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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)

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.

Could Keegan & Co. have a case against the PGA Tour?

Fri, 02 Nov 2012 20:28:00 GMT

By Alex Myers

Earlier this week, Keegan Bradley said he would fight a potential ban on anchoring putters, and he encouraged fellow tour pros to join his cause. But would he and other golfers who use long putters have a case?

Apparently, they might, says attorney Jeff Rosenblum of the Memphis-based law firm of Rosenblum and Reisman.

"It's a potential legal issue. . . . There are ways to challenge," Rosenblum said. "Would it be a frivolous lawsuit? No. Would it be a good investment? That all depends."

Photo by Getty Images

Rosenblum has experience dealing with the governing bodies of golf. Three years ago, he represented Doug Barron, the first golfer to be penalized under the PGA Tour's drug policy. Despite the fact that this case would involve the USGA and R&A first implementing such a rule that would then be imposed by the pro tours, Rosenblum said, "There's not a whole lot different than the anti-doping issue, really."

What could be different, though, is the number of players such a ruling would affect, and just how effective Bradley is at rounding up fellow golfers to take their cause to court.

"It makes more sense if 10 millionaires get together and say 'we want to contest it,'" Rosenblum said. "Legally, the last guy on the Web.com Tour has just as much standing to sue as Keegan Bradley or Tiger Woods. The practical reality is, though, it's extremely expensive."

In other words, the push back has to come from players who are very confident their cause is worth it and probably not from guys like Barron, who fought his drug fight alone and who happened to go back and forth between belly and conventional putters this past season on the Web.com Tour.

As Rosenblum pointed out, cases against sports organizations -- like the recent one involving the NFL and "Bounty Gate" -- are becoming more common. Leagues and commissioner's can't just arbitrarily change/make rulings, but instead, must prove that there "is a nexus between the rule and the game and a need for the rule."

Rosenblum said that if a case like this ever went to court, it would probably be heard by a federal judge, "who doesn't care about the politics involved." Even if a trial were to be held in Jacksonville, Fla., the headquarters of the PGA Tour.

What could make that more complicated, however, is if golf's governing bodies decide not to make the ban across the board. For instance, what if established players like Bradley and recent U.S. and British Open winners Webb Simpson and Ernie Els could continue to anchor, while tour newcomers are forced to putt with a more conventional method? That seems unlikely, but as Rosenblum said, "It's amazing how decisions and compromises are made to keep things out of court."

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A plea on behalf of the long putter

Wed, 08 Aug 2012 21:27:00 GMT

By Pete McDaniel

Anyone familiar with the various golf games of media hacks (not all are hacks, by the way, just the majority) knows that I'm a huge proponent of the anchored putter. I've been using the broom handle ever since I four-jacked it from two feet playing at a Connecticut course with former Golf Digest instruction editor Ed Weathers and retired Golf World editor Terry Galvin. The latter has yet to let me live it down. Fifteen years later!

Upon hearing of my embarrassing feat, then-company CEO Jay Fitzgerald, himself a recovering yipper, called me into his office and handed me a 48-inch, steel-shafted crutch that saved my golfing life. That's the reason I empathize with every convert of the anchored putter currently quaking in his spikes over the much-to-do about his blessed broom. If golf's ruling bodies decide to ban the use of anchored putters by professionals, I will be the first one crying for them.

Related: Webb Simpson: How I Roll

I feel your pain, my brothers.

"It would really affect me if they were to ban it,'' said Carl Pettersson on the eve of the 94th PGA Championship at Kiawah Island's Ocean Course during another in a series of rain delays.

Like me, Pettersson uses the chest-high variety. Unlike me, however, the 38th-ranked player in the world makes his living sweeping in putts. That's why it's such a hot-button issue with him and fellow converts Keegan Bradley, Webb Simpson and Ernie Els, who combined to win three of the past four majors. Before that newfound pattern of broom handle success scared the knickers off so-called purists, there may have been whimpers from the offended but nothing like the clamoring for justice we hear now.

Related: Adam Scott on trying the long putter

Pettersson and I started using the long putter about the same time for different reasons. I had the yips. His ball had an aversion to finding the hole at the most inopportune times.

"I started using it because of inconsistency when I was an amateur,'' he said. "One day I would putt great and the next I'd be average. I knew for me to get to the next level I needed to be more consistently good and I saw a few guys back in the day using it. They all seemed to roll it well. I tried it and it didn't feel alien to me. So, I practiced for a couple of hours, and I've used one ever since. I've become a very good putter with it.''

That's an understatement. Pettersson is ranked T-11 in the strokes gained putting category of the PGA Tour putting statistics. Aaron Baddeley leads those stats and world No. 1 Luke Donald is fourth. In contrast, three-time winner this season, Tiger Woods, ranks T-35. In Pettersson's case, fear the broom handle.

At the center of the debate is whether anchoring a putter gives a player a decided advantage over the more-nervy natural strokes.

"I don't think there is an advantage because if there were, everybody would use it,'' he says. "Some guys can't do it, some can. It's not like you give somebody a long putter and automatically they're going to be a good putter. You still have to work at it and develop a technique.''

Some long putter enthusiasts use their hand to propel the ball; some use arms and hands. Pettersson prefers to rock his shoulders, taking the hands almost entirely out of the stroke.

"I try to let my shoulders dictate the stroke and take the hands out of it,'' he says. "Take the little muscles out of it so to speak.''

There is no definitive way to determine whether the anchored putter gives players an advantage over similarly skilled players. The stats reveal little. Bradley and Simpson, ranked 15th and T-35, respectively, in strokes gained, also insist you still have to put in the hours to become successful on tour greens. They also agree with Pettersson that the powers that be have more major concerns regarding equipment.

"There are other parts of the game that are really getting out of hand,'' Pettersson said. "The drivers and the golf ball need to be addressed more than the long putter in my opinion.''

Spoken like a man attempting to stroke the collective conscious of the gate- keepers.

I, for one, hope he's successful.

Tiger Woods' belly ban idea a little half-baked

Mike Stachura — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 18:43:00 GMT

GOUGE: It must be nice to be Tiger Woods. Voice an opinion and all of a sudden it becomes an international crusade. Gee, I've only been killing the belly and long putter for half a...

Cover story: Webb Simpson - How I Roll

Webb Simpson with Guy Yocom — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 05:00:00 GMT

On the PGA Tour, Webb Simpson captured his first two career victories using a belly putter during the 2011 season. Senior Writer Guy Yocom sat down with Simpson to explore the club's impact on his game and offer up some belly-putting tips.

The Belly Becomes A Beast

Jaime Diaz — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 04:00:00 GMT

Is the long putter clutch or crutch? Here's how it became a sensation, how it can help you make more putts, how equipment makes it work ... and what to do when all else fails.

Golf World Monday: Long putter demand is soaring

Mon, 17 Oct 2011 13:52:00 GMT

From the Oct. 17 issue of Golf World Monday:

Last week TaylorMade announced it was tripling its fourth-quarter forecast for long and belly putters to meet the increasing demand by consumers and, therefore, its retail partners.

Owing in large part to the success of belly and long putters on the PGA Tour -- most notably at the PGA Championship by Keegan Bradley -- the demand for these putters has reached levels usually reserved for hybrid cars during an energy crisis.

Bradley's win in the PGA Championship was the first major win by a player using a long putter. Photo by Getty Images

In short, there is a feeding frenzy. TaylorMade says it will sell five times as many long/belly putters as it did last year while other manufacturers such as Cleveland and Odyssey also have significantly ramped up production as large retailers are now ordering bellies and broomsticks by the thousands instead of a few at a time. "It might be the hottest topic on our store's floor," said Leigh Bader, co-owner of Joe & Leigh's Discount Golf Pro Shop in South Easton, Mass.

"Manufacturers were caught short in supply, but who knew?" Bader said the trend shows strong signs of sustaining its momentum, aided greatly by the fact these putters are now seen as a legitimate means of improvement as opposed to an act of desperation. "Because of that it's verging, if not already registering, on the coolness scale," said Bader. Because of that, demand is far outpacing supply at the moment. In other words, if you're looking for one, good luck.

-- E. Michael Johnson

Have you purchased a long putter? Would you consider adding one to your bag? Sound off on our partner site, GolfWRX.com.

Bomb & Gouge: Is The Long Putter Good For Golf?

E. Michael Johnson and Mike Stachura — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 04:00:00 GMT

Long putters, or 'belly' putters, are nothing new. But after three straight PGA Tour events in August, including the PGA Championship, were won by golfers using them, suddenly long putters are all the rage. But are they good for golf?