Ernie Els’ new putter fails to work for him during Ballantine’s Championship – Golf news
Ernie Els’ new weapon, ‘belly putter’ failed to work for him during the first round of the ongoing Ballantine’s Championship taking place at the Black Stone Golf Course in Korea.
Ranked fifteen in the world, Els did not really have a good day on the course. The player managed two bogeys on the front-nine on the fifth and ninth holes. Things got better on the back-nine, as the World Golf Hall of Famer made birdies on the 14th
and 16th holes. Making a bogey on the 17th hole, Els finished one over par and tied for 53rd place. He is tied with twenty other players after the first day of the tournament.
About Els changing his putter, he did not hear much support from his fellow players. He said that they make him feel as if it is not the right putter and he really does not need it. Regardless of what they say, he said that it is a legal tool and hence he
will use it to improve his game. Recently, Els did not put up a decent performance at the Heritage Tournament in the US. He made rounds of 75 and 78 to be missing the cut by a big margin.
“For a while now, the normal swing, you're on plane, or you're not on plane. My putting, basically, my path became very awkward. I became too squared back and I cut through the ball a bit,” said Els. “You don't put a good roll on it and from short distances;
I was becoming really not good. I started practicing with a belly a little bit, and when you stick it in your belly, you know, it stays on plane. And that's basically what prompted me to use the belly. It feels very awkward to use it in a tournament to be
honest, because I've always putted with a normal putter.”
Playing in his third Ballantine’s Championship, Els is hoping that the new putter will work wonders for him. Even though the first day was not magical, Els still has three more rounds to make the alterations work for him.
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