Compiled by Multiple-Award-Winning PGA Professional Brendon R. Elliott, PrimePutt’s Director of Instruction and Lead Writer
This week proved something I’ve believed for years: great putting isn’t about making everything. It’s about not falling apart when things get tight. At PGA National, the Bear Trap punished players who couldn’t keep their nerves in check. In Singapore, Hannah Green didn’t win by being perfect but by staying steady all week. In Stellenbosch, Casey Jarvis showed that sometimes the biggest roars are for a par that saves your tournament, not a birdie.
Let me break down what these three winners did with their putters and what you can actually use in your own game.
PGA TOUR: Nico Echavarria Wins With “No Wasted Strokes”
Nico Echavarria closed with a 5-under 66 to win at 17-under, and here’s the headline detail: he didn’t make a bogey all weekend. That’s not just “nice ball-striking.” That’s stress management. It’s the kind of golf that keeps your putter in your hands for pars instead of damage control.
Echavarria averaged 1.642 putts per green in regulation and hit 73.6% of greens for the week. In real terms, he gave himself looks and converted enough without losing shots to sloppy first-putt speed. He finished 7th in Strokes Gained: Putting for the week using an Odyssey Tri-Hot 5K 7 mallet. That steady, predictable consistency all tournament long is what separates winners from one-day wonders.
Compare that to Brooks Koepka’s Round 1 at PGA National: he lost 2.165 strokes putting and ranked 111th on the greens for the day, an opening round that can put your entire week in a hole if you don’t respond. But Koepka did respond. He bounced back immediately in Round 2 by gaining +3.939 strokes putting (2nd for the round), stayed solid the rest of the way, and finished the week +2.736 in Strokes Gained: Putting (15th overall) while placing 9th on the leaderboard.
That’s the nuance next to Echavarria’s steady, never-flashy approach (7th in SG: Putting): one bad putting day can change the script, but a strong rebound can rescue it. The gap between a career putting week and a career week often comes down to stabilizing quickly and not letting one round snowball.
Shane Lowry had a three-shot lead late, then hit it in the water on 16 and 17 for back-to-back doubles, opening the door for Echavarria. That’s the sneaky truth about “putting weeks”: sometimes the tournament is decided because one player kept the ball in play long enough to let the putts matter.
Echavarria’s post-round comments fit the PGA National vibe perfectly. He talked about needing “good breaks” and even joked that winning there can require that if you’re not Scottie Scheffler, striping it to perfect spots all day. That’s a very putter-friendly mindset: play for chances, accept imperfection, stay patient.
Your takeaway:PGA National rewards the player who two-putts aggressively and one-putts opportunistically. You don’t need a career week. You need fewer wasted strokes.
Quick drill (10 minutes): “Bear Trap Speed Ladder.”
Drop 5 balls at 20, 25, 30, 35 and 40 feet on a flat mat or practice green. Your job: finish every ball in a 3-foot “tap-in” window past the hole. You’re training what wins on scary finishes: first-putt pace that avoids a three-putt.
LPGA: Hannah Green Wins With Steadiness and a Turning Point
Hannah Green posted 118 total putts for the week with 1.69 putts per green in regulation and just 3 three-putts. That’s solid work. But runner-up Auston Kim finished with 107 putts, fewer than Green, and still lost. Why? Kim’s efficiency wasn’t as consistent when it mattered most. Pauline Roussin-Bouchard had an elite 1.67 putts per GIR with only 1 three-putt. Minjee Lee was nearly identical to Green’s numbers. So if everyone was putting well, what separated Green?
Her rounds stayed predictable: 30, 28, 30, 30 putts. No spike. No meltdown. While others had one or two quieter rounds mixed with noisier ones, Green’s consistency meant she was never racing to catch up. In a no-cut event where the field is deep and talented, that’s the difference between a trophy and a runner-up check.
Green called No. 15 “the real turning point.” That’s perfect for putting instruction because it gives you a coaching wedge: every tournament has a hole where the winner chooses the right level of aggression. Winners don’t always make a bomb. They often make a smart putt (or a smart two-putt) at the exact moment everybody else starts forcing it.
She also said that winning early gives her more “flexibility” in her schedule, a subtle confidence point that matters in putting. When your season already has a win, you putt freer because you’re not chasing validation every week.
Green didn’t win because she never missed. She won because she kept her rounds quiet while others had noise. And her stat line supports the lesson: three 3-putts for the entire week in a no-cut event is elite mistake control, especially when contenders like Roussin-Bouchard and Lee were equally efficient but couldn’t sustain that steadiness across all four rounds.
Your takeaway: Your best putting rounds aren’t the ones where you “make everything.” They’re the ones where you never give shots away.
Quick drill (12 minutes): “Two-Putt Zones.”
Set a tee 3 feet past the hole. From 25 to 35 feet, roll 10 balls with one goal: finish between the hole and the tee. If you go short, you weren’t committed. If you blow it past the tee, your speed isn’t tournament-ready. This is how pros build “quiet” scorecards.
DP World Tour: Casey Jarvis Wins With a Par Putt That Felt Like a Birdie
Set a tee 3 feet past the hole. From 25 to 35 feet, roll 10 balls with one goal: finish between the hole and the tee. If you go short, you weren’t committed. If you blow it past the tee, your speed isn’t tournament-ready. This is how pros build “quiet” scorecards.
On Saturday at Stellenbosch Golf Club, Casey Jarvis missed his second shot on 18, far right into hospitality. Then he holed a 23-footer for par in front of his home crowd. He called it his greatest putt ever. That’s the kind of moment that remains with you because it shows what a player is made of when everything’s on the line.
He won by three shots at 14-under (266) on Sunday, securing a Masters invitation in the process. A three-shot victory on that kind of setup isn’t luck.
Here’s what’s worth knowing about Jarvis beyond that one week: he’s currently 5th on the DP World Tour in Putts per GIR (1.69) this season. That’s not a fluke. That’s a player who has built consistency across multiple tournaments, which is exactly why he was in a position to make that 23-footer when it mattered most. A lot of golfers practice 20-footers like they’re bonus birdies. Pros treat them like must-save pars, because in contention, you’re constantly cleaning up small mistakes before they become big numbers. Jarvis’s season ranking proves he’s mastered that discipline.
Your takeaway: The putts that make your season aren’t always for birdie. They’re the ones that stop the bleeding.
Quick drill (10 minutes): “Par-Save Pressure.”
Make a circle of 8 balls at 6 feet. You must make 6 of 8 before you leave. Miss early? Restart. This builds the exact muscle Jarvis showed: calm, repeatable mechanics under consequence.
The Putting Board: Season Leaders
Here’s who’s putting it best so far this season across all three tours. These aren’t one-week wonders; they’re the players building consistency when it counts most.
PGA TOUR (season snapshot)
Putts per hole leaders: Scottie Scheffler (1.63), Sam Ryder (1.64), Jacob Bridgeman (1.64), David Lipsky (1.65), Tommy Fleetwood (1.66).
LPGA (season snapshot)
Putting average leaders: Danielle Kang (26.50), Minami Katsu (26.75), Grace Kim (27.13), Auston Kim (27.13), Brooke Matthews (27.50).
DP World Tour (season snapshot)
Average Putts Per Round leader: Christiaan Bezuidenhout (26.7). Putts per GIR: Casey Jarvis (1.69, ranked 5th)
Pressure Putts drops every Monday with the week’s best putting stories, stats and drills from the PGA TOUR, LPGA and DP World Tour. Got a putting question or drill request? Drop us a line.
