PGA Tour ‘to reject’ anchoring proposal

Likely to oppose: PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem is expected to lobby for a rejection of the rule change

Game’s richest circuit to voice opposition to USGA and R&A rule change

A PGA Tour Policy Board meeting, scheduled for today, is expected to reject a proposal by the United States Golf Association and the R&A to outlaw the practice of anchoring.

Writing a column for an American golf website, former Ryder Cup player Brad Faxon has predicted that PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem will use the meeting – conducted by conference call – to try to ‘persuade the board the tour should urge the USGA to withdraw the proposed ban’,

Faxon, a former Policy Board member, added that Finchem is likely of the opinion that ‘the PGA Tour is in a good place that a rules controversy over a well-established putting method does not serve the game well.’

Today’s meeting comes as an end to the three-month consultation period over the proposed ban looms large. The plans to outlaw anchoring were jointly unveiled by the R&A and USGA in November last year and, immediately, they provoked outrage amongst some of the controversial technique’s most high-profile proponents.

Former PGA champion Keegan Bradley threatened to take legal action to block the move, whilst Sweden’s Carl Pettersson described it as a ‘witch hunt’.

However, bunkered readers are broadly in support of the proposal, with 72% of respondents to a recent online poll saying that they would ban anchoring.

Announcing the proposal back in November, Peter Dawson, the chief executive of the R&A, said: “Anchored strokes have become the preferred option for a growing number of players and this has caused us to review these strokes and their impact on the game.

“Our concern is that anchored strokes threaten to supplant traditional putting strokes which are integral to the longstanding character of the sport.

“We believe we have considered this issue from every angle but given the wide ranging interest in this subject we would like to give stakeholders in the game the opportunity to put forward any new matters for consideration.”

Dawson’s counterpart at the USGA Mike Davis added: “Throughout the 600-year history of golf, the essence of playing the game has been to grip the club with the hands and swing it freely at the ball. The player’s challenge is to control the movement of the entire club in striking the ball, and anchoring the club alters the nature of that challenge. Our conclusion is that the Rules of Golf should be amended to preserve the traditional character of the golf swing by eliminating the growing practice of anchoring the club.”

Should the PGA Tour decide to stand against the proposal, they would follow in the footsteps of the PGA of America which has already indicated its opposition. This would create an interesting stand-off between the game’s two principle governing bodies and two of its most influential organisations.

Stay tuned for further developments as they happen.

Michael McEwan is the Deputy Editor of bunkered and has been part of the team since 2004. In that time, he has interviewed almost every major figure within the sport, from Jack Nicklaus, to Rory McIlroy, to Donald Trump. The host of the multi award-winning bunkered Podcast and a member of Balfron Golfing Society, Michael is the author of three books and is the 2023 PPA Scotland 'Writer of the Year' and 'Columnist of the Year'. Dislikes white belts, yellow balls and iron headcovers. Likes being drawn out of the media ballot to play Augusta National.

Deputy Editor