With an announcement regarding the legality of anchored/long putters looming, we look at some of the players who could be affected.
With an announcement regarding the legality of anchored/long putters looming, we look at some of the players who could be affected.
Jim Furyk is one of many players who has experimented with, but not committed to, a belly putter. (Getty)
Fred Couples uses a belly putter and doesn’t think they should be banned. ‘I just don’t see anyone out there winning every tournament and doing things that have never been done before (with a long putter),’ he said. (Getty)
Long-putter user Bernhard Langer passionately defends their use. ‘For three decades nobody won a major with one. And now because three have, they’re illegal?’ Langer said this year. ‘I’m sorry, don’t accept that argument whatsoever.’ (Getty)
With his 2012 U.S. Open win, Webb Simpson joined the ranks of major winners who have used long putters. (Getty)
Keegan Bradley has wielded his long putter well enough to win a PGA Championship and become an emerging Ryder Cup star. He was the first major champ to use a long putter. (Getty)
Keegan Bradley has vowed to fight for his use of a long putter. ‘People with long putters are going to do whatever we have to do to protect ourselves,’ he said. (Getty)
Like many other players, Colin Montgomerie believes long anchored putters should be banned, but will use one as long as they are legal. (Getty)
Matt Kuchar used a belly putter to win The Players Championship. He anchors the club to his arm. (Getty)
Ernie Els went to a belly putter to try to repair his shaky stroke and has said, ‘As long as it’s legal. I’ll keep cheating like the rest of them.’ (Getty)
Using a belly putter, Ernie Els sank a 15-foot birdie putt on the 72nd hole that eventually gave him his second British Open victory. (Getty)
Casey Martin is better known for needing a cart because of a leg condition, but he is also a user of a long putter. (Getty)
Carl Pettersson has used a long putter his entire Tour career and believes the effort to ban it is an overreaction to recent major wins by players using anchored putters. (Getty)
Rocco Mediate became the first player to win a PGA Tour event with a putter anchored to his body when he won the 1991 Doral-Ryder Open using a 49-inch putter. (Getty)
Phil Mickelson had a brief fling with a long putter at the 2011 Deutsche Bank Championship. It didn’t last, but he later said banning long putters would be ‘grossly unfair.’ (Getty)
Martin Laird said he was ‘tearing (my) hair out’ over his struggles with a conventional putter before switching to a belly putter in mid-2012. (Getty)
Tim Clark won the 2010 Players with a long putter and says the club is easier to use due to a physical condition which makes it difficult to put his hands properly on a conventional putter. (Getty)
AUGUSTA, GA - APRIL 14: Adam Scott of Australia celebrates after making a birdie on the 18th hole during the final round of the 2013 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club on April 14, 2013 in Augusta, Georgia. (Photo by Andrew Redington/Getty Images)