Blog: When will Adam Scott change his putter?

The madness of the finish and Hideki Matsuyama’s maiden victory at the Memorial Tournament overshadowed a fairly significant development.

Keegan Bradley, who became the first player to win a major with an anchored putter in the 2011 PGA Championship, switched to a shorter-handled version at Muirfield Village.

It was on the advice of his mother apparently. But does mum know best?

With the ban coming into force in 2016 surely all those who favour the soon-to-be-outlawed putting method will be following suit in the near future?

Adam Scott has relied on his broom-handled Scotty Cameron to become one of the best putters on the PGA Tour over the past few years.

He was won his first major and made it to the top of the world rankings.

The Australian, who turns 34 next month, isn’t getting any younger and is in the form of his life.

Before the anchored putting ban is introduced, Scott, in theory, has the opportunity to win seven more majors.

Why would he change anything until he has to?

He no doubt already has and can continue to practice behind closed doors until January 2016. Why would he go into battle before then without his trust weapon of choice?
Bradley has fallen from the top 10 to 25th in the Official World Golf Rankings The case of Bradley is a different one.

It was a watershed moment when Bradley triumphed at Atlanta Athletic Club as a fresh-faced  24-year-old. But the dominance of the anchored putter did not follow as some predicted.

Three years on and Bradley has managed just the one victory which came at the 2012 WGC-Bridgestone invitational.

He has fallen from the top 10 to 25th in the Official World Golf Rankings.

The putter Bradley opted for at Muirfield Village was a counter-balanced ‘almost-belly’ version. The end of the grip sits just a couple of inches away from the gut. The technology has been developed to give the same feel.

It wasn’t that much of a drastic change and an opening round 67 proved it wasn’t hampering his progress. He fell away during the weekend but that was more indicative of his patchy recent form than a change in putter.

When the time comes, Scott will surely have to adopt a completely new putting method but I’d be very surprised if we see it before 2016.

He’d have to suffer a huge dip in form – or get a phone call from his mother.