The man was money on anything inside 15 feet and capitalized on his great shot-making abilities to dominate golf courses and golf tournaments. That was how he won 14 majors and was poised to roar past Jack Nicklaus and become the greatest champion of all time.

At the end of the 2011 season, however, there was Woods rolling in crucial birdie putts on the final two holes to win the Chevron World Challenge. It wasn’t the U.S. Open or the Masters, but it was a win for Woods. More importantly for Woods, he seemed to have found a putter that had helped regain some magic: the Nike Method.

It wasn’t a quick or easy process to make that marriage, would you believe nine months? Over 50 putters? From hand-crafted prototypes to off-the-shelf stock putters, many people spent many hours trying to find a flat stick that the former, long-time No. 1 player in the world could make work and was comfortable with.

“Every characteristic of a putter is important to Tiger,” said David Franklin, the Master Model Maker at Nike, with a specialty in putters. “Obviously, specs like loft, lie, length and weight must be spot on. Those are actually easy; it’s the nuances and details that are the most difficult and the most important to Tiger.”

One of the key aspects of the Method putter is its’ Polymetal Groove Technology. That feature dampens impact vibrations for a soft touch, with an interspersed milled steel face that maintains audible feedback for proper distance control.

The result? Accurate, true-rolling forward spin. No skidding, no skipping.

“Tiger’s Method putters are machined like any other, but his extensively hand-worked to achieve perfect blends and angles. The characteristic of feel is very important to him,” Franklin said. “The putter must give him a very specific audible feedback.”

A bit of insight into the evolution of this putter: Woodstested various polymers to help Nike come up with the specific feel he was looking for. Nike then tested various groove configurations to get the desired ball roll. Then came the appropriate shape and fine details.

“It took several months of testing before Tiger put a putter in play at a professional event,” Franklin said. “Feedback from Tiger and all of our athletes was crucial in determining putter shapes, the specs for optimum performance and materials needed for preferred feel.

“Tiger will tell you he likes something, but better than that, he pulls no punches when he doesn’t like something. And from our standpoint, negative feedback always makes for a better product."