Le Golf National provided the stage for another fantastic event last week, with 11 players tied for the lead at one stage on Sunday at the Open de France before Dan Bradbury emerged victorious at 16 under par.
Dan Bradbury secured his second DP World Tour title as he won by one over the likes of Thorbjorn Olesen and Jeff Winther. Just three players posted a lower final round than the Englishman, who shot 66 to move into the top 30 in the Race To Dubai standings.
But Bradbury’s win was not without a hint of controversy.
The 25-year-old made an impressive two putt on the last hole to take the clubhouse lead, but a look on social media suggests that some had some concerns about how Bradbury was putting.
Eddie Pepperell issues his verdict on the potential controversy at the Open de France
He was using the long putter which reaches towards his chest. Of course, there are still a number of high-profile players who use a long putter, including Adam Scott and Si-woo Kim. However, players have not been allowed to anchor their putters against their body since 2016.
Clearly, the rules officials at the Open de France saw no issue in how Bradbury was putting. They would have surely been aware that there was some controversy and would have wanted to keep an eye on his putting stroke.
Nevertheless, speaking on The Chipping Forecast, Eddie Pepperell suggested that he can understand why some picked up on Bradbury’s putting, and insisted that he would be in favour of a rule change that eliminates any doubt.
“I know Dan, he’s a lovely lad and I think he’s a very honest lad. I would believe him if he was to say that he wasn’t anchoring at any point on Sunday,” he said.
“Unfortunately however, to the naked eye, it looks as though he kind of might have been. To Iain’s point, that’s not entirely his fault, I think it’s the rules’ fault so I would love to see them just make the putter the shortest club in the bag.”
The one baffling part of banning anchored putters
While you could understand the frustrations over anchoring a decade ago, there is a debate to be had over the advantages it has. Clearly, it worked for some players, with Keegan Bradley and Webb Simpson winning their only major titles while using longer putters.
But if it was guaranteed to universally improve putting, why did the likes of Tiger Woods or Rory McIlroy never switch their putters to give themselves that same advantage? It simply worked for some players and not for others – as a lot of golf equipment does do.
For Bradbury meanwhile, it is a shame to see his win in France overshadowed in any sort of way, particularly as the rules officials have seemingly deemed that he has done absolutely nothing wrong.
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