The belly putt could be a thing of the past for golfers after the sport's governing body proposed to ban it but now PGA Tour officials say they want to keep it.
"Essentially where the PGA Tour came down was that they did not think that banning anchoring was in the best interest of golf or the PGA Tour," Tom Finchem, the circuit's commissioner, said during a press conference at the World Golf Championship event at Dove Mountain, CNN reports.
A belly putt is a technique that involved anchoring the club to a part of the body. Pros like Keegan Bradley, Webb Simpson, and Ernie Elis are for the belly putt and occasionally use it.
A rule change proposal put forward by the governing bodies of the sport, Royal and Ancient as well as the United States Golf Association, would not allow the technique to be used beginning in 2016. But the idea doesn't sit well with PGA tour officials who say there is nothing wrong with the technique and that it doesn't offer a "competitive advantage."
Officials did not say what they would do if the ban was put in place.
"Our regulations provide that we will follow the rules as promulgated by the USGA provided, however, we retain the right not to in certain instances if we see fit," said Finchem, adding "But we have not even begun that discussion. All we've done is done what we were asked to do, which is to give them our best input and advice on that particular initiative."
The proposed rule change was introduced on Nov. 28, 2012. R&A and USGA will make their final decision about the proposal after the 90-day comment period about the proposal comes to a close.
Three of the last five major champions used the controversial technique, The Associate Press reports.
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