![]() ![]() ![]() The Aussie isn’t doing anything that is against the rules. What is the solution to end the debate around perceived anchoring? Let’s not kid ourselves, though, that day is coming. It would have been a victory that came with a big asterisk for many of those watching at home. Can you imagine the outcry if he’d actually won? The backlash against Scott grew with every birdie in the final round at Bellerive. That’s because the act of anchoring, as defined in the rules, has to be intentional.īut like the silly form you fill in when you are going to a foreign country that asks you whether you are a terrorist, who is going to admit to anchoring?Īnd so we have this atmosphere of rancour each time a player who uses a long putter gets into contention – or employs a technique that bears the slightest suggestion that their stroke could be anchored.īernhard Langer, a player whose middle name could be ‘honesty’, has been fending off criticisms and accusations ever since the new rules came into effect because he uses a broom-handle. Basically, if you said you weren’t anchoring that was good enough for everyone unless there was concrete evidence to the contrary. The answer, as we understood it, was to rely on player integrity. How could you actually tell if it was anchoring? How could you accurately assess whether a penalty was required? How could that be proved? Was the putter simply touching the clothing – which isn’t a breach of the rules? They were wearing waterproofs and it appeared they were anchoring the putter to their chest. Say a player was using a long putter in rainy conditions. What, mused one experienced official, could be done if there was a suspicion of anchoring but it wasn’t clear cut? ![]() There were lots of infographics showing what was and wasn’t allowed – pictures of putters held away from the chest and various other parts of the body.īut it only took one raised hand for the illusion to come crashing down. So the implements that had actually been the cause of much of the outcry were still permitted. That is deemed to be “when the player intentionally holds a forearm in contact with any part of his body to establish a gripping hand as a stable point around which the other hand may swing the club”.īizarrely, though, given the years of R&A and USGA hand-wringing and the controversies that had got them to this point, the new rule didn’t ban either the long or the belly putter. Rule 14-1b banned the anchoring of the club – either directly, when a player “intentionally holds the club or a gripping hand in contact with any part of his body”, or by the use of an anchor point. ![]() I sat in an England Golf rules meeting two years as the new anchoring laws were spelled out to championship referees. It’s the mere perception that he COULD be, and that there’s nothing that can be done about it, that is seriously damaging the game. Whether or not Scott is anchoring his long putter against his chest – and I don’t for a moment think he is – is almost immaterial. This, instead, is a story about a putter. In a week marked by sorrow, following the death of his good friend Jarrod Lyle, Scott’s uplifting performance should have been a welcome ray of light for Australian golf.īut we’re not talking about that. He arrived at Bellerive 76th in the world rankings. ![]()
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