The club Tiger Woods once wanted banned, but Phil Mickelson fiercely disagreed

The long putter has always been a source of debate, dividing those who value tradition from those who embrace innovation in golf.

Your stance on the long putter probably reflects your broader views on technology’s role in the sport. Woods and Mickelson made their positions clear early on.

In 2012, Woods called for a ban on the long putter, which is anchored against the chest or belly. He suggested a rule to address it, saying: “I believe it’s the art of controlling the body and club and swinging the pendulum motion. I believe that’s how it should be played.

“I’m a traditionalist when it comes to that. My idea was to have it so that the putter would be equal to or less than the shortest club in your bag. And I think with that, we’d be able to get away from any type of belly anchoring.”

Long putters were becoming increasingly popular on Tour around then, especially after Keegan Bradley won his first major using one in 2011. That is part of why Mickelson pushed back against Woods’ proposal, even though he never used one himself.

Lefty stated: “It’s not an issue that I’m involved with. I understand both sides. It’s just that I don’t think you can take away what you’ve allowed players to use, practise and play with for 30 years. I think it is grossly unfair.”

Additionally, Adam Scott won The Masters later that season by sinking a 12-foot putt in a playoff with a long putter before weighing in on Woods’ remarks: “I am not necessarily sure his views on what a putter should be are correct at all.

“His view that the putter should be the shortest club in the bag has never been a rule of golf. I do not see why it should be now.”

Four-time major champion Ernie Els, who adopted a long putter late in his career, offered a humorous take on the situation, saying: “As long as it’s legal, I’ll keep cheating like the rest of them.”

Study finds no clear advantage for amateur golfers using long putters

In 2017, the University of Limerick looked into how amateur golfers performed with both standard and long putters. 72 players were tested on their putting from six and twelve feet using both styles.

Over short distances, there was not much difference between the two. The study found that 80.3% of six-foot putts were holed with a standard putter, compared to 78.6% with a belly-length model and 75.3% using the longer version.

From 12 feet, the differences were also marginal: players holed 51.7% with a traditional putter, 50.8% with a belly-length version, and 46.9% with the long-handle.

The numbers show that, across different handicaps, traditional clubs had a slight edge in both distance tests in terms of holing out more frequently.