Long Putter may help improve your game

Putter length became a hot topic last August when Keegan Bradley, 25, won the PGA Championship with a belly putter. Until then, every major in PGA Tour history had been won by someone with a standard-length putter.

The long putter has been around for about 25 years, the belly putter for about a dozen years. Until last year, both lengths were usually considered the tools of flawed golfers. However, Bradley and Ping G20 fairway wood Simpson considered themselves good with standard-length putters but even better with belly putters.

"Try reversing your grip — for a right-handed golfer, the left hand will be low," she said. "This stabilizes the wrists and promotes a more rhythmic stroke, two elements of putting that often break down for those struggling on the greens. A thicker grip can also help as it keeps the hands quieter. If your misses are inconsistent, you may benefit from a heavier putter, one that allows you to feel the head. Putting is, after all, about feel and confidence."

The belly putter is anchored into the golfer's stomach, about an inch or so to the target side of the belly button, and that anchor becomes the fulcrum for the swing. The putter is gripped with Ping K15 Irons both hands in the grip of the golfer's choice and the club swings like a pendulum. Wrist action is easier to control and the golfer automatically is in what is considered by many pros to be a perfect putting position. The result is a more consistent swing.


Coston also reiterated the age-old putting advice that proper speed on a putt is more important than direction and a pre-putt routine is essential. He also said that most putts are either 30-40 feet or 5 feet or less and golfers should practice accordingly.

There is controversy regarding belly and long putters. A lot of golfers, including Tiger Woods, think any putter longer than a conventional one should be banned. Their argument is that discount golf clubs was intended to be played with hands, not with a club anchored to the body so the business end can swing as a pendulum.

One option with the long putter is to hit sidesaddle (facing the hole and putting from the side). This is an unusual style, but some golfers find it effective.

A heavy putter is about twice the weight of a regular putter. It's easier to have a good pendulum stroke and good tempo with a heavy putter because the club does a lot of the work on its own. The heavy putter has advantages on short putts, but distance-control problems are common.

Coston also reiterated the age-old putting advice that proper speed on a putt is more important than direction and a pre-putt routine is essential. He also said that most putts are either 30-40 feet or 5 feet or less and golfers should practice accordingly.

Curtis took Texas Open lead

Mathis matched Curtis with a 67, Triangle had a 65, and Every was poised to inch even closer before darkness suspended play. He'll line up for an 11-foot birdie chance on the par-4 17th when second-round play resumes Saturday.

Blake Adams (69), Ryan Palmer (69) and Hunter Haas (74) were tied for fifth at 4 under.

The afternoon group wasn't so lucky. A still morning gave way to 20-mph gusts delivered by a passing storm cell, freezing the leaderboard and raising the projected cut line to 4 over. Troy Matteson tumbled hardest, slipping from fourth to potentially out after an 81 summed up by a quadruple-bogey on the par-5 14th.

In his first time playing TPC San Antonio, Curtis has looked right at home after starting the year in Dubai and hopping around on the European Tour. The Texas Open is just his fourth PGA Tour stop Titleist 712 AP1 Irons because of his low conditional status following a miserable 2011, when he didn't muster a top-10 finish for the first time since joining the tour in 2003.

Wrapping up his second round at the Texas Open just before a two-hour storm delay left behind a stiff wind that protected the early leaders, Curtis shot another bogey-free 5-under 67 on Friday to finish at 10 under. He was two strokes ahead of David Mathis and three in front of Cameron Triangle and Matt Every.

That's the year Curtis came out of nowhere to win at the British Open. He racked up two more tour victories in 2006 but hasn't won since, and his 149th ranking on the money list last year was a career-worst. The slump, Curtis said, has left him not only trying to repair his game but also his mindset.

Triangle and Scott Piercy, who started the day 4 over, vaulted back into contention with their 65s. Triangle began a bogey-free round with birdies on five of his first six holes, using his Titleist 712 AP2 Irons on the fairway to setup four putts from 4 feet or closer.

"We'll see how it goes over the weekend," Curtis said. "When you're not playing the schedule that you want, you don't have it all laid out in front of you before the year starts, you're kind of playing when you can. It's hard."

The 36-hole lead is his first since the Arnold Palmer Invitational in 2010.

"Everybody knows me, know that I don't stress about much," Curtis said. "If you see me stressing it's probably over nothing, too. I usually sweat the small stuff, and the big stuff, I don't really worry about."

No longer able to pick and choose discount golf clubs where he plays, Curtis described simply being "ready to go" if his phone rings the week before a tournament. He said he tries to focus on the 12 to 15 starts he expects to make this year rather than dwell on his place near the bottom rung of the tour.

"There was no wind this morning and it was a little softer," said Triangle, who finished eighth at the Houston Open earlier this month. "So you could be a little more aggressive to the pins."

it wasn't clear whether Ms. Rometty would attend the tournament

Ms. Rometty's case presents a uniquely delicate problem for IBM along with the tournament, one among golf's most prestigious. IBM is among the Masters longtime corporate sponsors. Ms. Rometty, who plays golf but is much more partial to scuba diving, may be the technology giant's first female CEO.

Augusta has offered membership with a variety of IBM CEOs but because of its all-male policy, it's unclear appears to be invitation has become extended to Ms. Rometty.

Earlier within the week, it wasn't clear whether Ms. Rometty would attend the tournament, which started Ping G20 irons Thursday. Within the ensuing days, her situation has become a subject of fevered national debate.

On Thursday, it touched the presidential campaign, with both White House and Mitt Romney weighing in.

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney told reporters that Obama "believes Augusta should admit women," adding it was "kind of no longer carried out time when women ought to be excluded from anything."

With a campaign remain in Pennsylvania, Mr. Romney followed suit: "I'm not a member of Augusta. I'm not sure that I would qualify?amy golf performance is not that good?abut certainly if I were an associate and when I really could run Augusta?-of course I'd have women in Augusta."

Augusta National's chairman, Billy Payne, said Wednesday the problem of who gets invited to join the club is "subject for the private deliberations of the members."

An Augusta spokesman said he couldn't know whether Ms. Rometty was attending the tournament, but noted that IBM does bring guests and executives for the event.

Ms. Rometty, who took IBM's helm at the beginning of Ping G20 driver this season, hasn't commented publicly about the matter. She plays golf, though not frequently, IBM says. She intends to entertain clients at the tournament.

IBM continues to sponsor the tournament which is one of many company's major advertising and marketing events of the year, said an individual knowledgeable about the matter.

If Ms. Rometty isn't offered a regular membership it might be a break from Masters tradition. The past four CEOs of IBM are actually offered membership, that allows a person to don the club's famous green blazer.

Still, the principle executives usually have had to wait before securing membership, said a person informed about the problem. When Samuel J. Palmisano became CEO of IBM in March 2002, he wasn't immediately created discount golf clubs a member, said anyone.

After he took the superior job, there was considerable discussion among Mr. Palmisano and his awesome associates over whether he should join a club that excludes women, said the person. He ultimately chose to apply anf the husband was accepted as being a member.