Long Putter Ruling Emphasizes R&A and USGA History of Too Little and Too Late

By
at Internationaled.org

Published: November 29, 2012

commentComment        

Kathy Bissell.

Balderdash. The idea that the USGA and R&A changed the rule on what constitutes a stroke because they did not like the look of the long and belly putters does not pass the sniff test. I don’t care what they tell each other. They changed the rule out of pure annoyance that finally someone won the US Open and the British Open using long putters.  

They didn’t mind that Johnny Miller won at Pebble Beach in 1987, that Charlie Owens played the Champions Tour and won an event in 1985 using the Slim Jim, or that Paul Azinger won the Sony Open in 2000 with the belly putter.  

The long and belly putters have been around for 25 years and the USGA and R&A didn’t do anything. Nothing. Zip. Why now? 



What makes this decision smell worse is that it isn’t the first time they’ve acted this way. So, with a warning—this article is only for the truly paranoid, conspiracy theorists out there—let’s look at some past controversial rulings. Were they really altruistic in nature? Or was plain, old, green-eyed jealousy or red-faced embarrassment at work?

Don’t get me wrong here. I don’t think long and belly putters should be legal.  But that train left the station 25 years ago. To rein in longer putters now with language on "How You Can’t Make A Stroke" smacks of "Not In My Backyard," not of "For The Good of The Game."

If they get taken to court, precedent is on the side of the other guy, particularly if someone’s career is damaged. It looks more like they are embarrassed and don’t want it to happen again at “their” events. 



No matter what history says, or what other people tell you, the R&A banned a club for the first time AFTER someone had success with it: Walter Travis—an Australian born, naturalized American—won the Britis...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Golf

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