Scott, of course, was the man who won the Bridgestone Invitational with a chest-high implement, while Keegan Bradley won the PGA Championship at the Atlanta Athletic Club with a belly-putter.
Jacobson will tell you that he is not easily swayed by trends. He used one putter for 19 years before putting it out to grass, while he has had his latest model, an Odyssey, for the last four years.
Today, the Odyssey was continuing to do its best to show up its longer relations. It began by making a trio of birdies from the second while, when it came to the back nine and its owner was looking for a couple more, it holed from 30 feet at the 13th and a little matter of 40 feet at the 14th.
"Those putts certainly kept the round rolling," said the American-based Swede, who said on Friday that he has his eye on a place in Jose Maria Olazabal's team for Medinah.
Where some players prefer to be a shot or so behind going into the last day, Jacobson is entirely happy with where he is. "I've still got to shoot a low score but they will have to catch me, which is a lot nicer. "Sometimes I feel a little bit stressed if I start off a few shots behind."
Oosthuizen is another doing his bit to bring the shorter putter back into fashion. He did not putt as well as he had done in his second-round 63 but he still holed enough to hand in the 68 which took him to 13-under.
Much of the focus today was on Zhang Xin-jun who posted the 64 which paved the way for him to record the best finish yet by a Chinese player. This former golf course guard, who is ten under par, kept his eyes firmly on the ball and talked about how he deals with pressure by concentrating only on his own play. "I never," he said, "compare myself to others."
Jacobson, for his part, said that he thinks only of what he is doing as opposed to the outcome. "That usually takes care of any potential tension but, if I am feeling it a bit, I will take a few deep breaths."
This former winner of the Hong Kong Open is in mainland China for a first time and is more than a little impressed
He loves the Sheshan course and has been marvelling at the big crowds. "You can feel that interest is on the up," said the player.
With so many great courses having appeared in China, Jacobson said he envied all those children who are setting out in the game.
"The kids that start playing golf are going to have the best of facilities for training and playing, which is a huge part of creating more good golfers."
Which is, of course, precisely what the China Golf Association wants to hear.
by Lewine Mair
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