I like to find advice that feels less conventional. The guys who dominate the PGA Tour didn’t follow a “Golf 101” book. There are quirky, interesting, completely outside the box things that help them become who they are. This recent video from TaylorMade where Jacob Bridgeman shared some of his putting technique is no exception.
Bridgeman is statistically the best putter on the PGA Tour in 2026. He is first in Strokes Gained: Putting, first in average distance of putts made per round and third in avoiding three putts. He has two wins this season and when he explains how it’s done, almost none of it sounds like what you’ve already heard.
Here are three things he does that stood out to me.
1. Align with your thumbs, not the putter face
Bridgeman doesn’t use a line on his putter. He uses the face a little, but says it lines up more with his thumbs. Its grip is flat on the front. Instead of squaring the face to a line, imagine a line running into the hole and match it to how your thumbs feel.
He says he could take the head off the putter or make it invisible and still line up properly with just his thumbs.
It’s also where almost all of their grip pressure lives. He describes it as “very intentional pressure” in the thumbs with the rest of his fingers only there. He says he could almost take the other fingers off the club. To enhance the sensation, he regularly does a drill where he puts his palms flat and presses only his thumbs.
The idea that alignment and pressure can come from simple repeatable feel, rather than face lines and angles, is worth trying, regardless of your skill level.
2. He never thinks about his shot
Bridgeman never thinks about his shot and admits he couldn’t identify it in a video.
“If there’s one event where I think about my shot, it’s probably the ones where I missed the cut,” he says. Never see the putter back and never grind on arches or drill gate. The only things on his mind are reading and speed.
Lovers do the opposite. They look at the putter head, following it back, working on a shot that they say is correct.
“It never really worked for me,” he says. His theory is that if you are as reactive as possible and concerned about only one thing (getting the ball rolling correctly), you will eliminate every other variable.
That leads to how the putt ends. Don’t keep your head down and watch later. His eyes and then his head immediately follow the ball because he wants to see it roll on the line he has imagined. “I’m not a guy who aims at something and hits. I follow the path.”
Bridgeman’s warm-up routine is worth copying.
Start with an uphill quarter straight and a putting plate and try to do about 10 in a row before working your way around the hole. The goal is to have 30 putts within six feet before he reaches the first green.
.mgs-kr{container-type:inline-size;container-name:mgskr;margin:32px 0 !important;font-family:var(–kr-body,inherit)}.mgs-kr *{box-sizing:border-box !important}.mgs-kr .mgs-kr .mgs-kr .mgs-kr . !important;color:#121212 !important;padding:14px 14px 12px !important}.mgs-kr .mgs-kr__eyebrow{display:flex !important;align-items:center !important;gap:8px !important;font:700 11px/1 var(–“Ariallow Condensed,”Kr-Display Narrow”, Arial, sans-serif) !important;letter spacing:.14em !important;text transformation:uppercase !important}.mgs-kr .mgs-kr__bar{width:24px !important;height:8px !important;background:#F5C400 !important;flex:none !important}.mgs-mgsghead-mgs:mgs-kr_mgsk-mgs-kr: 0 0 !important;font:700 19px/1 var(–kr-display,”Barlow Condensed”,”Arial Narrow”,Arial,sans-serif) !important;text-transform:uppercase !important}.mgs-kr .mgs-kr__grid{display:grid !important;grid-template:-column-sgap:-column-template:-column-template !important;margin-top:10px !important}.mgs-kr .mgs-kr__card{display:grid !important;grid-template-columns:96px 1fr !important;background:#fff !important;color:heir !important;text-decoration:none !important;min-height;borderkrgrgs !important:8. .mgs-kr__card:focus-visible{outline:3px solid #121212 !important;outline-offset:2px !important}.mgs-kr .mgs-kr__img{position:relative !important;overflow:hidden !important;display:block !important;flex:none !pximportant;width;8min !important;height:auto !important;margin:0 !important;padding:0 !important;border-radius:0 !important;background-color:#D9D4C7 !important;background-size:cover !important;background-position:center !important;background-repeat:no-repeat !important}.mgs-kr .mgs-kr .mgs-padding:_mgs-padding: !important;display:flex !important;flex-direction:column !important;gap:3px !important;min-width:0 !important;justify-content:center !important}.mgs-kr .mgs-kr__tag{font-size:10px !important;font-weight:600 !important;letter-spacing:uppercase; !important;color:#4A4A45 !important}.mgs-kr .mgs-kr__title{margin:0 !important;font:700 17px/1.05 var(–kr-display,”Barlow Condensed”,”Arial Narrow”, Arial,sans-serif) !important;text-transform:overflow-mrportant:overflow-mrportant ! .mgs-kr__hook{margin:0 !important;font-size:13px !important;line-height:1.3 !important;color:#4A4A45 !important}.mgs-kr .mgs-kr__cta{display:none !important} /* Wide layout: three cards in a row. Key to the column width of the article, not to the screen. */ @container mgskr (min-width: 620px){.mgs-kr .mgs-kr__img{width:100% !important;min-height:0 !important;aspect-ratio:5/3 !important}.mgs-kr .mgs-kr__wrap {2padding !important:26pxr.pxmgskr .mgs-kr__eyebrow{font-size:14px !important}. .mgs-kr__heading{font-size:34px !important;margin-top:8px !important}.mgs-kr .mgs-kr__grid{grid-template-pepx:2,1:fr important !important;margin-top:20px !important}.mgs-kr .mgs-kr__card{display:flex !important;flex-direction:column !important}.mgs-kr .mgs-kr__body{padding:16px 18px 18px !important;gap:8px !important:flex-starify:1content !important:flex-starify:1content !important}.mgs-kr .mgs-kr__tag{font-size:12px !important}.mgs-kr .mgs-kr__title{font-size:26px !important}.mgs-kr .mgs-kr__hook{font-size:15px !important} .mgs-kr__cta{display:inline-block !important;align-self:flex-end !important;margin-top:auto !important;background:#F5C400 !important;padding:6px 12px !important;font-size:14px !important;font-weight:600 !important}} } /* Container browsers do not support width of the browser. (container-type:inline-size){ @media (min-width:760px){.mgs-kr .mgs-kr__img{width:100% !important;min-height:0 !important;aspect-ratio:5/3 !important}.mgs-kr .mgs-kr__template:-grid:-100% !important; !important;gap:20px !important}.mgs-kr .mgs-kr___card{display:flex !important;flex-direction:column !important}.mgs-kr .mgs-kr__cta{display:inline-block !important;align-self:flex-end !important;margin-top:0pximportant :00000000000000000000 12px !important} } } .mgs-kr .mgs-kr__tag,.mgs-kr .mgs-kr__hook,.mgs-kr .mgs-kr__cta{font-family: inherit !important} .mgs-kr a.mgs-kr__cta a.mgs-kr__card:link,.mgs-kr a.mgs-kr__card:visitato,.mgs-kr a.mgs-kr__card:hover,.mgs-kr a.mgs-kr__card:focus,.mgs-kr a.mgs-kr a.mgs-kr:2{2:_2#1:1:2#active !important;text-decoration:none !important;border:0 !important;box-shadow:none !important;background-image:none !important;outline-offset:2px} .mgs-kr a.mgs-kr__card *{text-decoration:none !important;border:0 !important;box-shadow:none :flo:noneimportant ! .mgs-kr a.mgs-kr__card *:not (.mgs-kr__img){background-image:none !important} .mgs-kr a.mgs-kr__card .mgs-kr__title{color:#121212 !important} .mgs-kr a.mgs-kr__card .mgs-kr__tag,.mgs-kr a.mgs-kr__card .mgs-kr__hook{color:#4A4A45 !important} .mgs-kr a.mgs-kr__card .mgs-kr__cta{color:#121212}krmg .mgs-kr__heading,.mgs-kr .mgs-kr__title{font-style:normal !important;letter-spacing:0 !important} @media (hover:hover){.mgs-kr a.mgs-kr__card:hover .mgs-kr__ration:{underlinedecoration !important;text-decoration-color:#F5C400 !important;text-decoration-thickness:3px !important;text-underline-offset:3px !important}} .mgs-kr .mgs-kr__title,.mgs-kr .mgs-kr__hook,.mgs-grkr !important;text-indent:0 !important} .mgs-kr .mgs-kr__img img{position:absolute !important;top:0 !important;left:0 !important;width:100% !important;height:100% !important;max-width:none !important;object-fit:covered !important;margin;border:0 !important;margin:0 !important; !important;border-radius:0 !important;box-shadow:none !important;filter:none !important} .mgs-kr.mgs-kr–noimg .mgs-kr__img{display:none !important} .mgs-kr.mgs-kr–noimg a.mgs-kr.mgs-kr–noimg a.mgs-kr.mgs-kr–noimg !important;min-height:0 !important} .mgs-kr.mgs-kr–noimg a.mgs-kr__card .mgs-kr__body{border-top:4px solid #F5C400 !important;padding-top:12px !important;justify-content:flex-start !kr important} .mgs-kr__nl{display:flex !important;justify-content:center !important;margin:18px 0 2px !important} .mgs-kr a.mgs-kr__nlbtn,.mgs-kr a.mgs-kr__nlbtn:-link,.mg a.mgs-kr__nlbtn:visited,.mgs-kr a.mgs-kr__nlbtn:hover,.mgs-kr a.mgs-kr__nlbtn:focus,.mgs-kr a.mgs-kr__nlbtn:1,0 mimportant !{displaywidth:block:0! !important;box-size:border-box !important;background:#F5C400 !important;color:#121212 !important;text-decoration:none !important;text-align:center !important;font-family:heir !important;font-weight:700 !important;font-size:15px !important:normal;letter-spacing ! !important;text-transform:none !important;padding:14px 18px !important;border:0 !important;border-radius:0 !important;box-shadow:none !important;margin:0 !important} .mgs-kr a.mgs-kr__nlbtn:hover{background:#E6B800}kr.mgs-important a.mgs-kr__nlbtn:focus-visible{outline:3px solid #121212 !important;outline-offset:2px !important} @container mgskr (min-width: 620px){.mgs-kr .mgs-kr__nl{margin:24px !-important} 0 a.mgs-kr__nlbtn,.mgs-kr__nlbtn a.mgs-kr__nlbtn:link,.mgs-kr a.mgs-kr__nlbtn:visitat,.mgs-kr a.mgs-kr__nlbtn:hover,.rg a.mgs-kr__nlbtn:focus,.mgs-kr a.mgs-kr__nlbtn:active{display:inline-block !important;width:auto !important;max-width:100% !important;font-size:17px !important;padding:15px 34px !important}}
3. Don’t practice green reading. Collect putts.
Most golfers follow a system for reading greens. Bridgeman was told that the more putts you see going in, the better you read. He looks at his putti and his playmates. When a partner lines up, he walks over, takes a look, compares with his own reading and then looks at the ball to see who was right.
Their process is simple. Walk around the putt imagining a line from the marker to the hole, check the slope from the side to gauge the speed and go back behind the ball to see if the line matches up as well. Above the ball, he takes two practice shots; the first watching the ball leave on the line and the second dialing in speed.
I take it away
I didn’t copy any of it and look forward to becoming the best putter ever. But the common themes here to keep it simple, pay attention to one thing and let the sense of playing a part are good things to bring to your own game.
The place Jacob Bridgeman does 3 things with a putter that no “Golf 101” book will teach you appeared first MyGolfSpy.