Justin Thomas defeated Luke List, 2 up in their match at the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play (due in no small part to shots like this). But while Thomas pulled the win off, it was his opponent who had the more noteworthy action.
List pushed Thomas — the No. 2 ranked player in the world — to the 18th hole despite putting for more than half of the round with a wedge. No, really.
From 3-down to 1-down, all with a sand wedge as his putter.
Luke List has made a match of it against FedExCup No. 1 Justin Thomas. Two holes left. pic.twitter.com/d8H1RgrRVH
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 21, 2018
Somewhere between the sixth and seventh greens, List bent his putter. A golfer is not allowed to use a club once its characteristics have been altered mid-round. He’s also not allowed to replace the club unless it’s deemed that it was broken through the normal course of play. Obviously, List was given no breaks.
So, from the seventh green on, List putted with a wedge. Strangely enough, it didn’t really seem to have an adverse impact on List’s play. When the two reached the seventh green, Thomas was two up in the match. That’s exactly where he finished.
From the seventh hole on, each man won three holes, with the remaining six being halved. That said, we’re reasonably confident that List will go back to a regular putter during his Thursday match against Francesco Molinari.