The wild sudden death finish at the PGA Championship recently by two relatively unknown golfers clearly reflected how winning a major professional golf tournament has evolved in recent years. Not that long ago a few individuals dominated the game's highest level of play and today we see a host of young, talented players who can win major tournaments on any given weekend.

The Emergence of Long Putters: Did you notice that Bradley and Simpson, who respectively won the PGA and Wyndham the past two weeks, used belly putters? Interestingly enough, this year's PGA was the first major tournament ever won by someone using such a putter. As with tournament winners, putters are rapidly evolving as well and nowhere is this more evident than the increasing number of touring pros using longer putters. Think there might be a connection between putting and winning? You betcha, and here's the reason.

The "Yips": Many avid golfers, including top professionals, get nervous or in golf lingo, experience the "yips" after putting for years with a conventional length putter. Ben Hogan was a perfect example of this phenomenon and the "yips" accelerated his retirement from competitive golf. When a conventional putter is used the arms hang freely and the slightest irregular movement with the hands during the stroke can adversely affect the putt.

Long Shaft or Belly Putter: Whether the shaft is longer or it's a belly putter, the concept of control is the same: the grip is anchored to the individual's body during the stroke. This minimizes movement and enables a truer stroke because the putter will swing like a pendulum in an uninterrupted arc. Gripping the longer putters varies from a split grip to a claw-like grip, depending on comfort, but both help in keeping the bottom hand from disturbing the pendulum motion of the stroke.

Remember the age-old golf adage: you drive for show and putt for dough. If you're not satisfied with your putting accuracy and consistency try a few of the long putters to see if one fits. We have a variety in the pro shop so don't be shy.

In order to view colors and images in the Newsletter please set your email program to HTML.