"Bottom line, the game has been needing a boss."

Jaime Diaz pens a Golf World column wondering aloud about the origins of the USGA/R&A's move toward a ban on anchoring putters, with the announcement likely this fall.

But the point here is the USGA is using its de facto authority, vested or not, to clean up a mess. It knows it will be reneging on a 23-year old decision, which alone doesn't seem fair. It admits that sympathy for players desperate for a "last resort" method is the main reason anchoring has continued to be allowed. But with more players without overt putting problems choosing to switch to the broomstick or belly, there's a threat that in 50 years everyone will be using them. Very simply, widespread use of long putters is not the way the USGA and the R&A want the game to look.

And as much as I support doing away with anchoring, I still have to go back to Webb Simpson's remarks about the modern, 460cc driver's impact on the game versus anchoring. It's not even close which development has changed the game for the worse.