'Your papers, please' must never be heard in America
Independent voices from the TWT Communities
The new rule does not ban the long putters, only the way they commonly are used. Golfers no longer will be able to anchor the club against their bodies to create the effect of a hinge.
Selected quotes on the Royal & Ancient and U.S. Golf Association approving Rule 14-1b, which bans in 2016 the anchored stroke commonly used with long putters:
Golf's two governing bodies outlawed the anchored putting stroke used by four of the last six major champions, approving a new rule that starts in 2016 and urging the PGA Tour to follow along so the 600-year-old sport is still played under one set of rules.
Webb Simpson already played for an amateur championship at Merion.
For the first time since before Chambers Bay hosted the U.S. Amateur in 2010, Matt Allen isn't explaining to golfers why a temporary green is being used or why a path is blocked off for construction equipment.
Pinehurst is getting ready to make history next year with the first double-dip of U.S. opens.
Tim Clark stated his case against the proposed ban on anchored strokes Wednesday night, saying he was frustrated by the lack of evidence from golf's governing bodies that using a long putter provides an advantage.
PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem threw a big wrinkle into the plan to outlaw the anchored putting stroke when he said Sunday the tour opposed the ban because there was not enough evidence to suggest players had an advantage by using a long putter.
With only a few weeks left before a decision on long putters, British Open champion Ernie Els hopes that golf officials change their minds.
Phil Mickelson's connection with Pebble Beach runs deeper than his four victories.
Tim Clark would have been easy to miss among dozens of PGA Tour players who poured out of a hotel ballroom after a two-hour meeting on the proposed ban of the stroke used for long putters _ except he was the only guy with a suitcase.
The U.S. Open is returning to Winged Foot, the New York club with a history of clutch moments and one unforgettable collapse.
The first PGA Tour meeting on a proposed rule for long putters made only one thing clear to commissioner Tim Finchem. There's still a long way to go to decide what the tour will do, and it figures to be messy.
"We put competition first and foremost," USGA executive director Mike Davis said in 2011. "We're focused on fans, but if we were totally focused on fans you'd have the rope lines closer to play. We're more focused on the competition itself. And until we, as an organization, are convinced that we can conduct a U.S. Open, a Women's Open, U.S. Amateur, Girls' Junior, with spectators using cell phones, we're going to continue to prohibit them."
"I think it's really important that the PGA Tour _ and all the professional tours _ continue to follow one set of rules," USGA executive director Mike Davis said. "We have gotten very positive feedback from the tours around the world saying that they like one set of rules, they like the R&A and USGA governing those. So if there was some type of schism, we don't think that would be good for golf."
