25 Comments

1. It’s not an unfair advantage if everyone is allowed to use it…

2. Tiger must have complained. He didn’t win so lets change the game.

3. So if everyone uses steroids… it should be legal?

4. Not sure you’re understanding my point. It’s not an “unfair advantage” if it’s within the rules. Steroids are against the rules, so using them would/could be an unfair advantage.

5. How is something an unfair advantage to somebody when anyone can do it. It’s like banning shooting a foul shot in basketball granny style if all of a sudden a few players started having tremendous success doing it. The whole thing is silly. some traditionalists getting their panties in a wad over a new way of doing things that they don’t like. The USGA are basically the parents in Footloose.

6. oh really? thats why EVERYONE does it? because it works so well? no its not cheating…it alleviates a tendency. by your logic using fat grips while putting is cheating, though it alleviates a tendency…using a cross-handed grip is cheating, though it alleviates a tendency, using sergios putting grip is cheating, though it alleviates a tendency. hell, by your logic we’d all be using wooden clubs. if it worked so well, then everyone would be using it. but it doesn’t, so they don’t.

7. if you hold the opinion that using a belly or anchor putter is cheating, then you’re obviously new to the game as of two weeks ago. and it’s a very stupid opinion to hold. nobody who’s been playing for a long amount of time thinks it’s cheating. if it was, then every golfer would be doing it. you can’t target a specific style of putting without addressing all the other non-traditional methods. they’re either all bad or all good. can’t target. to do so is hypocritical.

8. theres no player, current or former, that holds the opinion you do. you’re in a small small minority of thinking, buddy.

9. you are absolutely right, sir. i can tell you’ve been following this for quite sometime and i agree with you completely.

10. steroids are a banned substance. if everyone used them, then theyd all be suspended or fined. using a belly or anchor putter has never been proven to give anyone an advantage. so, your logic is deeply and fundamentally flawed.

11. so when players get fitted for clubs, is that cheating?

12. So many will use it– but this same argument can applied to pretty much anything in sports, from restricting motorcycles from a bike race to banning steroid usage in baseball. This is more about what people decide what they want golf to be like.

13. People who consider this method of putting as “cheating” have no
    background in the history of this issue. In 1989 the USGA/R&A
    made a specific decision on the long putter ruling it to be 100%
    legal. Anchoring was never mentioned in those days because it
    was obvious these putters were designed to be held against the
    body. It all comes down to timing – Tiger came out against it at
    the same time the USGA/R&A were looking for something to
    deflect attention away from all the ballistic equipment.

14. this is a stupid rule

15. this is just because Tiger was moaning about it, and Tiger is the USGA’s baby so they have to keep him happy

16. Actually not rendered useless although it might seem that way.. I have been putting without anchoring for the last few rounds (using 50 inch long putter) and so far am putting a little better without anchoring. Was kind of surprising because, yes anchoring the putter does seem to make the stroke more stable than not anchoring. Since I have a bad case of the yips I pretty much had to go to a Long putter, and even with anchoring it is still easy to miss all kinds of putts, believe it or not.

17. I have to disagree with the cheating thing. It will be cheating as of 2016 or whenever the rule goes into effect. An anchored stroke is a stroke actually, but a stroke with an anchor point. To some people this is a clear cut issue, but it isn’t. If it was a clear cut issue than it wouldn’t have taken the USGA 40 years to figure out that anchoring is illegal. Is there a “definition” of a stroke somewhere in the rule that even addressed “anchoring” until now?

18. Sure, an anchored putter is not a guarantee of sinking a put anymore than a scoped rifle guarantees hitting a bulls-eye – but it is still an advantage over traditional equipment.

19. anchor putting should be banned because the rules states “the player must not look like a total fucking faggot whilst putting”

20. Anchoring the club does give an advantage. It takes away any error that occurs during the swing, which creates a pure stroke every time. That sounds like cheating to me! Why would someone use the long putter in the first place? Most people at a young age use a conventional putter, and if you suck too bad. Golf is a challenge, and anchoring the putter removes that challenge.

21. completely agree with you. once you affix one of the ends of pendulum, technically it is no longer a free stroke as physics would say. which clearly means unfair advantage as it completely takes out a possible layer of human error

22. The reason some of the pros are taking legal action is because they know they can’t putt with a normal putter or without anchoring it and I completely agree with golf being a challenge so if you can’t putt too bad keep trying harder. At the end of the day you swing every other club in the bag you don’t anchor irons or woods so its not a stroke if you anchor a putter

23. How many elite putters (past or present) use/d an anchored putter ?
    Answer: ZERO
    How many of the current(as of this post) top ten putters on the PGA tour use an anchored putter?
    Answer:ZERO
    So my suggestion to the USGA is simple. Educate yourselves and look at the stats BEFORE you cave in to pressures from an influential minority (Woods,Palmer,Watson Etc). If you REALLY want to make the game more “traditional and challenging” limit drivers to 150CC instead of the bucket sized 460CC’s of today

24. Your missing the point mate 4 of the last 6 majors have been won with anchored putters as well as a lot of other events on the PGA/European tour they haven’t banned it just because of what woods etc think of it they took into consideration the amount of pros and amateurs switching to them and it has proved that its an unfair advantage. Golf is a challenge in all areas so in my opinion its right to ban it.the players play with the same grooves etc and the putter should be no different

25. Hahaha.

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