The long and the short of it
regulation change. The long putter was ditched in favour of a short stick which in his hands has proved as reliable as a strand of overcooked spaghetti. He is ranked 183 out of 208 for the season in the PGA Tour’s putting stats. “Erratic” is how Scott describes his putting but “horrendous” is how his former coach Butch Harmon sums it up. A switch intended to make golfers honest again on the greens has ended up turning one of the game’s A-listers into an also-ran. He may yet end up rubbing shoulders with club pros at sectional qualifying in Ohio on the week of the US Open as a last, desperate throw of the dice to extend his 67-Major streak. But here’s the thing. Scott may be turning the corner. Three weeks ago the 37-year-old decided to abandon the short putter. He could have turned to a three-wood or a pogo stick as a replacement – anything would have been better – but instead he has gone back to a long putter and the early signs since have been promising. There was an 11th at the Players’ Championship and ninth at the Byron Nelson – his first top ten finish for a year. If he had clipped one more shot off his final-round 65 in Texas at the weekend, he would have been world No 60 yesterday and in the US Open. The ban by golf’s governing bodies was on the act of anchoring the putter against the body, not on long putters themselves and Scott is one of a handful of players who are using the loophole to their benefit. Webb Simpson, inset, another Major champion who lost his way when he lost his long putter, won the Players last week, reunited with his lengthy friend. Simpson’s method is the more dubious – like Matt Kuchar he uses his forearm as a splint, effectively anchoring through the back door. Scott is at least out in the open, placing the long stick under chin. Neither way is quite how the R and A would have envisioned the future but both are within the rules as they are written. The law of unintended consequences applies but at least one happy spin-off is that golf fans gets to see Scott’s blissful swing for a few more years yet – and hopefully on a Major stage. He will play in two more tournaments – this week’s Fort Worth Invitational at Colonial then the Memorial in a fortnight – in an attempt to make the US Open before the qualification drawbridge is pulled up on June 11.
The ban on anchored putting ruined him