Last week I sat eye to eye with Arnold Palmer in his Bay
Hill Country Club office. If The King and I have one thing in common, and maybe
there is only one thing- that would be our offices. Both are cluttered and
loaded with memorabilia that reflects golf, friends and family. But, for me it
was a hallowed moment in time and it was the equivalent of talking baseball
with Babe Ruth. The point of my visit was to bring Palmer up to speed on the
PGA of America’s position on the proposed ban on anchoring by the USGA and
R&A.
Palmer has been an outspoken advocate of the USGA in this
fight and my mission was not to change his mind. He told me that his main
concern is that he fears a ban on anchoring could cause bifurcation of the
Rules of Golf. He feels that two different sets of rules would be a major
setback to the game of golf. He hates to hear the PGA TOUR and the PGA of
America talk about another set of rules which would allow anchoring. Palmer is
also steadfast in his belief that players who anchor a long putter are not
performing a stroke as it was intended when the game was founded.
Once an advocate of a non-conforming driver for the
recreational player, Palmer is now in a different place than he was back in
2001 when Callaway and the USGA went toe to toe on the issue. With all due respect I had to ask him, what’s
different today? Why the change of heart? The 83-year old golf icon smiled with
that legendary twinkle in his eye and shrugged his shoulders.
“That’s just the way I feel,” said Palmer.
Nobody in golf wants a head on collision caused by some silly
controversy over a long putter. Palmer will go so far as calling the long
putter a contraption, not recognizing it as a golf club. I disagree with that
and I also think that anchoring a long putter is a stroke as defined by the
Rules of Golf.
On Page 33 in the Rules of Golf, “A ‘stroke’ is the forward movement of the
club with the intention of striking at and moving the ball, but if a player
checks his downswing voluntarily before the clubhead reaches the ball he has
not made a stroke.” No one can convince me that an anchored putting stroke is
anything but a ‘stroke’.
Call this Bishop’s Last Stand if you will. I am going to
offer a simple solution to this whole mess. Listen up Mike Davis because this
idea was not mine. It was Glen Nager’s, the current USGA President. Glen and I
spent a couple of days together in late February at Augusta National Golf Club.
We stayed together. I knocked his glasses off as we got out of a van for
dinner. But, we teamed up the following day and won our friendly competition
among the USGA, the PGA and our great hosts at The Masters.
You heard it here first. Nager and Bishop bonded (at least I
thought we did). I have been intrigued by a concept that Nager presented to me
on our flight from Atlanta to Augusta. Nager is a guy who has taken 13 cases to
the Supreme Court of the United States. I respect him greatly and I want to
take his idea to another level.
If the USGA would drop the proposed Rule 14-1b and instead,
make the ban on anchoring a Condition of Competition in the Rule Book, all
entities in golf could handle it the way they want. Rule 33-1 provides, “The
Committee must establish conditions under which a competition is to be played.”
Currently, there are eleven (11) Conditions of Competition
in the Rules of Golf. These conditions include matters which are not
appropriate to deal with in the rules of the game. They include such matters as
Specification of Clubs and the Ball; Caddies; Pace of Play and Suspension of
Play; Practice, Advice, Anti-Doping, etc. These Conditions of Competition are options
available to any entity who is conducting an event.
Interestingly enough, golf’s four major championships adopt
different conditions in their competitions. The PGA Championship elects not to
implement the “One Ball Rule” while the other three majors do. The USGA allows
for practice putting at the hole last played whereas the other three majors do
not. The Embedded Ball Rule through the green is in effect at the Masters, U.S.
Open and PGA but not the British Open. Stones in bunkers can be removed in the
British Open, but not the other three majors.
By creating a 12th Condition of Competition
dealing with anchoring, the USGA and R&A could ban the stroke from their
competitions. The Masters and PGA Championship would have to decide how to
handle it. The PGA TOUR could allow anchoring in all of its events, including
the Champions TOUR. The PGA of America professionals who run events nationwide
could let the recreational amateur continue to anchor the long putter.
To Arnold Palmer’s point, the world of golf would continue
to exist under one set of rules. What about the confusion of having major
championships “looking” different because players are anchoring a long putter
in some, but not another. Well, sports fans that’s not unprecedented in golf
history.
Prior to 1975 and subsequent to 1921, players used any sized
ball to their liking in the British Open, provided its diameter was not smaller
than 1.62 inches. The “small ball” or “English” ball was widely used across the
pond because it went farther and was more workable in the wind.
Over the years, a desire grew to standardize the rules on
golf ball size. In 1974, the R&A outlawed the small ball in British Open
Championships, but it wasn’t until 1990 that the R&A adopted the USGA’s 1.68
inch minimum diameter rule, relegating the small ball to history. But, for
decades players actually had the option to play two different sizes of golf
balls in a major championship.
Is a 12th Condition of Competition a perfect
solution? Keegan Bradley, Webb Simpson, Tim Clark, Adam Scott and Carl
Petterson will say no. At least, they would get to anchor their long putters in
all but maybe three events each year- the U.S. Open, the British Open and maybe
The Masters. They could still compete in these majors with another putter. It
would allow them to play the PGA TOUR every week just like they do now.
Recreational amateurs would be able to continue and enjoy the game using their
anchored strokes.
President Bishop,
ReplyDeleteI agree 100% by making the anchoring of a club a condition of competition everyone wins and it shows unity within our industry. This has my vote.
John Lindert, PGA
Great stuff! I'm in agreement, this is a proper way to handle the issue.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a great solution to me!
ReplyDeleteND5
I simply wanted to thank you so much again. I am not sure the things
ReplyDeletethat I might have gone through without the type of hints revealed by
you regarding that situation.
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