American D. A. Points confessed to ‘pinching’ his mother’s putter and then go out and shoot an eight under par 64 to take the opening round lead in the Shell Houston Open.

Points needed just 23 putts using an old Ping Anser putter that he had taken from his mother’s bag when he was around 12-years old.

“I pulled out a putter out of my mom’s bag when I was probably 11 or 12 years old,” he said.

D.A. Points with PGA Tour’s Doug Milney (left) after shooting a first round 64. (Photo – www.golfbytourmiss.com)

“It’s not a Scottsdale like the famous, real expensive ones that you hear about. It’s a great putter, and as a matter of fact, I was using it when I won a couple of State Ams with it in Illinois.

“When I turned pro, I was using it for a while, then I put it away and then brought it back out again, and then I actually sent it to Ping, the Ping rep, Matt Rowlands and I are friends.

“I said to Matt, hey, can you kind of clean this up and maybe add a little weight to it, if possible.

“So Ping took a look at it and they kind of refurbished it and they put some tungsten weights in the toe and heel to get it some weight.  It’s just a real good-looking putter, and I brought it with me this week because I just had been putting so bad.

“So I thought maybe I’ll pull this old putter out of the gargae and maybe it will have some magic on it.

“Sure enough, today it did.”

Phil Mickelson ended the round tied for 52nd with a level par 72 and he played with defending champion Hunter Mahan, who didn’t hit the ball his best and it finally caught up with him at the end for a 74.

Also in the group was Australian Geoff Ogilvy, who needs to finish in the top 50 in the world to get into the Masters. Ogilvy is currently at No. 50, though he will lose spots through the formula this week. He had three penalty shots in his round of 73.