Tiger Woods is against belly putters
Tiger Woods is against belly putters, he refers to himself as a traditionalist, and that he is opposed to belly putters or any club anchored against a player’s body. He stated at a press conference at Pebble Beach;
ERIC RISBERG / AP
“I’ve never been a fan. I believe putting is the art of controlling the body and club and swinging the pendulum motion. I believe that’s how the game should be played.”
As I have said earlier the Belly and long putters have become much more popular in the pro ranks, and Keegan Bradley became the first major winner to use one at last year’s PGA Championship. Now golf’s governing bodies, the USGA and R&A, said last week that they were taking a fresh look on implementing a leaning your body weight on the putter, affords a player an unfair advantage in high wind conditions. Tiger has been speaking with R&A Chief Executive Peter Dawson on the subject for years, particularly on drafting the tricky language that could present challenges to enforcing such a rule. Woods said he has gone back and forth with Dawson on how to tackle the wording, and he offered a logical suggestion;
My idea was to have it so that the putter would be equal to or less than the shortest club in your bag, and I think with that, we’d be able to get away from any type of belly or long putter.”
Of his own game Tiger said;
“I feel very at peace, I think it’s more fun now than it used to be because now my kids are getting at an age where they want to see daddy on TV. They say, ’daddy, you’re going to a golf tournament, are you going to be on TV. And I said, ‘Well, I have to play well.’ ‘Well, daddy, can you please play well?’
Asked about his match up with Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo, in the pro-am format at Pebble Beach, Tiger said;
“Romo’s playing from the up tees this week, which will be fun. That will be good for us. You guys probably don’t know this, but they want to give him a plus-three handicap, which is complete B.S. I mean, he’s a scratch. I play scratch every tournament, I’m a scratch.
“He’s competitive and he’s been grinding hard. It’s been cool to see. He’s been calling me quite a bit, sending me video of his golf swing, What can I do, what can I do?’”
Romo aside, it will be interesting to see how the belly putter debate pans out.
