A closer look at Bryson’s other key club, the putter

GolfWRX: How did the relationship with Bryson begin?

Finley: Bryson uses the Flightscope (launch monitor) and the tech that Bryson works with, Alex Trujillo, is a friend of ours. Bryson was really struggling on the greens and Alex sent Bryson’s coach Mike Schy an image of our Descending Loft Technology explainer. After missing the cut at The Honda Classic in 2017, Mike asked Bryson to come up to Orlando to see if SIK could help. He proceeded to take the tournament rental car from Miami to Orlando. We spent two days going through absolutely every possible configuration of head styles, sightlines, hosel options, shaft options, etc. We tested on the Quintic Ball Roll System inside and outside with each option. We probably spent 20 hours with Bryson for the first two days.

GolfWRX: In testing with him, what exactly was he trying to gain and or fix that he thought your putters could remedy?

Finley: When Bryson came in, he was just looking for consistency. Obviously, at times he was a good putter. He had already won the NCAA Championship and U.S. Amateur but he was just too streaky for his liking. He was not, at that time, able to quantify why he was streaky and that led to inefficient practice. We identified that he was inconsistent with his distance control and a bit below average concerning face angle at impact. The arm-lock method addressed the face angle and our technology proved to best help the distance control variable.

WRX: Transitioning into arm-lock was something Bryson did a few years back. What inspired that change?

Finley: In a word: Consistency. We went through every conceivable option (even face-on putting) and the arm-lock proved to be the most consistent method we tried. It also is the method that we could best build a system around to quantify distance and face-angle at impact with the ability to max out the range of motion and create a true pendulum-type stroke. There is less breakdown in mechanics with arm-lock as there are fewer moving parts.

WRX: From a putter standpoint what did SIK do to make a putter that complemented exactly what he was looking for?

Finley: The main issue he was having was distance control. That is the main thing our technology addresses. Even the best players in the world return the shaft from address to impact with some variance. Our technology, Descending Loft Technology, addresses these variances by working to launch the ball at a consistent angle regardless of shaft angle. To Bryson, that was attractive if it was true. Bryson tests everything relentlessly, he uses a very scientific, data-driven approach to his game and our putter tested better than every other putter in the market. In the beginning, we tested ours against his gamer and our putter performed better, but as he gained prominence almost every manufacturer in the industry left putters in his locker. He tested them all and we always won.