Yes, the PGA Tour will not allow long putters beginning with the 2016 season. So why the hell does this matter?
This could potentially ruin people’s career. Why now? Has the long putter made each putter with it the next Ben Crenshaw? No! Not even close!
Very few PGA tour pros actually win with the long putter, it just gets the press since the traditionalists think it provides an advantage by anchoring to the body. In theory they are right, but in the statistical world ( truth backed up by numbers) they are wrong. At the bottom of the post you will see facts that cannot be disputed.
The anti-belly putters say it anchored and then you are putting like a robot and there is no risk of a bad stroke.
Well, in that case my feet are anchored to the ground, so maybe I should just jump in the air before impact.
But in reality, there are many factors that affect the putting stroke that outweigh any benefit to anchoring.
1. Yes, the club is anchored to the belly, but your belly moves, the body sways, the arms move, the hands, the fingers, etc.
2. If the blade is a millimeter open or closed or if your speed is a fraction off the putt will not go in. Let alone this assumes you read the putt correctly in the first place.
3. These are just common sense observations. If there is no proof at the pro level that anchoring really helps, it sure in hell wont help many amatuers. If it was that great many pros would have switched.
Another point to consider is now just choosing to ban the stroke of anchoring to the body is so aggressive that many pros, such as Webb Simpson, Keegan Bradley, Adam Scott, have relied on this method for so long. Then to change the rules on a whim does not seem fair.
Anyway, lets get down to the facts, see the stats below, there is no proof.
Look at all the belly putters in the top 10 for putting average…………oh wait………… there aren’t any.
Below chart via espn.com as of July 10, 2014
| Expanded I Statistics | ||||||||
| RK | PLAYER | AGE | YDS/DRIVE | DRIVING ACC. | DRVE TOTAL | GREENS IN REG. | PUTT AVG. | SAVE PCT. |
| 1 | Rory McIlroy | 25 | 305.0 | 58.9 | 7 | 67.7 | 1.718 | 48.6 |
| 2 | Jordan Spieth | 20 | 289.6 | 58.6 | 90 | 64.0 | 1.720 | 57.5 |
| 3 | Bubba Watson | 35 | 314.1 | 61.7 | 1 | 68.9 | 1.720 | 42.5 |
| 4 | Charl Schwartzel | 29 | 297.0 | 61.1 | 33 | 60.5 | 1.724 | 58.3 |
| 5 | Chris Stroud | 32 | 285.1 | 64.1 | 127 | 66.6 | 1.726 | 56.7 |
| 6 | Dustin Johnson | 30 | 311.4 | 57.7 | 2 | 68.4 | 1.729 | 52.7 |
| 7 | Jerry Kelly | 47 | 276.7 | 65.4 | 175 | 64.9 | 1.731 | 49.1 |
| 8 | Ian Poulter | 38 | 287.8 | 60.5 | 105 | 62.2 | 1.732 | 49.4 |
| 9 | Jimmy Walker | 36 | 302.6 | 50.3 | 18 | 67.7 | 1.733 | 51.9 |
| 10 | Jason Bohn | 41 | 280.0 | 63.8 | 157 | 64.8 | 1.735 | |
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