The legend of 'Scotty': Why any ol' putter just won't do for Tiger
— -- Every three months or so, Tiger Woods grabs his favorite putter and retreats to his personal workshop.
Like with any putter, the grip gradually shrinks over time, so he carefully peels off the old material and meticulously replaces it to his satisfaction. Even after all these years, nearly 18 of them now, there is no one else he trusts to oversee the process; there is no one else he trusts with the tool that has accompanied him during the most dominant era in golf.
Woods has never actually given the putter a name. Bobby Jones called his Calamity Jane, Jack Nicklaus had White Fang. Woods' wand is only casually referred to as "The Scotty," an unsubtle reference to the distinctive brand.
To call it one-of-a-kind is not an exaggeration. Woods doesn't own a backup. Throughout the years, putter-maker Scotty Cameron has produced more than 100 putters for Woods, but none could stand in for this one -- the world's most famous putter.
"Nothing was exactly like this one," Woods insists.
It is starting to show its age, flecked with tiny nicks and scrapes and dents across its face, the residual effects of clinking against other clubs or being slammed in anger against the heel of a golf shoe.
That only adds to its lure.
"I believe that putters have character," Cameron says. "Putters act up and putters are your friend. When you're in the trenches in a major, you have a relationship with your favorite club."
After collecting dust at Woods' home for so many years, "The Scotty" is active once again. As Woods makes his season debut this week at Torrey Pines, he will be reunited with this trusty sidekick for the next chapter in one of the game's most iconic relationships.
Woods and Cameron first met in the mid-1980s. There was no formal introduction. Instead, it was a regular occurrence by happenstance, as each was chasing every golfer's dream of improvement.
Already a talented junior player, Woods would join his father, Earl, at the Navy Golf Course in Los Alamitos, California, just one town over from their family home. He would take lessons from head professional John Anselmo, who was also Cameron's instructor.
"We had a common friend," Cameron tells ESPN.com. "I would see Tiger and got to know him."
Within a few years, Woods solidified his teen phenom status. He won three straight U.S. Amateur Championship titles (1994-96), the last of which helped foreshadow his professional career.
Trailing 5-down with 16 holes left in the 36-hole contest, Woods never relented. His 35-footer for birdie on the 35th hole was a highlight-reel moment. He sealed the victory with a short par putt on the second playoff hole to become the first player to win in three consecutive years.
Woods made that comeback armed with a Scotty Cameron putter he had picked up along the way.
Cameron's company had received its first big break three years earlier, in 1993, when Bernhard Langer won the second of his two Masters titles while wielding a Cameron putter. The following year, Cameron merged with Titleist, a partnership which still exists today; by 1995, his putters were already the No. 1 choice among PGA Tour professionals.
All of that, though, was a precursor to the boom that was about to take place.
In 1996, around the time of Woods' historic U.S. Amateur triumph, Cameron created his first putting studio in San Diego's North County. It would allow professionals the opportunity to show their putting strokes in a non-tournament environment and choose the best model for them.
On occasion, Cameron would still make house calls. Five weeks after turning pro at the Greater Milwaukee Open with that "Hello, world" declaration, Woods was using the same Cameron putter he had used during the Amateur. Now, armed with a lucrative contract to play Titleist equipment, he was interested in exploring another option.
Cameron already knew Woods was finicky about his tools, but quickly learned that the golfer owned an attention to detail that was unparalleled among his peers.
"Tiger was always by far the most keen on feel and sound and weight," Cameron says. "He always had a say in the matter. Whenever I would work with him, I would learn. He was direct and to the point. He knew what he wanted, which is great."
Cameron arrived at the Las Vegas Invitational with an arsenal of putters. Together, he and Woods produced a putter that immediately went into Woods' bag that week. Needing a victory to ensure his PGA Tour playing privileges for the next year and to avoid Q School, he defeated Davis Love III in a playoff to capture the title at TPC Summerlin.
It was a monstrous win for Woods, but the exposure made it an even bigger win for his putter maker. When Cameron's first daughter was born soon after, he and wife Kathy picked a name that in part honored the milestone: Summer Lynne.
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