet you could offer him £70m for it and he probably wouldn’t take it.”

True. What he will take though is a solid start to a bid for his 16^th Major – and his lowest opening round in a big one since the 2012 US Open.

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Woods won 14 of his 15 Majors with his trusty Scotty Cameron Newport 2[/caption]

Woods saw off younger playing partners Rory McIlroy and Justin Thomas easily after they opened with a level-par 70 and one-over 71 respectively.

But making the switch to the new Scotty Cameron – which Woods yesterday used for the first time in a Major – was nothing to do with feel or fancy.

It was to allow him to practice without his surgically-repaired back hurting him too much.

Woods, whose career-saving spinal fusion surgery in 2017 was his fourth back operation, said: “I’ve been messing round with this putter for the better part of a year.

“It’s a little longer than my original one which makes it easier on my back. I can spend more time practising.

“It’s one of the reasons why Senior Tour players never putt with the same length putter – it’s a little bit hard to bend over.

“I putt with my sand wedge all the time and this feels more like my sand wedge.”

Woods shot his lowest opening round in a major since 2012 with a two-under-par 68 in San Francisco.

The 15-time major winner played alongside Rory McIlroy, who finished level par at the year’s first major at TPC Harding Park.

England’s Justin Rose and Brooks Koepka, going for a third straight US PGA win, both carded four-under 66s.

They sit one behind joint leaders Jason Day and Brendon Todd.