All out of love: Immelman wavers on belly putter
- By Rex Hoggard
- Oct 22, 2011 5:15 PM ET
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. – Whatever you do, don’t suggest that Trevor Immelman has gone bandwagon. Sure, the South African put a belly putter in play four weeks ago in Las Vegas, but in the history of non-standard length putters Immelman is old school.
“I used one for about two months in 2004,” Immelman said following his third-round, 27-putt 66 at Disney. “I used it to win the (Deutsche Bank-SAP Open).”
But like many converts, Immelman fell out of love with the belly putter until recently and not even his relatively solid play of late is enough to assure the club a long-term stay in his bag.
“It’s only really worked for two out of four rounds,” said Immelman, who tied for fifth at the McGladrey Classic and ranked first in the field in putting.
As Tour types continue to flock to the belly putter in search of answers, Immelman is a little more cautious, or maybe a little more schooled in its fickle nature, than most when it comes to the staying power of longer putters.
“A lot of people are debating if it’s legal or not, but you can still miss putts using it,” he said. “You don’t suddenly start having 25 putts a round. It seems to fade in and out.”
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Hoggard, a senior writer, covers the PGA Tour and appears on-air in several capacities.
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