Does it provide an unfair advantage? Els and others would ban it. Users defend it.
By BOB HARIG
Published June 3, 2004
Ernie Els is one of golf's nice guys, a globetrotting ambassador who often makes the game look effortless. Hence, a nickname, "The Big Easy."
Perhaps that is why so many took notice when Els recently took a stand on the proliferation of long putters in the game.
The issue of their legality has been debated for years, ever since senior players began using them to combat their shaky strokes back in the 1980s. But Els' words resonated and have heightened the debate.
"I think they should be banned," Els said. "It's become such an easy way to putt. Nerves and the skill of putting are part of the game. You know, take a tablet if you can't handle it."
Els' words came at the Deutsche Bank-SAP Open in Germany won by countryman Trevor Immelman - using a belly putter. Immelman started using the handle-in-the-navel style only recently.
And he got defensive when asked about it.
"You've got to hit the ball well to win tournaments," he said. "You don't just hole putts. I had 13 other good clubs in my bag, too. We've got a lot of our top players on tour that use the belly putter, we've got arguably the best player in the world (Vijay Singh) right now using a belly putter, and I've never really read too much about them using it, to be honest."
This is not like the technology issue that has dogged golf for years. Everybody benefits from clubs and balls that go farther.
But with the long putter or belly putter, there is the issue of whether it provides an unfair advantage. Being able to stabilize the stroke - whether it be under the chin with a long putter or at the stomach with a belly putter - has made some poor putters pretty good ones. At least that's the theory.
"With all due respect to players who use them, the game's meant to be played away from the body," said Mark McNulty, a Champions Tour player who won the Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am in February and is regarded as an excellent putter.
"My take is, no putter should be anchored to the body," two-time U.S. Open champion Lee Janzen told GolfWorld. "I have no hard feelings toward anyone who uses one. I just don't think they should be legal."
Said PGA Tour player Frank Lickliter: "It turns people with no clue how to roll the ball into adequate putters. I can't wait for the USGA to outlaw it. If they changed the rule, people out here would still function, but you're basically taking the hands out of the process when their hands are what's causing the problem."
The issue of long putters is under review by the United States Golf Association and the Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews, the world's major rules-making bodies.
But no change is imminent, according to Tampa's Fred Ridley, president of the USGA. "How would you write a new rule to prohibit certain putters? There are some problems with that," Ridley said. "Do you address it by the length of the putter? Do you address it by those anchored to the body? If so, how do you really enforce that?
"I can understand people who watch players who were not very good players and then they change to either the long putter or the belly putter and they are putting better. The fact of the matter is, they still have to get it in the hole. I don't know that it's any easier to putt than the regular way. But there is a constant discussion about this issue. It's one that kind of keeps popping up."
Ridley, the 1975 U.S. Amateur champion who still plays to a low single-digit handicap, said he has used the belly putter.
"It's not automatic," he said. "I found the short putts were easier (with the belly putter). I liked it. I didn't like the way it looked. I did like the mechanics. But you still have to get the ball in the hole."
There are a long line of professional players who have used a version of the long putter. Fred Couples, Stewart Cink, Paul Azinger, Rocco Mediate and Bernhard Langer are just a few. Singh, who won the PGA Tour money title last year, has experimented with various models and seems to have settled on the belly putter. Steve Flesch, who won the Colonial two weeks ago using a conventional putter, won his inaugural PGA Tour title last year in New Orleans with a belly putter.
Flesch admitted it bothered him to see pictures of himself using the putter. "I don't think you should be able to hinge the club on your body," he said. "I was putting badly and I was looking for something different," said Cink, who won the Heritage earlier this year with a belly putter. "These days, if you're not putting well, there's no stigma attached to trying a long putter. Times have changed. You're seeing a lot more guys who aren't afraid to use it. They're not afraid of what it might look like.
"I see their point, the guys who think it should be illegal. I'm going to keep using it until they write a rule to make us stop using it. Because it's within the rules."
