| Famous Putters Part Two | | | | venerable 8802. |
| Number Four: Wilson 8802 | | | | Number Three: Calamity Jane |
| Arnold Palmer made it famous, but one of the | | | | Arguably the U.S.â most famous golfer |
| best putters of all time â Ben Crenshaw | | | | (Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods being the only real |
| â elevated the Wilson 8802 to a special | | | | competition), Bobby Jones mastered golf long |
| place in golfâs history. Nicknamed | | | | before The Masters came to be. His putter, |
| âLittle Ben,â | | | | nicknamed Calamity Jane, was a simple offset |
| Crenshawâs 8802 was with him through | | | | blade putter forged by Condie and sold by William |
| thick and thin, but a replica was used to win the | | | | Winton. The putter was almost 20 years old and |
| improbable one in 1995 (see comments below). | | | | already had its famous nickname when it was |
| Said Crenshawâs dad of Benâs | | | | given to Jones in 1920. Jones replaced the original |
| original 8802, âIt was just a putter in | | | | in 1926 with a duplicate known as Calamity Jane II |
| Harvey Penickâs shop. Ben felt it and | | | | (and mmade by Spalding). Jones won the last 10 |
| waggled it around for a while. âDad, | | | | of his major championships with Calamity Jane II |
| Iâd like to have it,â he said, so I | | | | and later gave the putter to the USGA Museum. |
| bought it for him. That clubâs been the | | | | The original remains on display at Augusta National |
| best provider in the family.â The putter | | | | Golf Club. |
| cost Crenshawâs dad $20. | | | | After winning the Grand Slam in 1930 and retiring, |
| The 8802 is a simple putter with no heel-toe | | | | Jones began consulting for Spalding â at |
| weighting to speak of and a very clean, simple | | | | that time a clubmaking giant. From 1932 to 1973, |
| look. Its design may have been inspired by | | | | Spalding produced a line of clubs under Bobby |
| Calamity Jane (see below), and it won nearly as | | | | Jonesâ name. Dozens of Calamity Jane |
| many majors. Arnold Palmer used the 8802 (and | | | | models in both hickory and steel shafts were |
| a small revision, the 8813) to win several of his | | | | made in those 40+ years, but none contained the |
| majors, and Phil Mickelson has always seemed to | | | | magic of the original and none won a major of |
| putt best with his remake (currently made by his | | | | their own. |
| sponsor Callaway â i.e. Odyssey) of the | | | | |