Belly putters: The stars' views
With the USGA hinting it may take a look at the increasing use of long-handled putters, we pick out 11 interesting quotes from men at the very top of the game
"As long as it's legal I'll keep cheating like the rest of them"- Ernie Els
“I’ve never been a fan of it, I believe in the art of controlling the body and club and swinging the pendulum motion. I believe that’s how it should be played. I’m a traditionalist when it comes to that. My idea was to have it so that the putter would be equal to or less than the shortest club in your bag ... I think with that, we'd be able to get away from any type of belly anchoring.” – Tiger Woods
“I’ve never dabbled and hopefully I never will. I feel very confident in my putting. I don’t really even feel the need to even try it.”- Luke Donald
“I’m not giving shots away on short putts anymore but again, I’ve only used it a couple weeks. It’s not like I’m sold on it. But it’s helped me not throw too many shots away around the greens. I feel like I’m putting short ones a lot better and starting to make some more mid-range.”- Phil Mickelson
“I've been able to sustain my good play tee-to-green and now roll in a few putts. The belly-putter is anchored to your stomach, the thing has to swing like a pendulum, so it has to release naturally. When I checked the stats, I saw that I was more than one putt per round more than I have been for the previous two years,”- Trevor Immelman
If it was cheating you'd see every single person using it, I don't think it is the cure-all. You still have to be good to use it.
"I'm not a fan of the long putters, of being able to attach the golf club to another part of the body other than the hand. But never say never. I tend to keep my mouth shut. I'm not a fan of it. Who knows? Get down the road and – I've actually practiced with basically a longer version of my putter sticking in the belly and kind of like it. For as long as I can, I'm going to resist.”- Paul Casey
"The belly putter isn't the easy cure that a lot of people think it is. It still requires a lot of practice. But it simplifies the fundamentals of putting so much that increasingly guys who have putting problems or inconsistencies are going to end up turning to it." – Nick Price
“It's inevitable it's going to get changed. I think at the end of the day, if we started fresh tomorrow and somebody tried to get the belly putter passed, not a chance,"- Padraig Harrington
"This has absolutely freed up the rest of my game. It's certainly a different kind of confidence I have now when I walk onto a golf course. I feel like I can fall back on my putting if the long game is not there that day, and if it is there, I can really take advantage of it. It's a nice feeling to have a little confidence and consistency. I now have awareness of how a putter should swing again." - Adam Scott
"It's like the two-handed backhand in tennis, twenty years ago, it was not the norm. Now it's the better way to go. The belly putter and the long putter are going to trend that way. Young kids are not going to be afraid to switch." - Brad Faxon
"If it was cheating you'd see every single person using it, I don't think it is the cure-all. You still have to be good to use it. But there's no doubt, you give a good putter a long putter and he's only going to get better." - Spencer Levin
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