A Win For The Ages

Issue: Dude, where have you been?

Short Answer: August is a slow time for sports.  Bear with me...

Reasoning: This has been an especially slow month for sports, given the NFL lockout, the Reds stinking it up, and golf without one Tiger Woods.  And, well, it has shown in my blog.  Working full-time doesn't help either, but, I have to be honest, I just haven't seen much interesting to write about lately.  There hasn't been much going down in the world of sports.  However, this weekend was the 93rd PGA Championship held in my second hometown, Atlanta, at the fabled Atlanta Athletic Club (which, in case you were wondering, isn't in Atlanta, nor is it really even near Atlanta).  My guess is that most of you didn't watch, as the biggest names on the leaderboard were David Toms (boring), Lee Westwood (seems like a jerk), and Scott Verplank (old).  While I enjoy watching those three guys play, they don't exactly draw in the casual golf fan.  And, if you are one of those casual golf fans, you missed one of the best tournaments in recent memory.  I am not going to recap the tournament (only because I am long-winded and I have limited space), but I will pass along two tidbits that made the PGA Championship special.  Or odd.  Or just plain strange.

First, let me quickly discuss Keegan Bradley's (that is the young man who actually won the tournament, for those of you who had more important things to do on Sunday - or for those that just don't like golf) place in golf history.  See, this was Keegan Bradley's first ever appearance in a major championship.  Never had he played in the Masters, the U.S. Open, or the British Open.  Commentators always talk about the "experience" a golfer needs to win a major championship because the pressure becomes too much for those who have never experienced it.  That is why you don't often see a "no-name" win a major.  Sure, it happens, because luck is part of the game, but you see Tiger, and Jack, and Phil, and Arnie, and Ben, and Sam win majors; you don't often see a Keegan.  Yet, Keegan Bradley stared down the competition in his first ever major, and came out on top in the end.  I am here to let you know how uncanny Bradley's victory was.  Here is the ENTIRE list of golfers who have won a major in their first ever major appearance:

1. Keegan Bradley - 2011 PGA Championship
2. Ben Curtis - 2003 British Open Championship
3. Francis Ouimet - 1913 U.S. Open

Not very long, is it?  Many of you have probably heard the story of Ouimet, who was a caddy at The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts, when he was allowed to enter the U.S. Open being held there in 1913.  He beat two of the top players in the world in a playoff, and his victory is widely regarded as one of the biggest upsets in the history of sport, not just golf.  Keegan Bradley just did something that absolutely never happens.  He won a major in his first ever try.  He faced the pressure and came through when it mattered.  I'm just glad I was around to watch it (even if you weren't).

Secondly (and lastly, for that matter), Keegan Bradley became the first ever winner of a major while using a long putter.  For those that aren't familiar (what do you do?), a long putter is a putter, that is long.  Adam Scott uses a long putter that comes right underneath his chin.  Keegan Bradley uses a long putter termed "belly putter" as the butt end of the putter basically lodges in, or near, one's belly button.  Supposedly long putters allow for more stability, and, therefore, more consistency in putting.  I would question how consistent they are, when a person using one has never won a major, prior to yesterday.  Most players who go to the long putter do so when they encounter "the yips."  The yips are basically a mental block over short putts.  Players who experience the yips have a hard time making a smooth, consistent stroke, which often ends with missing 2 and 3 foot putts, something you cannot do and expect to succeed at the highest levels of golf.  Players using long putters today, however, aren't necessarily suffering from the yips.  Some, like Keegan Bradley, have chosen long putters because they believe it makes their game better, not because they are attempting to cure some sort of mental block.  In fact, many commentators are suggesting Lee Westwood (who has 6 top-10's in his last 9 majors) go to the long putter, not because he misses short putts, but because he doesn't hole a lot of putts from 8-20 feet.  Here is what I do know:

1. Keegan Bradley will be responsible for a huge boom in amateurs using long putters, whether those amateurs really need them or not;
2. You may even see a few PGA Tour members go to a long putter;
3. Players should examine their brains before they examine their putters;
4. I will NEVER use a long putter.

See, putting, like most anything in golf, is mental.  Those that have the confidence on the greens are going to be the better putters (i.e., Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson).  The long putter creates artificial confidence for a golfer, for at least a while.  That's not to say the long putter can't boost that confidence enough to where a golfer truly believes he is a better putter because of it, which, in turn, gives golfers exactly what they need - the confidence to believe they WILL make the putt, not HOPE they will make the putt.  Long putters are for some, but not for all.  See, confidence has never been my problem (even though I stink), so I will never need a long putter (even though I stink).  If I had to stand over a 4-foot putt, in front of millions of people, for millions of dollars, and a championship trophy, maybe a long putter would help.  Until then, I will stick with a regulation putter, and continue to stink.