Ernie Els has enjoyed a glittering career in the professional game, with 19 PGA Tour wins and 28 DP World Tour victories to his name, as well as four major championships.
Els, affectionately known as the ‘Big Easy’, was one of the most popular foreign players to compete on the PGA Tour.
The same can be said for his time on the PGA Tour Champions.
Els once claimed he would have won at least eight majors, had Tiger Woods not been around during his prime years on Tour, and it’s fair to say that he probably had a point.
However, despite the fact that Els was hugely popular on the PGA Tour, he was never shy of voicing his opinion in an authoritative manner.
And Els made it his mission back in 2023 to get one specific piece of golf equipment banned.
Ernie Els wanted golf club banned but the USGA and the R&A haven’t acted
There has been real controversy recently around many rules of golf, including the upcoming golf ball rollback and the banning of green-reading books on the PGA Tour.
Meanwhile, some fans have been calling for certain things to be banned, with the use of AimPoint being questioned.
However, Els’ problem was with something entirely different.
During an interview with Golf Monthly two years ago, Els revealed the big rule change he wanted to see in professional golf.
Els explained: “You have to take away the long putter. The long putter has to go. They made that change with the belly putter and for some reason they haven’t done it with the rest of the game. I think if the long putter goes, then I think we’re doing a lot of things right in the game.”
“If you have a problem with putting, that’s part of the game. I believe you should go back to the original, short putter. I don’t think it’s fair. If you have some type of problem putting, you’ve either got to live with it or get some other method.
“To have these putters anchored to your body, to your forearm, to your chest in many instances, I don’t believe that’s in the spirit of the game.
“I don’t think Bobby Jones and the fathers of the game would like to see how these guys putt now – especially if you go ask Jack Nicklaus he would say no, that it should be outlawed, so that’s the one thing I don’t like in the game at the moment.”
Els is right, the long putter needs to be banned
It’s incredibly unfair how the no-anchoring ban came into play in 2016, yet players like Adam Scott and Will Zalatoris are still allowed to use long putters, as long as the butt of the grip doesn’t come into contact with the body.
Numerous high-profile players on the PGA Tour and PGA Tour Champions use the long putter, including the likes of:
- Adam Scott
- Will Zalatoris
- Akshay Bhatia
- Lucas Glover
- Si Woo Kim
- Bernhard Langer
- Fred Couples
The major problem with this is that nobody can actually tell whether players are anchoring the putter to their bodies or not.
The solution is an obvious one.
Why don’t the USGA and the R&A implement a new rule, whereby a putter is not allowed to exceed a maximum length – let’s say 38 inches.
That would be the fairest way to address the issue. How is it fair that golfers who thrived with the belly putter had that taken away from them but guys can still use the long putter?
It’s clearly time for a big change.
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