Lee Westwood turned his putter around after struggling last week at Bay Hill. (Halleran/Getty Images)

By Jonathan Wall, PGATOUR.COM Equipment Insider

Until last week, Lee Westwood had been using his Ping Scottsdale TR Anser 2B putter for training purposes. The 38-inch, mid-length model took a backseat at the beginning of the season to an adjustable-length Scottsdale TR Shea, but following a tie for 63rd at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard, Westwood decided to switch things up at the Shell Houston Open, putting the Anser 2B in the bag.

"It is about four inches longer than standard and you could use it as a belly putter," Westwood said after Thursday's round. "I've had it for a while, but it's just in the last couple of weeks I have felt comfortable enough to take it on the course. If you look at the putting green, a lot of the guys are using it."

Aside from being almost four inches longer than his previous putter, Westwood's Anser 2B has a 395-gram head and 155-gram belly grip, making it more of a counterbalanced model. The putter, which starts at 37.5 inches, could have been adjusted up to 46.5 inches, but Westwood decided to move it up only a 1/2 inch.

Westwood has worked with belly putters in the past but felt like the additional weight behind his hands and the heavier putter head — 40 grams more than the TR Shea putter — was more than enough to improve his putting stroke.

"It just helps me to swing the putter a bit easier," Westwood said. "I putted well today; I holed it from 18 feet on the second, 10 feet on the third, 20 feet on the fifth, 20 feet on the 14th and 18 feet on the 16th, so the putter is working well."

Westwood followed up Thursday's 4-under 68 with an even-par 72 on Friday and sits six shots back of the lead.

By Jonathan Wall, PGATOUR.COM Equipment Insider

Lee Westwood opened the season with PING's Tour Gorge WS (wide sole) wedge in the bag, but following a practice round with Ian Poulter last week at the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship, the Englishman decided to make a change to his 60-degree wedge, putting a PING Tour Gorge TS (thin sole) version in play at the Honda Classic.

Lee Westwood is hoping a tweak to his driver will help him this week in Arizona. (Gross/Getty Images)

By Jonathan Wall, PGATOUR.COM Equipment Insider

MARANA, Ariz. -- Lee Westwood has made a number of loft adjustments to his Ping G25 driver since he first put it in the bag at the beginning of the season. 

Two weeks after he took a half-degree of loft off the 11.5-degree driver in an attempt to reduce spin, Westwood went the opposite direction on Monday afternoon during a practice session on the Golf Club at Dove Mountain driving range.

Following last week's tie for 21st at the Northern Trust Open, Westwood told Ping Tour reps that he felt like the driver needed an adjustment to keep it in the air longer.

Ping Tour rep Matt Rollins worked with Westwood to rectify the situation, adding an extra half-degree of loft to improve the launch angle. But the loft adjustment actually caused the ball to spin too much off the tee, so Rollins went back and tipped the Aldila Tour Green 65X shaft in the driver 1 inch. 

The slight tweak seemed to work for Westwood, who was hitting the driver anywhere between 294 and 301 yards during the practice session.

By Jonathan Wall, PGATOUR.COM Equipment Insider

Here are some equipment news and notes from around the golf world this weekend:

Lee Westwood tests out new Ping G25 driver

David Toms puts Cleveland tour-only prototype irons in play at Humana Challenge