Pádraig backs belly putter axe
As widely predicted, the St Andrews-based R&A and the New Jersey-based USGA announced players at both the professional and amateur level will be in breach of the Rules of Golf from January 1, 2016 if observed anchoring a club.
The rule change has been prompted by the belly putter anchoring actions of American Keegan Bradley winning last year’s PGA Championship and compatriot Webb Simpson doing the same in capturing this year’s US Open plus Ernie Els a month later winning a third British Open. The club will be illegal in just over three years.
There was concern at the elite amateur level also when a 14-year-old Chinese boy won the right to tee up in next year’s Masters and British Open using a belly putter to win the coveted Asian Amateur title.
“Throughout the 600-year history of golf, the essence of playing the game has been to grip the club with the hands and swing it freely at the ball,” said USGA chief executive Mike Davis.
“The player’s challenge is to control the movement of the entire club in striking the ball, and anchoring the club alters the nature of that challenge.
“Our conclusion is that the Rules of Golf should be amended to preserve the traditional character of the golf swing by eliminating the growing practice of anchoring the club.”
In making the announcement, the USGA cited 11% of PGA Tour players were anchoring clubs to their bodies throughout the 2011 season while that number increased to 15% this season.
Davis stated also at some PGA Tour events this past year that number was as high as 20% to 25%.
As well, Davis said the change in the rules will take place as golf instructors were also now encouraging players at all levels of the benefits of ‘anchoring’ the belly or long-handled putter rather than the intended action over the past 600 years of ‘free-swinging’ golf clubs.
“It would be hard to find anybody in the professional game using a long putter or belly putter who didn’t know this announcement was coming,” said Harrington.
“It was timely to make the change and protect the traditions of the game so it doesn’t become so embedded in the game that kids in particular think it’s the right or normal thing to do.
“It’s a decision for the benefit of the game, full stop. Just as the grooves rule was for the benefit of the game, just like the spring effect in the driver was for the benefit of the game so too will this change benefit the game.”
There has been suggestions from two exponents of the belly putter, American Keegan Bradley and Sweden’s Carl Pettersson, may consider instigating civil litigation if a ban were to come in place.
And while R&A chief Peter Dawson hinted both ruling bodies would use every legal means possible to defend the new rule, Harrington says that both Bradley and Pettersson, put simply, have got three years to get used to again putting conventionally.
Indeed, Pettersson suggested he would lose 16 years practising and using the belly putter if he had to go back to a standard length putter.
“Well, he’s had 16 good years of using them but then I also won three Majors with box grooves and I’d love to have them back but I can’t,” said Harrington.
“I had used a composite set in all three Majors wins getting absolutely the very n’th advantage legally that you could.
“But if the belly putters were coming on the scene now, they’d not be passed.
“And yes, they should have done it 16 or 20 years ago and if they didn’t ban them now, they’d become institutionalised with kids coming in and using them.
“It has become so commonplace now that it’s starting to get entrenched so they needed to put a stop to it.”
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