Anchoring ban hasn't hurt Adam Scott, Bernhard Langer

Adam Scott and Bernhard Langer have made moot all the talk about how the ban on anchoring the putter would affect two of its most famous practitioners.

Scott used a “broomstick” putter pressed, or anchored, against the body when he won the 2013 Masters Tournament. That followed wins in majors by anchorers Keegan Bradley in the 2011 PGA Championship, Webb Simpson in the 2012 U.S. Open and Ernie Els in the 2012 British Open.

Scott has won twice this year with a shorter, conventional putter. The second came at the WGC-Ca­dillac Championship at Doral when he rolled in a clutch 7-footer on the 72nd hole to win by a shot. The week before, Scott won the Honda Classic, in which he shot 66 in the third round with a quadruple bogey.

“It’s good for me because maybe we don’t have to go over it too much anymore,” Scott said after the win at the Honda, adding that “it just reassures me I’m on the right track with the things I’m doing on the greens.”

Langer won in his third start this season on the PGA Tour Cham­pions – though he’s still using the long putter. He’s just not anchoring it against his body.

Another player in the Masters field, Matt Kuchar, will also be using a long putter (it’s 43 inches) but he has never anchored. In­stead, he places his leading left hand low so he can brace the top portion of the shaft against the inside of his left forearm.

Scott’s two early victories in 2016 have encouraged other former anchorers such as Bradley.

“To see him win twice and make some putts, that actually really did get me motivated, made me feel good,” Bradley said. “So, thanks for that.”

Bradley was among a group that was proactive once the USGA and the R&A announced in May 2013 that the anchoring ban would go into effect Jan. 1, 2016. He’s been using a conventional putter since after the 2014 Ryder Cup. Simpson went to it full-time in late November 2014.

As for Scott, who had used a long putter for the past four years, he tried the short putter early last season and went back to the long one by the time of the 2015 Masters, where he tied for 38th.

Langer, who started anchoring in 1996, stayed with that style until he was forced to switch.

Bradley discovered he was better off not using the long putter at last year’s Masters, where he finished in a tie for 22nd.

“The biggest disadvantage of a course I’ve played with a belly putter is here because of the huge slopes and the touch you have to have, and putting off the green,” Bradley said. “With the belly putter, I felt like this was the only place I felt I had a distinct disadvantage. They’re so many putts where you have to bend it in. With a short putter, you have a lot more feel. Last year was my best finish, and I had the short putter.”

Bill Haas was once an anchorer, but he soured on the style after just seven tournaments, dropping it in early 2012.

“I went to it because it got popular,” Haas said. “Guys were winning with it and I was like, ‘Let me try it.’ I won two of them (including the Tour Championship), then I went away from it and never went back to it. I had success with it, but when I was bad I was really bad. When I putted poorly, it felt like from 3 feet it was going to start offline. If you can get the ball positioning correct and the same every time, it felt foolproof at times. At other times, it felt worse.”