Adam Scott has fired back at the growing movement to ban the long putter, saying any such move would only be because of player and media pressure.
As the rule makers in golf apparently move towards outlawing the belly and long putter because of the anchoring of the club to one's body and a perceived advantage, Scott says there has been no legitimate argument put forward.
Three of the past four major winners have used belly putters, with Ernie Els famously taking the Open Championship from Scott's broomstick version.
In the lead-up to the season's final major, the PGA Championship, the debate became even more vocal and Scott wanted to speak out, actually approaching media to enter the discussion.
His biggest annoyance is that this is seemingly a relatively new debate, despite the fact the practice has been around for a long time.
"I just don't know how they can ban it, honestly," Scott said.
"I don't know what argument there is for it that's legitimate other than the players who don't use it saying they don't like it. It's the only one I've seen.
"Maybe it's a little different for me, but guys like Tim Clark and Carl Pettersson have been out here putting for 15 years with a long putter. So I don't understand why it's different now.
"The way I see the argument is they think there are too many people using it now so we're going to ban it. That's what it looks like to me because I've seen no clear-cut anything from the R&A (Royal and Ancient Golf Club) or USGA.
"They say it's a discussion, but there has been no real evidence or testing that we know of other than some players don't like the fact we are using long putters."
Webb Simpson, this year's US Open champion, also came out in defiance, saying the shift from wooden to larger, titanium drivers made a bigger difference than "a 35-inch putter to a 45-inch putter".
"Also last year, in strokes gained putting on the PGA Tour, nobody in the top 20 used a belly putter or a long putter," Simpson said.
"If anybody says it's an advantage, I think you've got to look at the stats and the facts."
Australian Geoff Ogilvy, a self-confessed traditionalist, is not offended by players using the long putter, but is concerned it may see the short stick lost to the game.
"If you care at all about the short putter, then I think something does have to be done about the long one," Ogilvy said.
"They'll start selling them with junior sets and you'll have kids at 10 and 12 years old using belly putters and in 20 years' time short putters will be like persimmon woods, metal spikes and other things you find in the USGA museum. They'll be gone and I think that would be a shame."
Scott however believes golf has always evolved in this way.
"That's the game. If we were stuck playing the game the way it started, then we would still be using wooden drivers," he said.
"Everything evolves and people accept and embrace different things. It's like the sand wedge changed when Gene Sarazen welded a flange on the back of it.
"People decided this is easier to hit out of a bunker with. We love it and now we have a sand wedge.
"I saw Bernard Langer talk about it being a learned skill. You still have to read it right, aim it right and hit it at the right speed. It's just a different way of doing it. There is no proof to say it is easier or harder."
But 2010 US Open champion Graeme McDowell revealed perhaps the governing bodies have found some proof.
McDowell has spoken to USGA executive director Mike Davis on the issue.
"I think reading between the lines from what the R&A and the USGA are saying, I would say the change is coming," McDowell said.
"They feel like their research has shown that putting under pressure down the stretch on the back nine on Sunday, when you can anchor the putter to a part of your body ... that just takes one extraneous movement out of the putting stroke.
"It's just kind of a physical fact that if you can just take one element of movement and motion out of the stroke, that holing putts will become easier.
"But having said that, if it was so easy, everyone would be using one."
Even if the ruling bodies did decide on a rule change it wouldn't be fully implemented for some time, as rule changes can only be made every four years at special meetings, with the next set for 2016.
AAP
Tags: sport, golf, united-states, australia First posted August 09, 2012 20:20:20