Long putter issue arising, they could be banned
On Sunday, the 22nd of July, Ernie Els won the 141st British Open Championship at the Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Course. The runner-up for the tournament was Adam Scott. It was a nail biting match, as both the players were one point
apart after the final hole of the last day.
Some of the players in the tournament think that both Scott and Els have an extra advantage over the rest and this advantage should be finished immediately.
The issue arose just after the tournament at Lytham came to an end. The issue was that both the number one and number two on the leaderboard of the British Open were using Belly putters.
The problem is that players are using longer putters on the greens, which allows them to anchor the top of the club to their body. Thus, they have a more accurate shot.
Ernie Els used the same technique to hole a 15-foot birdie on the last hole of the last day to win the Championship at Lytham.
The Chief Executive of Royal & Ancient (R&A) said that they were in discussion with U.S Golf Association about the longer putters before the British Open. This is not the first time belly putters are being used in the tournament. On the contrary, they have
been used many times before.
Both Keegan Bradley and Webb Simpson used the belly putters in the PGA Championship and U.S Open, respectively.
Dawson commented on the matter on Monday, he said, “We appreciate that there is much speculation about this and that we need to clarify the position as soon as possible. And I think you're going to see us saying something about it one way or the other in
a few months, rather than years”.
“The initial determination has been that we are examining the subject from a method of stroke standpoint rather than length of putter standpoint, and that takes it into the area of the rules of play, the rules of golf, rather than the rules of equipment,”
he added.
Till now it is legal in the game and any player can use the belly putter. The decision would be made shortly and the belly putters might be banned.
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