Tommy Fleetwood details how he feels about his new putter after shooting 68 on day two of Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship

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Tommy Fleetwood is in a four-way tie for second after day two of the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship at Yas Links.

Fleetwood started the day in the lead after equalling the Yas Links course record on Thursday.

The 33-year-old picked up three shots on the front nine before making birdies on 13 and 15 on the back. Unfortunately, a bogey on the par-four 16th prevented the Southport native from taking solo second.

Fleetwood has a new putter in the bag this week, and the flat stick certainly did the job during the opening 18. Fleetwood’s putting wasn’t quite as hot during Friday’s early play, however.

Tommy Fleetwood discusses new putter at Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship

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Speaking during his press duties after the second round, Fleetwood revealed that his unique TaylorMade putter is still feeling good despite it not being quite as hot on Friday.

“The work that we did with TaylorMade, like the thought process and then the design process. It’s been great. It’s been great practising with something new and something that feels really, really good,” Fleetwood said.

“Something that I feel like is mine if you like, and having that input in the design and yesterday was an unbelievable opener for it. It couldn’t have really gotten any better.”

The 33-year-old continued: “I’m grateful to all the guys that I work with. I’m always trying to find something that can give you even just the slight edge, and so far, so good. I love playing with it, and it’s just nice when you put something new in. Obviously, I haven’t played a tournament with it yet.

“It’s felt great in practice, and to put it in competition and hit so many good putts, and even today, makeable putts I had, I felt like I hit good putts. You’re not going to hole all of them. Just doesn’t happen. But my pace has been really good. I hit a lot of good putts, so yeah, I’m looking forward to the challenge over the weekend.”

The putter must stay hot for Tommy Fleetwood at the HSBC Championship

Fleetwood, as has been well documented, is yet to win a PGA Tour event, and his putting can be largely to blame.

The flat stick is crucial when it comes to getting tournaments over the line, and too often, Fleetwood is losing strokes to the rest of the field.

In his three recent DP World Tour events, Fleetwood has finished third twice and 15th at the BMW PGA Championship. However, during all three tournaments, the 33-year-old lost strokes to the field on the greens.

At the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, Fleetwood lost 0.74 strokes per round with the putter, which equated to over three shots over the entire event. This deficit would’ve seen Fleetwood force a playoff.

Hopefully, with the new club in his bag, victories will only be a matter of time when the 2025 PGA Tour season gets underway in January.