Tianlang Guan experimenting with not anchoring

By John Strege

LA JOLLA, Calif. -- Tianlang Guan, the Chinese prodigy who became Exhibit A for those in favor of the USGA's proposed ban on anchoring, has abandoned the practice, temporarily, at least.[#image: /photos/55ad7686b01eefe207f6c5f5]|||Guan-1.jpg|||

Guan, 14, who qualified for and made the cut in the Masters using a belly putter that he anchored in his abdomen, played the South Course at Torrey Pines on Friday, and though he was still using a belly putter, he was holding it about an inch away from his body.

"I just have a try with it," he said, "and I feel good with the change."

In May, the USGA and the Royal and Ancient, "announced the adoption of Rule 14-1b of the Rules of Golf that prohibits anchoring the club in making a stroke. The new Rule will take effect on January 1, 2016."

"It's not a big deal," Guan said. "It's fine. I just think anchoring doesn't help, it's part of the game. But it's OK they stop using it. I'm OK with it."

Guan, who was waiting to hear whether he would receive a sponsor exemption to play in the RBC Canadian Open in two weeks, said he will continue to experiment without anchoring his belly putter, a prototype Scotty Cameron by Titleist Futura X (the model used by Adam Scott to win the Masters) that he received on a recent visit to Cameron's putter studio in San Marcos, Calif.

He said he has not yet decided whether he would use this method of putting in Canada, should he receive a sponsor's exemption.

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