Adam Shows For Australian Open With An (Almost) Conventional Putter

Steve Orme of Omnisport says noted anchorer Adam Scott has already changed putters after the governing bodies banned anchoring.

Reporting from The Lakes home to the Australian Open.

Scott turned up for his Tuesday practice round with eight-time major winner Tom Watson without the broomstick he has wielded since May 2011.

The Queenslander was spotted on the practice green using a traditional putter with a slightly extended shaft.
He employed a claw-style grip with his bottom hand, similar to his technique with the broomstick, but crucially the shaft was not anchored to his midriff.

Comments

[Rob]

Bill Hass appeared to be the first belly guy to abandon anchoring a couple of months ago and before the decision last week.

Adam Scott looks like he might be the next - but I would have to see him not anchoring in actual competition before it is official - we shall see tomorrow.

[UnderTheChin]

Broomstick not a belly putter Geoff

[Geoff]

Thank you Under, noted.

[Colin MacGillivray]

Some idiot in the crowd called Bradley a cheat in Tiger's tournament this week- some incentive to change early I think.

[Ivan Morris]

Well done, Adam Scott. I hope he putts the lights out this week.

[No Longer Used to be Former S&T Convert]

The modifications begin. My bet is that most of the anti-belly-broomstick group were mostly concerned about the non-traditional way those methods looked. To them it is about the optics not the mechanics. Scott's new method will not make those people happy, but there is nothing they can say about it now. I am hoping a player goes side saddle and wins a major next year.

[Ivan Morris]

Yo da man, S & T - Only yesterday, I suggested 'going side saddle' to a distraught yipper who loves his broom handle.

[carnaptious and camsteerie]

@ Convert ... the change in the rule is directed mainly to prevent the younger generation going straight to these putters. Even if someone did win a major putting side-saddle, I can't see youngsters ever wanting to copy such an cumbersome, last resort method.

[Press Agent]

@ Convert,

Are you saying the anchoring ban came about because of how players look when they putt with the anchored long putters?

[cameron]

slightly worried for Adam Scott...and Keegan Bradley

[fyg]

Not worried at all for Bradley.

There is always Burger King.

[No Longer Used to be Former Stack & Tilt Convert]

@c&c I would imagine a lot of people wouldn't have thought youngsters would copy the cumbersome, last resort, belly / broomstick method 20 years ago.

@press Somewhat. I understand the mechanical argument, but I think that a whole slew of people hoped that the ban would return everyone to the traditional style of putting. Which, as Adam proves, will unlikely be the case.

[KLG]

@PA: S&T may be saying that, and he would be right. Based on a reasonable interpretation of the evidence, "It looks funny" was the reason Sam Snead's croquet method was banned, almost on the spot, by Joe Dey at the behest of Bob Jones. Of course, the available evidence also suggests that Jones didn't like Snead very much, and we have the lack of a Snead monument at ANGC to support that. One wonders what the reaction would have been if Hogan had tried it in desperation. Or Nelson. The dissonance is a big part of this. Moe Norman was a "different" man, perhaps hard to get along with; his unorthodox technique also contributed to his ostracism. Nothing new here under the sun. Of course, a good argument can be made that anchoring is not compatible with a golf swing or stroke. That was true 20 years ago.

[Iansram]

Adam scott will struggle as he clearly has case of the yips. Seems like a great guy,I hope he figures out another way. Keegan will adapt,with some hard work. The seniors may be in trouble. They have tried everything under the sun to arrive at the place they are at...anchored. I'm curious to see how the Langer/Kuchar method pans out. Could be the ticket

[cmh1015]

Somehow I beileve some of the "anchoring" players will give a "Kuchar method" a shot...

[DTF]

Using Kuchar's method, If the upper part of the grip of the putter remains *in contact with* the inside of the left forearm -- how is this not anchoring? It absolutely prevents the left wrist from breaking down, right?

Doesn't that first sentence read even more properly if *in contact with* is replaced by *anchored to*.....?

Based on the USGA's little Heimlich-like diagram/poster, since Adam Scott is using a more "standard" like/length putter along with the claw grip, he is allowed to anchor his left forearm and/or elbow, right? Well what if he does so and also keeps his left hand stationary and follows through with the right -- is this legal?

[Nubi]

They will ban this if it works too for Adam.

[James]

USGA chief Mike Coo Coo Bird Davis has brought shame upon major winners and anchor putters Keegan Bradley, Webb Simpson, and Ernie Els. Of course some hecklers will call them cheaters because Davis has stated that anchoring goes against the spirit of the game and must be outlawed. An asterisk will now be attached to these wins. Instead of growing the game, Mike Davis continues to make up stupid rules to drive new golfers away. Davis should get rid of OB stroke and distance and replace it with a lateral hazard rule.

[carnaptious and camsteerie]

@ convert ... did anyone copy Sam Snead? Had it caught on, one would have thought it pretty mainstream by now, doncha think?

[carnaptious and camsteerie]

@James ... have every sympathy for pros like Scott and Els who turned to these putters as a last resort. Absolutely none for the non-yipping 'elephants in the room' Bradleys and Simpsons of this world who turned to the belly putter purely because they felt it offered an advantage to them over the short putter.

Yes, the governing bodies perhaps ought to have banned these putters when they first came out but didn't for the best possible reasons. Time to stop blaming them and look forward instead to a more level playing field ... well, at least for the non yipping fraternity.