With how some of the short putts have gone wanting in Phil Mickelson‘s career, sometimes it is kind of shocking to consider that the 4-time major winner has never experimented with putters outside of a very tight range of models in tournament play. That’s not to say, though, that he hasn’t given thought to trying an unconventional putter.
“I’ve grabbed one off the rack and just hit one with it, sure,” Mickelson said Wednesday at Plainfield Country Club. “I don’t see very many left-handed but I’ll grab one when I see it and just take a few practice strokes.”
With his mug plastered all over the area in promotion of The Barclays – he is sponsored by them – Mickelson would look odd without his trademark flat stick. That doesn’t mean Mickelson would never bring one into play, rather that it would require practice with the attention to detail he lends to his long-standing stroke.
“I wouldn’t rule [a long putter] out,” he said. “But I think there are certain things technique-wise that you have to understand to do it well, to putt well with it.
“It swings differently than a normal putter in your hands, and so I don’t know those little idiosyncracies, those little secrets, if you will. And so I don’t really putt very effectively with it.”
It would seem Mickelson feels the belly putter or the broom stick should not be abolished from the game. It has its own issues just the same as any of the other hundred types of putters out there.
“I think that there’s more to it than just starting the ball online and putting,” he said. “You have to read the green correctly. You have to start the ball online, which the belly putter I think really helps, but you also have to have the right speed.”
Despite being a legal piece of equipment for decades now, Mickelson would not be surprised to see the game’s governing bodies consider banning some form of long putter in the future.
“We’ve been retroactive on grooves. We’ve outlawed the paddle grip for crying out loud, I don’t know why. That was legal for three decades,” he explained.
Mickelson would object to such a change in the Rules of Golf.
“So I don’t know what the process is, but I think it’s very unfair to let guys play with it competitively for however many years and then try to take it away.
“I’ve grabbed one off the rack and just hit one with it, sure,” Mickelson said Wednesday at Plainfield Country Club. “I don’t see very many left-handed but I’ll grab one when I see it and just take a few practice strokes.”
With his mug plastered all over the area in promotion of The Barclays – he is sponsored by them – Mickelson would look odd without his trademark flat stick. That doesn’t mean Mickelson would never bring one into play, rather that it would require practice with the attention to detail he lends to his long-standing stroke.
“I wouldn’t rule [a long putter] out,” he said. “But I think there are certain things technique-wise that you have to understand to do it well, to putt well with it.
“It swings differently than a normal putter in your hands, and so I don’t know those little idiosyncracies, those little secrets, if you will. And so I don’t really putt very effectively with it.”
It would seem Mickelson feels the belly putter or the broom stick should not be abolished from the game. It has its own issues just the same as any of the other hundred types of putters out there.
“I think that there’s more to it than just starting the ball online and putting,” he said. “You have to read the green correctly. You have to start the ball online, which the belly putter I think really helps, but you also have to have the right speed.”
Despite being a legal piece of equipment for decades now, Mickelson would not be surprised to see the game’s governing bodies consider banning some form of long putter in the future.
“We’ve been retroactive on grooves. We’ve outlawed the paddle grip for crying out loud, I don’t know why. That was legal for three decades,” he explained.
Mickelson would object to such a change in the Rules of Golf.
“So I don’t know what the process is, but I think it’s very unfair to let guys play with it competitively for however many years and then try to take it away.
