Did McIlroy just call Belly Putters Cheating?

McIlroy’s Tweet

Following the decision by golf’s governing bodies that anchoring putters will become a breach of the rules in 2016, Rory McIlroy was one of the first to express his views tweeting “it will be a level playing field in 2016”.  But it’s not really an advantage right now because anyone can use them and I’m sure that in reality pride and principle are the only things that prevent the whole professional game from using them.  It’s not new for Pro’s to call Belly Putters cheating; it was for example Freddy Couple to first coin the term cheating sticks, despite using one with great effect on the Champions Tour but McIlroy wasn’t the only top Pro to voice their opinions on the proposed ban

Other Players views

The decision on the belly putter has been widely contested in the golfing world for quite some time now, Woods and McDowell for example, have been staunch proponents of its ban whilst Simpson and Bradley have expressed very strong views as to why it should not be banned, no doubt because they owe quite a large proportion of their career earnings to its invention. Ernie Els, the latest major winner to use one takes the rather ironic standpoint by using one and yet often referring to them as “cheat sticks”.  If the latest golfing news is to be believed, Keegan Bradley- who used a belly putter with great affect at the end of last year to seal his maiden Major title- has said he may sue if his preferred putting method is outlawed, a rather drastic measure.  Webb Simpson quite rightly said that the decision should come based on evidence and not an “ideal view of tradition in the game” and has argued that actually there is no advantage according to the PGA Tour stat: strokes gained putting.  Many people have come forward as saying that this rule change comes too late and that they are only doing it because people have started winning Majors with them and I am sure there is some truth to that. 

The Verdict

As I mentioned in my last piece on the subject of belly putters, I feel it is unwise to outlaw them for amateurs as well but unfortunately the R & A and USPGA have not taken this view point, despite Peter Dawson highlighting the quite unnecessary affect it would have on some of the games older generations.   A ban on anchoring the putter would prevent some older people, who suffer from the “yips”, from competing at a level they feel they should be and I don’t think it is a ridiculous claim to say that a fair few people would give up.  Rob Lee, the famous SkySports pundit, in his latest article has also stated a similar view; that while being firmly against putters, he would have no issue with the rule change only applying to the Professional game. While this debate will no doubt continue to rage in the upcoming weeks and maybe the governing bodies will amend their stance slightly but until such a time, it is unlikely that we will see quite how much this will affect our great game.  I for one, and I’m sure there are more out there, think that given the next three years golfers everywhere will be racking their brains to find loopholes and new putting techniques that cure the yips and have the same effect as the belly putter.  Where there’s a will, there’s a way.

FF