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Ted Bishop Not Going Down Without A Fight

Tim Rosaforte — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 04:00:00 GMT

The PGA of America's Ted Bishop remains outspoken about his anchoring stance.

Whatever the size putter, Els still showing plenty of fire

Tue, 05 Mar 2013 19:40:00 GMT

MIAMI -- He'd faced longer putts with more on the line, that were more consequential and lucrative, but he desperately wanted to make this 10-footer, even though it wasn't in a tournament. Heck, he wasn't even on the golf course.

He was on the practice green Monday afternoon at Seminole GC, in the midst of completing his standard putting drill, with five 10-footers encircling the cup.

But he'd been challenged, and he still loves a challenge. He'd made the first four and was about to pull the trigger on the fifth when a familiar voice got in his ear.

"I've got $100 you don't make it," Michael Jordan said to him from behind as he stood over the ball.

"Make it $150," Ernie Els said.

He buried the putt.

It makes sense that Els would express his opposition to the recent rule change that would prohibit a player from anchoring a club to his body during a stroke. Except Els wasn't using the belly putter with which he won the Open Championship last year. He was wielding a conventional putter, an Odyssey Black #1, that he's been giving a workout the last few weeks, though he has yet to insert it into the lineup for a tournament round.

That could change this week at Trump Doral when the WGC-Cadillac Championship begins Thursday on the Blue Course where 65 of the top players in the world have gathered for the year's second World Golf Championship event.

"Yeah, you just might see it soon," Els said Tuesday at Doral, where he has won twice.

"I think he putts better with the short putter," said Els' caddie, Ricci Roberts. "He's got a beautiful stroke, much better than with the long putter, much more natural. I think he thinks so, too."

Still, Els has been sticking with the longer putter, and in his press conference he offered a salient observation against the ban the USGA and R&A proposed in November.

"Obviously winning a major with a belly putter, you're going to have to support that cause," the Big Easy said. "When it's been allowed for such a long time, I just feel, why ban it? You had the chance to do that . . . They allow certain things, and then they want to pull back on it. There was a square groove rule, the golf ball, the big and the small golf ball, there's the driver and the sand iron from a 56 to a 60, and we can talk about hybrid clubs. All these changes have come through in the game

"If a guy can't drive the ball really well, there's a driver that he can get made. If you can't hit an iron up in the air, you're going to get a hybrid made up for you. That's legal. If you're not a good chipper, you can go to 64, 62, 60, whatever degree. There used to be a rule where 56 degrees was the limit, so they changed that. The game's evolved that way."

Els, 43, is still evolving, too. The four-time major champion from South Africa has added to his stable of advisers. That would be Jordan, the NBA great with whom he has become friends.

"I've been picking his brain a little bit," Els said. "You talk about someone who understands competition, he's about the best you can talk to. What a competitor."

And he pays up, too. Els got the cash right there. "That wasn't the thing. Just making the putt with him standing there over me was good. I enjoyed that a lot," he said.

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(Photo by Getty Images)

Keegan Bradley contines to face belly putter backlash

Tue, 26 Feb 2013 20:21:00 GMT

By Dave Shedloski

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. -- Since golf's governing bodies proposed to ban a stroke in which a club is anchored to a player's body, Keegan Bradley has felt like he's been under a microscope, and it's adversely affecting his game.

Photo by Getty Images

The first player to win a major championship by anchoring a belly-length putter, Bradley said Tuesday at the Honda Classic at PGA National that accusations by fans and some writers that he is cheating have become more common since the USGA and R&A announced an amendment to the rules on Nov. 28.

Bradley first heard a fan call him a cheater in December at the World Challenge, the invitational hosted by Tiger Woods. The catcalls have only increased, he said.

"It's been actually pretty difficult," said Bradley, who began the season with a T-4 at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions, but hasn't been in contention in a final round since. "Especially lately. I'm being called a cheater more than ever by fans, by some writers. . . . I can't imagine how people can say that to me or to anybody out here. It's been really difficult, and I'm sick of it to be honest. I'm ready for it to be over."

The issue isn't likely to end soon. Though the 90-day comment period pertaining to Rule 14-1b ends Thursday, the USGA announced Sunday that a decision on whether or not to adopt the rule would be delayed until spring. If golf's two governing bodies go forward, the new rule wouldn't go into effect until Jan. 1, 2016.

That commissioner Tim Finchem said that the PGA Tour does not support the ban has thrown the issue into further uncertainty. The tour joins the PGA of America in opposition to the proposed rule change.

"It's just a bit of a mess," World No. 1 Rory McIlroy said.

Bradley, who has slipped to 60th on the tour in the telltale statistic, strokes gained putting, said he wasn't surprised by Finchem's comments.

"Commissioner Finchem and the PGA Tour have always had their players' backs, no matter how big or small the group is," Bradley said. "You know, I'm very proud and makes me feel good that my tour, the tour I play on, has my back. I think now that this comment period that the USGA has been talking about, they have heard from two of the biggest organizations, golf organizations in the world, the PGA Tour and The PGA of America saying that they don't agree with the USGA.

"If they are really taking this comment period seriously, I think they really need to look at what's been said by both those organizations."

Meanwhile, the invective hurled towards him has seriously hurt Bradley.

"Some of the guys that have come out strongly against it, I don't understand," Bradley said. "Because it doesn't affect them, it affects me. . . . For the most part people are super respectful, but it's very easy to pick out those few, and the word cheater . . . it's amazing that people can say that. It's probably the worst thing you could ever say to an athlete."

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Editor's Letter

Jerry Tarde — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 05:00:00 GMT

Anchored putting, and what's next.

A question of respect?

Mike Stachura — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 14:44:00 GMT

By Mike StachuraI have to confess that politics generally bores me, but occasionally I come across something that sheds a light on what's happening in golf, a world we all find much more stimulating and vital....

Golf Lessons of 2012

Peter Morrice and Alex Myers — Mon, 17 Dec 2012 05:00:00 GMT

Fifteen lessons from the game's highest level in 2012 that can help your game.

The Long And Short Of It

Ron Sirak — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 05:00:00 GMT

The golf world reacts to the USGA/R&A's ban on anchored putting.

Ron Sirak: Let The Long Wait Begin

Ron Sirak — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 05:00:00 GMT

The timing of the proposed anchoring ban is just one curious part of this decision.

Ron Sirak: Settling In For A Long Fight

Ron Sirak — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 05:00:00 GMT

An imminent ruling on anchoring would hardly mean the end of the debate.

Ask Stina: All's Fair In Love And Golf

Stina Sternberg — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 05:00:00 GMT

Male vs. female matches, plus winterizing your game.