Apparently size does matter, at least according to Tiger Woods. (insert whatever Rachel Uchitel jokes you may have here…)
Eric Risberg / Associated Press
Woods SPOKE OUT earlier this week and offered his $.02 on the current debate of belly/long putters, saying that he’s “never been a fan” of the longer putters and has shared conversations over the years with the R&A’s chief executive of rules, Peter Dawson, about how the current wording in the rules could be changed to effectively ban them. “My idea was to have it so that the putter would be equal to or less than the shortest club in your bag,” Woods said. “And I think with that, we’d be able to get away from any type of belly anchoring.”
Woods suggested that he leans more to the traditional side as it pertains to the issue, and would enjoy seeing the belly/long putters go away. “I believe it’s the art of controlling the body and club and swinging the pendulum motion,” Woods said. “I believe that’s how it should be played. I’m a traditionalist when it comes to that.”
We’ve only begun what will be a very delicate, complicated process in the coming months to determine the fate of those players who rely on the longer putters to play the game at the Tour level, but one thing is certain: Those players have to be feeling a bit uncomfortable at the moment. Players like Matt Kuchar, Webb Simpson, Keegan Bradley, Bill Haas, and Adam Scott (just to name a few) have all recently experienced career-best seasons using the longer putters, and should this current momentum to ban the use of the longer putters continue to grow – these guys could be feeling some serious heat in the near future as it pertains to the discussion at hand.
I really don’t have a dog in this hunt, other than to say that maybe some other rules need to be looked at while they’re at it…. like having a gallery of fans MOVE A 500-POUND BOULDER from the line of play, or TOMAHAWKING A DRIVER into the gallery after a tee shot that flies 30-yards offline. These examples are no more in keeping with the “spirit of the game” as belly/long putters IMO. Not that Woods isn’t entitled his opinion, and I actually agree with him in principle that the wording in the rules could be changed in such a way that would easily address the issue surrounding the putter…. but the debate has officially begun and I don’t think a lot of those players who use the longer putters really care what Tiger Woods thinks.
