My Masters week started out last Monday afternoon seated
next to Chairman Billy Payne on the podium in the Media Center at Augusta
National Golf Club. We were joined by Glen Nager, the President of the USGA,
and the purpose was to announce an exciting junior golf initiative called
Drive, Chip and Putt. Some would call it
golf’s version of Punt, Pass and Kick, the NFL’s longstanding competition for
boys and girls.
Given the fact that the Drive, Chip and Putt Championship
will take place on April 6, 2014 on the Sunday before the Masters at Augusta
National GC, I would argue that our initiative might have more sizzle than any
modern day youth competition. A trip to Augusta National is on every golfer’s
bucket list and for kids ages 6-15 to experience this competition where the
putting contest will occur on the 18th green at the Masters is
incredible.
No doubt that many of the national media assembled on that
afternoon were secretly chuckling about the fact that Chairman Payne sat
between Nager and me who have been highly profiled as being on opposite sides of
anchoring argument. Glen and I made it clear that we were declaring a
moratorium on anchoring discussions during the Masters. Payne made it clear
that Augusta National had no comment.
Peace prevailed until late Saturday night when Adam Scott
used a 49” long putter, anchored against his body and beat Angel Cabrera on the
second sudden death hole to capture the green jacket at the 2013 Masters. More
on this later.
Ironically, in a week when a junior golf initiative was
introduced to the nation, so was Tianlang
Guan. He is a 14-year old boy from China who qualified for this Masters
by winning the Asian Pacific Amateur Championship. Guan is young enough to
compete in Drive, Chip and Putt. Guan made lots of great impressions last week,
but gained ominous notoriety by being assessed a one stroke penalty for slow
play on Friday.
In an era when many of us in golf offer lip service about
combating slow play, the Masters did something about it. Many in the media
defended Guan because he was 14 years old. I commend John Paramore, the English
rules official who handed Guan the penalty. More impressively was how Guan
accepted it all. He simply said,” I deserved the penalty” and he speeded up his
play accordingly on the weekend. Hey, if you drive in the Indy 500 you have to
keep up, no matter your age.
On Friday night when I attended the USGA reception, I first
heard that there was a possible rules infraction involving Tiger Woods. Honestly,
I had a sleepless night Friday and worried that a Tiger DQ would be bad for the
Masters and golf. On Saturday, my rules assignment was #16 green, so I spent
the better part of the morning hanging out at Tournament Headquarters waiting
on a decision.
In the 1960 Masters during the second round, Dow Finsterwald
dropped a ball on the #8 green as he walked off and was going to take a
practice putt. He was informed by his playing partner, Billy Casper, that
practice putting during competition was not allowed.
As Dow approached the #9 tee he spotted Edwin Carter, the
Tournament Manager. Finsterwald informed Carter that there could be a problem.
He had, in fact, taken a practice putt on the #5 green during round one.
Masters officials conferred and they approached Finsterwald after he finished
his round. They informed Finsterwald that he would receive a two stroke penalty
and it would be retroactively added to his first round score.
Finsterwald had violated the rule that prohibited practice
putting and he had signed his scorecard. This is pretty much the same scenario
that Woods had encountered with his incorrect drop on Friday and his ensuing
scorecard signature. Finsterwald went on to shoot a 72-hole total of 284 losing
to Arnold Palmer by two shots. The same two shots he was penalized. There had
been a precedent set 53 years ago in the Masters and I support the Committee’s
decision on the Woods’ ruling.
When Adam Scott dropped that winning putt in the darkness on
Sunday afternoon, he completed a unique Grand Slam for the long putter. Keegan Bradley got it all started with his
PGA Championship victory in 2011. Last year Webb Simpson won the U.S. Open and
Ernie Els took home the Claret Jug at the British Open. All four players were
anchoring long putters.
Some will say that Scott’s victory at the Masters will
probably seal the fate of the anchored stroke. Watching him win was probably as
painful as swallowing a handful of nails for USGA and R&A officials. Scott
is popular, good looking and well spoken. At 32 years old, he is another player
that represents the image that golf needs. How will his career be affected if
he can longer anchor?
It’s interesting when you consider Scott’s putting
performance last week from a statistical standpoint. The field averaged 1.65
putts per green hit in regulation. Scott averaged 1.67, which was worse than
the masses. When Els won the Open Championship at Lytham he was ranked 71st
in overall putting. So, I would argue that the last two major winners using the
anchored putting stroke did so on the merits of their ball striking, not their
putting.
At any rate, several hours before Scott won I sat on the
green at #10 where my Sunday rules post was located. I thought to myself, the
slow play issue with Guan and the controversy with Tiger’s ruling would surely dominate
the post-Masters discussion. Maybe anchoring talk would go away for a while.
Little did I know around 7:30 that night on this very spot, anchoring talk
would start again.
Saturday night I entertained Sweden’s Carl Pettersson and
his wife Deanna for dinner. Martin Laird, of Scotland, and his wife, Megan,
were potential guests until he missed the cut. The wives are part a partnership
we started at the PGA of America with the PGA Tour Wives Association. Deanna
and Megan are on the Tour Wives Board. Coincidentally, both Carl Pettersson and
Martin Laird anchor long putters.
Early Monday morning I awoke abruptly. I sat up in bed. I
had been interrupted by the Navy band playing Anchors Aweigh. Do you suppose
Scott, Pettersson, Laird, Fred Couples, Keegan Bradley and others had that same
nightmare? In their case it might have been more like Anchors Away…………
It's too bad that you don't seem to understand the whole anchored putter controversy. It's not whether Adam Scott is a better putter than the field with the long putter, it's whether he is better with the anchored stroke as opposed to the unanchored one. I assume that he thinks he is a better putter with the anchored putter. The fact that he continues to use it months after the USGA and the R&A have spoken is testament to that.If he's right, then we could assume that his putts per hole average would be more than 1.67 and then maybe he doesn't win the masters. The point is that if the anchored putting stroke makes one a better putter than they are with the unanchored stroke, they are gaining an advantage on the field that is unfair. When the ban goes into effect and we never hear from Adam Scott again we will know for sure.
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