The Loop

Here's what Keegan Bradley's first week with a non-anchored putter looked like

Keegan Bradley was the first player to win a major using an anchored putter, so it was always going to be a big deal when the 2011 PGA Championship winner eventually switched to the more conventional stroke prior to the 2016 ban on anchoring. Upon making the move at Muirfield Village last week, the natural question is how did he fare with his new, non-anchored putter? It's obviously an extremely small sample size, but if his performance at the Memorial is any indication, it seems Bradley might have some work ahead of him when it comes to holing putts between five and ten feet.

Here were some of Bradley's key putting stats for the 2013-'14 season heading into Memorial:

Strokes Gained/Putting  44th  .264  3-Putt Avoidance  T-28  2.11% 19 Three putts this year  Putting from 3'  T-107  99.27% 409 attempts 406 made  Putting from 4'  14th  95.95% 74 attempts 71 made  Putting from 5'  T-142  77.08% 48 attempts 37 made  Putting from 6'  T-44  75.00% 24 attempts 18 made  Putting from 7'  15th  72.09% 43 attempts 31 made  Putting from 8'  187  31.48% 19 attempts 6 made  Putting from 9'  T-178  33.33% 21 attempts 7 made  Putting from 10'  93rd  39.29% 28 attempts 11 made  Putting from 4-8'  70th  68.66% 134 attempts 92 made  Putting - Inside 10'  T-38  88.14% 666 attempts 587 made  Putting from - 10-15'  T-37  33.33% 114 attempts 38 made  Putting from - 15-20'  78th  18.84% 69 attempts 13 made  Putting from - 20-25'  T-25  16.33% 49 attempts 8 made  Putting from - > 25'  T-129  4.55% 145 attempts 7 made

And here was how he performed in the tournament, his first start with a non-anchored putter:

Strokes Gained/Putting  55th  -.365  3-Putt Avoidance  T-14  1.39%  Putting from 3'  T-1  100.00% 46 attempts 46 made  Putting from 4'  T-71  83.33% 6 attempts 5 made  Putting from 5'  T-1  100.00% 4 attempts 4 made  Putting from 6'  T-57  57.14% 7 attempts 4 made  Putting from 7'  T-45  50.00% 4 attempts 2 made  Putting from 8'  T-1  100.00% 3 attempts 3 made  Putting from 9'  T-51  25.00% 4 attempts 1 made  Putting from 10'  T-16  50.00% 2 attempts 1 made  Putting from 4-8'  T-28  72.22% 18 attempts 13 made  Putting - Inside 10'  T-41  86.84% 76 attempts 66 made  Putting from - 10-15'  T-38  28.57% 14 attempts 4 made  Putting from - 15-20'  T-42  14.29% 7 attempts 1 made  Putting from - 20-25'  T-35  14.29% 7 attempts 1 made  Putting from - > 25'  T-46  .00% 16 attempts 0 made

It's worth noting that Bradley's 2014 stats pre-Memorial were generally representative of his putting stats from previous years. He gained .250 strokes per round on the field putting in 2013 compared to his .264 average heading into the Memorial, and his combined strokes gained/putting average for 2011 and 2012 was .209.

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What's more interesting is his performance inside 10 feet. His putting from that distance at the Memorial, on paper, looks pretty good, but that's because his perfect putting from three feet masks some problems he had elsewhere. This year with his belly putter, Bradley made 75 and 72 percent of his six and seven footers. At the Memorial from that distance, he finished at just 57 and 50 percent.

Again, it's a small sample size, but that might be an area worth watching if he decides to continue down his new route.