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Patton Kizzire's frustrating start to 2025 season with a putter meltdown
Frustrations peaked at the Valspar Championship when he kicked his dented putter after a missed putt
Patton Kizzire's 2025 season has been difficult; he finished T40 at The Sentry to start the season and hasn't made an appearance in any of his six subsequent tournaments. This includes the 2025 Valspar Championship, where he lost his first round due to frustrations from a difficult year.
After missing a short putt, the three-time PGA Tour winner lost his temper and kicked his putter over the green. Kizzire had to take a spare club out of his bag to complete the hole because the first one was dented when it landed, as reported by CBS Sports.
Kizzire was one over on his sixth hole (having started on the tenth) after missing a five-footer for par, dropping him to world No. 128 after six consecutive missed cuts.
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Kizzire, who was undoubtedly still furious after missing a three-footer for birdie a few holes before, lost his temper and abruptly changed from Ben Hogan to Barry John. He let go of his putter and kicked it on the fly; it must have gone 20 yards before landing in a striking area with a clubface that looked terrible and a bent shaft, as reported by The Telegraph.
Kizzire got his money's worth from this little meltdown, as his putter soared a good 20 yards with a bent shaft. It's not often that you see a full-on putter punt. After finishing the hole with a wedge, he left the event shortly after, claiming to have had a back ailment.
Whether the back injury is a chronic problem or if it was altered by booting his putter across the green (or possibly at another point in the round) is unclear.
After defeating Rickie Fowler in the 2017 World Technology Championship, Kizzire removed his maiden tag and won three tournaments on the US circuit. However, his volatility has made him notorious.
He gave the expression "going through the bag" a new meaning four years ago when he broke a driver over his knee and the week after, he did the same furious thing to his putter. Following this performance, which was more of an up-and-down than an up-and-under, the fines accumulated and will do so once more.
Last September, Kizzire won the Procore Championship at Silverado Resort in Napa, California, shooting 20-under to record his third career victory. The next week in the Sanderson Farms, he backed that up with a T11, but he was unable to maintain that good form, missing eight cuts in his final ten appearances.
