Alistair Docherty explains how a unique putter setup led to his first victory

Alistair Docherty opened his 2026 Korn Ferry Tour season with a strong result, finishing second in the Bahamas in his second start of the year. Two consecutive missed cuts followed, and he began searching for answers.

One problem was his putting.

“I was working with a putting coach this offseason, and we were doing a bunch of drills, and I just couldn’t get my hands to sit properly,” Docherty said on the latest episode of GOLF’s Subpar podcast. “I kept hitting the tees, I couldn’t get it started on line. And I grabbed a wedge, and I told him, ‘I putt so good with a wedge, what’s the difference?’”

The coach asked Docherty what he felt with the wedge in his hands.

“Well, my hands don’t have any flat part [to grab] — I just grip it and I roll it,” he told him. “And I’m looking at a spot and I roll it over the spot. There’s nothing else to it.”

The exercise made Docherty think more carefully about his equipment, particularly his grips. He went home, took a putter he liked, put a regular grip on it and cut it down to just shorter than his 60-degree wedge. He then took it to the course and “pretty much hooped all day.”

He liked it so much that he brought it to his next start, the Argentina Open, and won. He still uses it, and it is what makes his bag unique compared with those of other professionals.

“I have 14 of the exact same grips on my clubs,” Docherty said.

The win in Argentina was crucial because it helped Docherty earn enough points to secure his PGA Tour card for the following season. He will be a PGA Tour rookie in 2027, a major accomplishment after several previous near-misses while trying to earn his card.

“If there’s one part of my game that needs to be worked on, it’s putting and short game,” Docherty said. “But if the putter starts feeling good, I kind of take care of business.”

Based on Josh Berhow’s report for GOLF.com and Docherty’s interview on GOLF’s Subpar podcast.