LONG PUTTERS:Keegan Bradley's win in the US PGA, the first Major win by a player wielding a belly putter, and recent criticism of long putters by Tiger Woods has revived the debate

ONCE UPON a time, they were a mere item of curiosity. Even the RA and the USGA, those wise men who regulate golf, didn’t delve too deeply into the mechanisation of a putting device where a player propped the broomhandle putter into a layer of skin under his chin, or plunged the belly putter into his midriff.

As long ago as 1989, the two governing bodies deemed the long/belly putters to be conforming and reaffirmed that view in 2004. Nothing to worry about.

It seemed that as long as the conventional putter was the choice of the majority and continued to be the magic wand that garnered Major titles, then that was that.

Ahem.

Things have changed, most dramatically with Keegan Bradley’s win in the US PGA last August, the first Major win by a player wielding a belly putter, and the gentle murmurings thereafter were given a louder and stronger voice last week by Tiger Woods’s assertion that there is no place in the sport for such implements.

Woods, you see, would like to ban those long putters. Not surprisingly, the RA and the USGA tend to sit up when someone like Woods makes a case for exclusion and, so, again, the case of the long-handled putters and the belly putters are under the microscope.

You’ll hear arguments about the use of these clubs not being in keeping with the spirit of the game, or that they take away the nerves – especially over short putts – that are part and parcel of the sport.

“More players are using it, both on the elite level and the recreational level. We want to be sure that we are looking at all the angles and thinking about what is in the best interests of the traditions of the game, the history of the game, and what we think would be good for the game,” said the USGA’s Mike Davis in acknowledging that the use of the long putters was being considered by the sport’s governing bodies.

Is such a review an overreaction? After all, the putters have been around for the best part of two decades.

Sam Torrance became the poster boy for the broomhandle putter on this side of the Atlantic, while Paul Azinger’s win in 2000 Sony Open – using an old Titleist head on an extended shaft – made people sit up and take notice of a trend that had previously been confined to old fogies playing on the Champions Tour.

By 2004, when the RA and the USGA again discussed the issue, there was no about-turn on their stance of 1989. The long putter was deemed to be a conforming club. No problem.

So, what’s changed?

Unquestionably, Bradley’s US PGA win – sandwiched as it was between other wins on the US Tour by Adam Scott in the preceding week’s WGC-Bridgestone Invitational and the following week’s Wyndham Championship – highlighted not only the trend of younger players using belly putters but also a perceived edge which these clubs were giving them on the greens.

Woods didn’t say anything new last week at Pebble Beach when he brought up the issue of long putters in his press conference ahead of the ATT pro-am. Indeed, he has always been against the use of such putters.

It was the timing of his argument and his revelation that he had raised the subject matter with golf’s governing bodies that stoked the flames.

Never a fan of the long putter, Woods said: “My idea was to have it so that the putter would be equal to or less than the shortest club in your bag . . . . and I think, with that, we’d be able to get away from any type of belly anchoring.

“I believe it (putting) is the art of controlling the body and club and swinging the pendulum motion. That’s how it should be played. I’m a traditionalist when it comes to that.”

There are, basically, three types of conforming putters: the traditional short-shafted putter; the broomhandle putter (which turns the putting stroke into a true pendulum swing, eliminating wrist action, and usually measures from 48 to 52 inches); and the belly putter (measuring between 41 and 44 inches and which props into a player’s abdomen to provide stability and balance to the stroke).

The advantage of the belly putter, in particular, is that it is anchored against the body and wrist action is easier to control. The player also remains in a posture that is close to the ideal.

The disadvantage is that they generally have a thicker grip with the consequence that feel is reduced and distance control is more difficult.

The trend, particularly over the past 12 months, which has seen an increase of tour players, both in Europe and the United States, using the belly putter is the reason why it remains a hot issue.

There was a time when the long putters were seen as an implement used by older players who had lost their touch. Not any more though.

Younger players like Bradley and Webb Simpson have changed the perception that it is a club for older players. And there is another factor: seasoned players like Jim Furyk – and, even, however briefly, Phil Mickelson – took to using the elongated putter.

Brad Faxon, considered to be the best putter on the US Tour for an aeon, claimed that a player only turned to using a belly putter as a “second, third, fourth or last resort”.

Yet, the trend which has seen whippersnappers like Bradley, Simpson and Bill Haas opt to use them at a young age ahead of conventional putters would indicate a turning of the tide and that is why there is increasing concern in the governing bodies.

As of now, long putters are legal. The RA and the USGA deem them to be so. No argument there.

As Ernie Els – who has moved between conventional putters and belly putters in recent times in an effort to regain his putting touch – put it: “I’ve been outspoken about it, against it. (But) I’m glad they haven’t banned it . . . . as long as it’s legal, I’ll keep cheating like the rest of them.”

The Belly Putter

Length: 41in – 44in.

Main advantage: The putter is anchored against the body and wrist action is easier to control. The player remains in a posture that is close to ideal.

Disadvantage: A player’s feel is reduced (as against conventional putters) due to a necessarily thicker grip.

Who uses one: US PGA champion Keegan Bradley (right). “The belly putter is part of my generation. For the purists, it’s not and never will be. It’s not going away.”

The Broomhandle Putter

Length: 48in–52in.

Main advantage: The putter – placed on a player’s chest or under his chin – takes wrist action out of play. It is particularly successful for players who have developed the dreaded yips.

Disadvantage: Controlling distance, especially on longer putts, can be a problem.

Who uses one: Adam Scott (right). “My putting confidence was really low and my stats from less than 10 feet were atrocious, my putting is finally measuring up to the rest of my game.”