Keegan Bradley supports the controversial Belly Putter ahead of the Hyundai Tournament of Champions
PGA Tour Rookie of the Year for 2011, Keegan Bradley has come out in support of the controversial Belly Putter during his preparations for the season-starter, Hyundai Tournament of Champions, on Wednesday, January 4.
Bradley, who is an intensive user of the belly putter himself, blasted at the critics who consider the usage of the putter below the belt and encourage a ban on the same.
"I hate the negative press it gets because it’s not some magic thing that you grab and the first week out, you win. It takes hours and hours of practice and I hope people realize that," said Bradley.
Although just out of his rookie season on the PGA Tour, Bradley is by far the best players of the belly putters and has done remarkably well in the previous season, owning primarily to his efficient usage of the club.
"I hate when people think that the belly putter is a crutch for us to putt with," he said. "For me, it’s just a better way to putt. I always considered myself a good putter before I had a belly putter. I just putted better with a belly".
Bradley’s stunning victory at the PGA Championship in Atlanta this year, where he extensively used the belly putter, invoked scathing criticism from all walks of life.
Many of the golf critics considered the use of the belly putter as an unfair advantage for the tall golfers, as the short ones may find it difficult to put it into good use.
The Belly Putter is an extended form of the normal putter where the handle of the club is elongated to rest at the golfer’s stomach.
This putter has a longer shaft as compared to the normally used conventional putters and provides more stability to the short putts.
It is suitable especially for players who are more “wristy” and volatile in their short putts. Some of the big guns of the sport on both sides of the Atlantic are using the belly putters, including the renowned Phil Mickelson and several others.
Paul Azinger, the 2008 winning Captain of the Ryder Cup, is credited for introducing the belly putters on the PGA Tour. He first played with the putter in 1999, inciting a huge uproar in the press.
Young Bradley, who mastered the art of using the belly putters, also advocated the proper use of the putters in order to gain full benefits from the technology.
Bradley not only won the last major title of the year, in his debut year on the PGA, but also landed the PGA Grand Slam title in Bermuda, playing a challenging field that boasted of the likes of Rory McIlroy.
The young rookie failed to claim a spot at the President’s Cup team this year and was hoping to be picked up by the Captain Fred Couples, who decided to side with his long time friend, Tiger Woods.
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