Long Putter Use Way Down Through West Coast Swing
Jason Sobel has obtained Darrell Survey results showing long putter use is way down in 2013 (they do not track whether players anchor). So far the 94 who have used the long wand made 61.7 percent of cuts and scored nine top-10s, slightly above the average.
Broken down, the data shows a decrease at each event: Hyundai Tournament of Champions (from seven to five); Sony Open (24 to 21); Humana Challenge (30 to 18); Farmers Insurance Open (31 to 13); Waste Management Phoenix Open (25 to 11); AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am (25 to 10); and Northern Trust Open (33 to 16).
With most of the success coming for long putter users coming in Hawaii, Sobel says:
Yes, the game’s governing bodies still must determine whether an anchored putt should be defined as a legal stroke, but any notion that this is greatly affecting the game at its uppermost level has so far been summarily dismissed by the statistics.
Reading that, I realize the "no competitive advantage" talking point really is problematic either way it is used as an argument.
Those claiming it--while ignoring the major championship wins and improved putting by several players in majors where pressure is greatest--must have a hard time keeping a straight face.
But to also claim there is simply no advantage--that it can be "summarily dismissed"--helps the governing bodies say, okay, we do not see this as a traditional stroke, you say there is no advantage, everyone with back issues can keep using a long putter, so what's the problem again?
Tuesday, March 5, 2013 at 08:01 AM
Reader Comments (7)
A simple fad.
How out of touch is the USGA? They mistook a lil' ol' fad for something that would completely change the way the next generation of golfers would learn the game! #CLUELESS
PS...have a friend who owns one of the largest golf shops in the country, 2 days ago asked him specifically about this -- his long putter sales mirror the Humana stats above, down about 50-66% from the peak.
Three things quickly come to mind.
1. Did those using long putters change this year to belly putters?
2. The players that can putt conventional, but have tinkered with the long putter and belly putters, have gone back to conventional putting methods before they become addicted to anchoring like a meth addict.
3. The ones still anchoring, will the ones still anchoring right up to Jan 1, 2016 because face it, those are the ones that statistics will show had to switch to an illegal stroke because they have the YIPS!!
The YIPS have always been a part of the sport at the professional level. The greatest YIPPERS OPEN finish in the history of the sport happened at Pebble Beach in 1994. The entire back nine of the tournament on Sunday was a contest between Johnny Miller and Tom Watson to see who was going to YIP it the least coming down the stretch. Talk about scaring junior golfers into making a new career choice!