Bifurcation

No this is not where Sergio had to play his shot at the Arnold Palmer Invitational recently although you are right...it is a tree!

It looks like we may have to introduce a new word to our golfing vocabulary in the form of 'bifurcation', and yes, you may well say, 'what?'.

The Concise Oxford Dictionary definition of bifurcation states that it is, 'a division into two branches' and unless you have yet to come across this, it refers to a proposed change in the Rules of Golf which threatens to drive a stake through the fundamental principles of the game whereby we could end up with one set of rules for some and another set of rules for the rest. The rule makers of the game worldwide are the R&A and the USGA and they have proposed to impose a ban, not on long putters, but the anchoring of such devices to the body.

One of the fundamentals of the game is that the club should be 'swung' at the ball and that by anchoring the club to the body, this is no longer the case. Many golfers who have suffered from the 'yips' have found solace in the ability to anchor the putter to varying parts of their bodies, be it the belly, the chest and all the way up to the chin. Among the most famous golfers to have successfully extended their playing careers in the professional ranks, Bernhard Langer is possibly the most recognisable to those of us of a certain age.

However, within the past year or so we have now seen 3 out of the last 5 Major golf championships go to golfers using an anchored stroke namely, Webb Simpson, Keegan Bradley and Ernie Els. Of greater significance is the increase in younger players at the highest levels of amateur and professional golf who have never used anything other than a belly-type putter.

This proposal has created a huge furore in the golfing world with the US PGA and its associated tours, threatening to boycott this proposal, thereby creating a divide throughout the golfing world.

My question is, why did they ever allow these clubs to be permitted in the first place? Also, now that the ruling bodies have seen their precious Major trophies falling into the hands of those who use them, is this simply a knee-jerk reaction to their growth in the game.

There are many other areas of the game that should perhaps be given greater attention and focus such as the bane of slow play and the effects of technology with clubs and balls but I think we shall leave that for another day.

What do you think?

GMacSpain