Belly putter banned, Rory McIlroy happy with the decision
The issue regarding the anchored long-handled putters finally came to a verdict after a long and heated debate through the years.
From the year 2016, the ban on the anchored long-handled putters will be put to practice after the decision was made public by the governing body of golf, R&A.
There were many players who opposed the use of the long-handled putters also known as the belly putters, including the top players on the Professional Golf Association Tour.
Rory McIlroy was delighted to hear about the news regarding the ban imposed on the belly putters. The Northern Irish Golf Professional has always been against their usage.
The argument proposed by the players who counter the usage of the belly putters states that it is disrespectful to the sport and the traditions of the game should not be changed.
Players who use belly putters have had more success than those who have not, taking the example of Webb Simpson, Keegan Bradley and the South African, Ernie Els who won The Open Championship this year. All three of these players use the belly putter.
The anchoring long-handled putters caused uproar amongst the players when the ones using the belly putters were observed to have an advantage over those who use the standard putters.
The players complained that the usage of the belly club is not fair to the players who use the conventional putters, because it is clearly a disadvantage.
McIlroy expressed his appreciation over the decision taken to ban the belly putters. He said that the usage of these putters play a negative role on the game and are against the customs of the sport of golf.
McIlroy explained that this was not a decision that was taken overnight. He said that it is something that has always been questioned in the past as well.
Moreover, most of the players who use the belly putters were aware of the fact that a ban like this will be imposed sooner or later because it was observed that the belly putter was becoming a common commodity.
After the ban was announced, Padraig Harrington said, “It would be hard to find anybody in the pro game using a long putter or belly putter who didn’t know this announcement was coming”.
“It’s a decision for the benefit of the game. They should have done it 16 or 20 years ago and if they didn’t ban them now they’d become institutionalized”.
He continued, “If belly putters were coming on the scene now they would not be passed. It was timely to make the change and protect the traditions of the game. We don’t want it to become so embedded in the game that kids think it’s the right thing to do”.
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