Posted April 6, 2013, 9:09 pm
BY

Sports Editor

Anchored putting could be banned

Rules makers awash in controversy over proposal

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West Lake Country Club golf pro Drew Belt anchoring a putter against his chest. Photos to follow demonstrate what would be permitted and prohibited in the ban proposed by the USGA and R&A. (PHOTO ILLUSTRATION)
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PERMITTED: Traditional grips, such as the one shown, and cross-handed grips.
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PERMITTED: Long putters not anchored, such as with the grip resting against a forearm
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PROHIBITED: The end of a long putter anchored against the player’s chin
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PROHIBITED: A long putter that is anchored against the player’s chest
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PROHIBITED: An anchor point created by the player’s forearm
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PROHIBITED: Golf pro demonstrates a putter anchored against his stomach.
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Drew Belt is a golf pro at West Lake Country Club. In a series of photographs he shows both sanctioned and questioned grips that anchor the putter against various parts of the body.

The U.S. Golf Association and the Royal and Ancient Golf Club jointly announced in November a proposed rule change that would ban the anchored putting stroke, which has been around for decades and until recent years was primarily used by golfers fighting their nerves when faced with short putts.

“In the last two years, however, more and more players have adopted the anchored stroke. Golf’s governing bodies have observed this upsurge at all levels of the game and noted that more coaches and players are advocating this method. The decision to act now is based on a strong desire to reverse this trend and to preserve the traditional golf stroke,” the USGA said in a statement announcing the proposed change.

Golf’s governing bodies have pinpointed Jan. 1, 2016, as the date when the new rule would take effect. But the announcement has already generated plenty of feedback, particularly from professional golfers who use the anchored stroke.

PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem announced in late February that the tour and its policy board opposes the proposed ban. PGA of America President Ted Bishop, the leader of the game’s teaching body, also has spoken out against it.

The USGA and R&A are expected to make their final ruling on the matter this spring. As of early April, no decision had been reached.

Augusta National Golf Club and Masters Tournament Chairman Billy Payne has not issued a formal statement on the issue, but historically the Masters has followed rules set by the USGA and the R&A.

The Masters is the only major championship that has not been won by a golfer using a long putter or anchored stroke.

Keegan Bradley was the first to break through in the majors with his win at the PGA Championship in 2011. In 2012, Webb Simpson won the U.S. Open, and Ernie Els claimed the British Open using the anchored stroke.
The 90-day comment period on the proposal ended Feb. 28.

“We will continue to review and evaluate the feedback that we have received,” the USGA said in a statement the next day. “As we have throughout this process, we will continue to confer with the R&A in our work to reach a final resolution on this matter.”

The issue is also shaping up as a battle between the U.S. and the rest of the world. The PGA Tour and PGA of America oppose the ban, while the European Tour, British PGA, Ladies European Tour and Sunshine Tour all support the game’s rules makers.

THE PROPOSAL

According to the USGA, the proposed change would relabel current Rule 14-1 (The ball must be fairly struck at with the head of the club and must not be pushed, scraped or spooned) as Rule 14-1a, and establish Rule 14-1b:

14-1B ANCHORING THE CLUB: In making a stroke, the player must not anchor the club, either “directly” or by use of an “anchor point.”

NOTE 1: The club is anchored “directly” when the player intentionally holds the club or a gripping hand in contact with any part of his body, except that the player may hold the club or a gripping hand against a hand or forearm.

NOTE 2: An “anchor point” exists when the player intentionally holds a forearm in contact with any part of his body to establish a gripping hand as a stable point around which the other hand may swing the club.

PENALTY: A two-stroke penalty in stroke play and loss of hole in match play, as with any other breach of Rule 14-1.

THE DEBATE

Does anchored putting give golfers an advantage? Or is the proposed ban simply about the purity of the game of golf?

WHY ANCHOR?

Long putters and belly putters were originally devised to help golfers in their battle to make short putts.

Golfers with the “yips” – defined as nervousness or tension that causes a golfer to perform ineffectively, especially on short putts – have long sought a remedy.

The anchored putting stroke helps by taking the hands out of the equation on short putts, greatly removing the chance of nerves taking over and the golfer making a shaky stroke and missing.

Tommy Armour, the Scottish pro who won the British Open, U.S. Open and PGA during his career, is believed to have come up with the term “yips.”

“The yips are that ghastly time when, with the first movement of the putter, the golfer blacks out, loses sight of the ball and hasn’t the remotest idea of what to do with the putter or, occasionally, that he is holding a putter at all,” Armour said.

WHY BAN NOW?

Opponents of the rule change argue that anchored putting has been around for a few decades. Why change it now?

The governing bodies, however, say it is their responsibility to define how the game is played. Past changes include the edict that the “ball must be fairly struck and not be pushed, scraped or spooned” and the 1968 prohibition on the “croquet” style of putting.

Some golf leaders fear that if the ban goes into effect it will cause recreational players to abandon the game.

USGA Executive Director Mike Davis sees it differently.

“I think the difference now is we are seeing golfers who no longer see this as a stroke of last resort,” Davis said. “This is all about the future of the game. It’s about us defining the game, defining a stroke, clarifying a very controversial and divisive situation.”

DID RECENT MAJOR WINNERS DRIVE THE PROPOSED CHANGE?

Many people think that victories in major championships by Keegan Bradley, Webb Simpson and Ernie Els during the past two years brought the anchoring issue to the forefront.

Bradley won the 2011 PGA Championship, becoming the first golfer to win a major with anchoring.

The 2012 U.S. Open was the first major win for Simspon, and Els won the 2012 British Open for his fourth major.

None of the three, however, dominated the putting statistics in their big wins using the anchored approach.

The key for Bradley and Els came in the number of greens hit in regulation, which gave them more birdie opportunities. Simpson, on the other hand, didn’t dominate any of the statistics. He finished in the top 20 in all three major categories.

Keegan Bradley, on the proposed rule change:

“Yeah, it’s been actually pretty difficult. You know, especially lately, I’m being called a cheater more than

ever by fans. You know, it’s really tough. I can’t imagine how people can say that to me or to anybody out here. It’s been really difficult, and I’m sick of it, to be honest. I’m ready to be over it.” – Feb. 26, at Honda Classic

Webb Simpson, on adjusting to the proposed change:

“I’ve been working with a short putter now for a couple years every time I go home. I’ve heard rumors of

this for a long time, so it was one of those things where I’m not worried. I expected the day to come, and so I just wanted to be ready. I didn’t want to be shocked.” – Nov. 27, at World Challenge

Ernie Els, on anchored putting:

"I’ve used it now for a year. You know … when I won The Open Championship, I was 71st in putting. I made a great putt on 18 which I’ll remember for the rest of my life, but I was still 71st in putting. Why I went to the belly putter was that I felt uncomfortable on shorter putts. I think I’m a little better.” – Feb. 27, at Honda Classic

TWO SETS OF RULES?

All of the talk about changing the putting rule has helped introduce a new word into golf’s vocabulary: bifurcation.

In golf, bifurcation means one set of rules for professionals and another set of rules for amateurs.

Bifurcation could lead to some confusion, particularly in the amateur game, when it comes to tournament play and the handicap system.

In the professional game, most events in the U.S. are run by the PGA Tour. But the U.S. Open is run by the USGA, the British Open by the R&A, and the PGA Championship by the PGA of America. The Masters generally follows rules set by the USGA and R&A.

According to Mark King, the CEO of TaylorMade, however, birfucation is “not coming; it’s here. We already live in bifurcation. … Nobody plays by the exact Rules of Golf on Friday afternoon with their buddies. So I think it’s about time that we realize what we have – we have elite players that need a set of rules and we need to create an environment where people want to come in and enjoy this great game.”

OFFICIAL VOICES

“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. 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.”

– USGA Executive Director Mike Davis, announcing the proposal Nov. 28

“We note that this matter has proved particularly sensitive in the United States, while the proposed rule change has been received more favorably across the international golfing community.”

– Royal & Ancient Golf Club, in a statement March 1 after the 90-day public comment period ended

“In the absence of data or any basis to conclude that there is a competitive advantage to be gained by using anchoring, and given the amount of time that anchoring has been in the game, (we think) that there is no overriding reason to go down that road.”

– PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem, announcing opposition to the plan Feb. 24

NON-TRADITIONAL PUTTING NOT A NEW ISSUE IN AUGUSTA

Three-time Masters winner Sam Snead resorted to croquetstyle putting for a couple of years in the 1960s, but it was soon banned by the U.S. Golf Association.

According to Al Barkow’s book, Masters co-founder Bobby Jones disapproved of Snead’s method and told him so during the 1967 Masters.

“(Jones) sat with Sam in a golf cart and told him that the putting style he had adopted didn’t look like golf,” Barkow wrote in Sam: The One and Only Sam Snead.

In May 1967, the USGA and the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews proposed a rule that would outlaw unconventional styles of putting. It was adopted and went into effect Jan. 1, 1968.

“Bob Jones got that banned, I’m sure of it,” Snead once said. “I would’ve won Augusta again if they let me putt that way.”

Two-time Masters champion Tom Watson says Snead’s story remains valid:

“I’m not sure whether Sam was the only guy doing it, but (they) made a very quick decision on that particular stroke. They didn’t wait 30 years to make a decision … “So I think that’s the crux of the issue,” he said March 14 at the Toshiba Classic. “There’s too many players who have been using it, and the USGA hasn’t

done anything about it. USGA and R&A haven’t done anything about it.

“If they were going to do something about it, they should have done something about it a long time ago.”

A MASTERS CHAMPION WEIGHS IN

Bernhard Langer overcame the yips earlier in his playing career to win the Masters Tournament twice.

In 1985, Langer used a mixture of cross-handed and conventional putting methods to win. By 1993, he had begun gripping his left wrist with his right hand to putt.

He first used a long putter at the Masters in the 1997 tournament.

Langer thinks recent winners prompted golf’s ruling bodies to propose the ban.

“Even a year or two ago, Mike Davis from the USGA said the long putter is no problem, we don’t see a problem in the future with it. It was changed in 12 months. I can tell you what changed. Three major winners, that’s a problem now. Well, it makes no sense.

“If you look at it, if it was a real improvement to everybody, if it was easier or simpler or better, everybody

would use it, and I’ll give you an example. How many people are using a graphite shaft in a driver?”

BIG THREE ADD THEIR TWO CENTS:

“I’ve tried it. I couldn’t figure out anything that made any difference to me. Does it look a little odd? Yeah. Is it a golf stroke? I don’t know. They would be better to define a golf stroke than I would, so I’ll let them define the golf stroke.”

– Jack Nicklaus, March 3

“The simple truth is that … golf was never intended to include long-handled, anchored putters. The governing bodies have to standardize the rules. They have to either do it or don’t do it, but they can’t leave it open-ended.”

– Gary Player, March 15

“That’s not part of the game of golf. To attach it to your body in any way is taking a little bit away from the

game. … I would hope that we’d play under one set of rules, and those rules would include a ban on the long putter hooked to the body.”

– Arnold Palmer, March 20