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It was always probably going to be a short stay, but Jordan Spieth revealed on Wednesday that his mallet putter's stint in his bag only lasted 36 holes this time around. 

For the third time in his career, Spieth employed a mallet-style Scotty Cameron putter last week at the AT&T Byron Nelson. He missed the cut after two rounds and promptly went back to the flat stick that has won him all nine of his PGA Tour events, the Scotty Cameron 009.

"I was having a tough time aligning the ball up where I wanted it or getting comfortable with my setup with the 009," said Spieth at the Dean & DeLuca Invitational on Wednesday. "That's why I made a switch to a putter that kind of lined itself up.

"Just lost a little bit of the feel that I had with the putter I've been using for however many years. But what it did, was now I feel a lot more comfortable with my alignment and feel like I got my set up back to where I want it and I have that feel."

Spieth has more or less been faithful to his 009 since he was in high school, so its return this week is not really a surprise. He was always going to go back to it. The only question here was when? The nine-time winner answered that this week at Colonial as he tries to defend his 2016 title.

"[Caddie] Michael [Greller] and I played 36 holes on Sunday at Dallas National where I play and had a couple great putting rounds just as a day back to get going," said Spieth. "That kind of made the decision that it was time, and I felt comfortable back on short- and mid-range putts with my alignment.

"It's all been setup related. So I just needed to look at something different. I didn't know if it would be a week or a month, and ended up being a week and it feels good now."

He did say other players and folks in golf were a little surprised he switched to begin with. Spieth is currently outside the top 50 on the PGA Tour in strokes gained putting, though, which is pretty low for him.

"I'm not even really sure what the reaction was other than the players on the putting green, which was significant," said Spieth. "Like, 'Why in the world are you switching?' Which is probably what it was elsewhere.

"No, I mean, it was personal. I did things for what I think is going to make me a better player. I felt like it was the right decision. I wouldn't change it going back at all. It needed to happen.

"Just because I putted well with my putter now doesn't mean I couldn't have been putting better with a different one. It's not the putter. The putter just allows me to have the same kind of feel for my speed and the confidence looking down knowing I've made big putts."