In my more truthful moments, I will reluctantly admit to being as big a sucker for golfing gimmicks as the most gullible practitioner, provided of course the latest "miracle" does not involve a trip to the practice ground. And in the context of what follows, the same applies to the practice putting green.

So, I have always been highly suspicious of the "Plumb Line" method of putting, largely because my instincts tell be that it's not an instant aid, but one which requires patience and application. And in this, I happen to be in very good company.

Legendary scribe, Henry Longhurst, could never make sense of the process. He wrote: "I cheerfully admit to being at a loss to know what the dickens those golfers are up to, so commonly seen on the telly, even among the ranks of the mighty, who shut one eye and dangle their putters in front of them in order, allegedly, to detect the line to the hole."

Longhurst went on to ask: "How can the line of sight, through the air, possibly indicate what goes on on the ground? For all the putter shaft knows, there may be no ground at all between the ball and the tee. There might be one vast crevasse; or a waterfall; or a ski slope. Yet the people who swear by this method of telling the line to the hole are no fools."

Indeed not. Take Jim Furyk (right) for instance and Joe Carr, who won no fewer than 40 important amateur championships, many of them with the aid of plumb line putting. So, how is it done? Patiently, Carr explained how it is necessary, first of all, to determine which is your stronger eye. Then, standing a few feet behind the ball, you dangle the putter freely between thumb and forefinger while getting a straight line between eye, ball and hole. You then move the club until the ball is obscured. After that, you look towards the top part of the shaft and if it passes to the left of the hole, the putt breaks right. If it passes to the right, the putt breaks left.

"The first person I saw using it was Gary Player, who showed me how it works," said Carr. "I found it to be a wonderful help, especially on strange greens and I have since taught it to anyone who was interested." Among Carr's outstanding pupils was Kilkenny's Paraic O'Rourke, who became one of the country's finest putters while winning three South of Ireland titles. "Joe taught me when he was Irish team captain, about 20 years ago," said O'Rourke.

"I swear by it, particularly on raised greens which can create an optical illusion." But what of those players whom we regularly see on television holding a putter firmly in front of them and then looking along it with serious intent? "I don't know what those guys are doing," said O'Rourke.

And what of Longhurst? "Old Henry used to get a little bothered at times," suggested Carr, with a mischievous chuckle. Given his fascination with plumb line putting, I'm not surprised.

"It wasn't quite as good as last year, but it was still a pretty darn good year."

Tiger Woods, after ending the season in the US last weekend with a share of 13th place in the Tour Championship.