On Par: Long Putter: an Affront to Purity or a Welcome Tool?

As Adam Scott made his charge up the leader board in the final round of this year’s Masters, golf seemed closer than ever to having its first winner of a Grand Slam event who wielded a long putter. There have been other close calls and the 2009 Masters champion, Angel Cabrera, used a belly length putter, though he did not push it into his belly.

But Scott would have crossed a clear boundary with that 49-inch putting stick.

The use of unusually long putters goes back many decades, though its modern popularity likely dates to 1989, when Orville Moody used one to win the United States Senior Open. To many, it has remained a concession to age, a tool for senior players. And it has carried a stigma as being outside the spirit, if not the letter, of the Rules of Golf.

Early in the debate, Tom Watson declared that “it is not a golf stroke.” Other pros have been far more critical than that, ridiculing the long putter as a cheating broomstick.

Whether the long putter is jammed under the chin, pressed against the sternum or poked into the stomach, for many purists the problem is that it is touching some part of the body other than the hands. The United States Golf Association, which oversees the rules in North America, has disagreed and that’s why long putters are permissible wherever golf is played.

But permissible does not always mean accepted. Some in the golf community wondered if a Scott victory at the Masters might even spur a backlash to have the long putter finally banned.

When they first came out, I agreed with Watson and I still find long putters odd. I doubt I could ever see myself using one. But the argument about their being placed against the body seems specious. Many people putt with standard putters held against their forearm and have been doing so for decades. That’s not holding the club in the hands, either, and it’s not illegal. In fact, no one says anything about that putting style.

It’s only a matter of time before a major champion is crowned using a long putter, and I suspect the world will not end. Golf will go on. Golf purity is a worthy cause, but the game simply can’t take itself too seriously. It is already very good at that. The game needs all the golfers it can get. If long putters help some people with the yips enjoy the game more, or if it protects the cranky, ailing backs of some of our golfing elders and lets them play more often, then it is a welcome tool.

Besides, if it was such a big advantage, we would have a major winner by now.