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Ken Borland



Langer not as dominant but still victorious 0

Posted on January 07, 2013 by Ken

Bernhard Langer’s dominance under sunny skies was not quite as pronounced when it clouded over at the Gary Player Country Club on Saturday, but the German still claimed victory in the Nedbank Champions Challenge in  relatively easy fashion.

Langer led the seniors’ competition by four strokes overnight and, even though Jay Haas shot an even-par 72 to narrow the gap, the two-time Masters champion could afford to shoot a two-over-par 74 and still win by two shots.

Langer, who won the Nedbank Golf Challenge in 1985 and 1991, said the victory made up for last year’s runners-up finish to Mark Calcavecchia when he surrendered the lead in the final round.

“It’s very satisfying because of what happened last year. It still came down to the end because the wind was very tricky and I missed more greens, which makes bogeys inevitable. But Jay was also very solid today, he drove the ball terrifically and he was good with his wedges too. To be fair, he was a bit unlucky with a few putts,” the gracious Langer said.

The tournament became a two-horse race with Ian Woosnam only managing a 72 on Saturday to finish five strokes adrift, while defending champion Calcavecchia fared even worse, slumping to a 13-over-par 85.

Haas put some pressure on Langer with a flawless inward nine and Langer was in some difficulty on the 14th hole, when he had just a two-stroke lead and he faced a tricky up-and-down for par.

“It was fantastic to get that up-and-down on 14 and then on 15 I was hitting out of the semi-rough, a very tricky second shot. It landed perfectly but then it took off downwind and finished right at the back of the green. I had a 40-45 foot putt with about three feet of break, but I hit it absolutely brilliantly, with the perfect speed, for a crucial birdie,” Langer said.

The birdie gave Langer a three-shot lead with just three holes to play and he could afford a bogey at the par-four 17th after his approach shot slid off left into the water short of the green. But, after the drop, he hit a wonderful chip shot to within a few feet of the hole.

The 55-year-old then pushed his tee shot on the final hole into the semi-rough and decided to lay up rather than risk letting Haas back into the contest.

“I had a horrible lie, so I could just chip the ball out and I then made a great up-and-down with a seven-iron and a putt from about 10 feet,” Langer said.

Haas had begun the final round shakily with two bogeys in his first three holes, before a birdie at the par-five ninth kept him in touch, egging him on to a brave challenge on the back nine. But the putts just refused to drop for the American.

– http://www.sapa.org.za/secure/view.cfm?id=3611567&year=2012&srce=search&

Langer says long putters ‘part of the game’ 0

Posted on January 07, 2013 by Ken

Two-time Masters champion Bernhard Langer on Thursday made an impassioned defence of long putters, saying they were part of the “progression of the game”.

The Royal and Ancient Golf Club (R&A) and the United States Golf Association (USGA), the sport’s two leading rulemakers, on Wednesday announced a proposal for a ban on long putters being anchored to the body.

Langer, who suffered from career-threatening putting “yips” in the late 1980s and reverted to a belly putter in 1997, said he was opposed to the decision which could ban the practice of long putters being anchored to the player’s chest, stomach or chin by 2016.

“I am disappointed and I do not understand why they are banning it now after 35 years. If there is anything illegal about it, why did they not stop it right away?

“If you are talking about the history of the game and that long putters are not part of the history of the game, what about big metal drivers, two-piece balls or hybrids? Let’s face it, it is a progression of the game,” Langer said at Sun City on Thursday, where he was leading the Champions Challenge, the seniors’ portion of the Nedbank Golf Challenge.

Bill Haas, the American who is the co-leader of the Nedbank Golf Challenge after the first round, has used a belly-putter in the past and he believes the rule disallowing anchoring is fair.

“I had a lot of success with a belly putter last year, but then I became worse with it for a while. I don’t think it makes putting much easier, but it may be the wrong way to play the game. You should be putting with your hands and the putter should not be anchored. There’s a way to putt, but if people want to use a long putter, they should use them. I’m happy with my short putter now, it makes it more fun,” Haas said.

Langer pointed out that, although three of the last five major champions have used long putters, the game’s rulemakers have done nothing to halt the influence of technology in other areas, particularly drivers.

“They have never banned drivers, that is what they should be doing. Are these big metal drivers part of the history of the game, balls going for hundreds of yards?”, the former world number one said.

The rulemakers are apparently concerned that it is not just older golfers turning to the longer putters as a last resort to cure the yips, but younger players who are now taking advantage of the anchoring method. Fourteen-year-old Chinese golfer Guan Tianlang used a belly putter in his recent victory at the Asia Pacific Amateur and earned himself a place at next year’s Masters in the process.

Sweden’s Carl Pettersson uses a broomstick putter and is also in the Sun City field, but he declined to attend a press conference when it became clear he was going to be asked about the proposed new ruling.

Haas said despite the threatened outlawing of the practice, he did not see it as cheating and, apart from Pettersson, he mentioned a duo of recent major winners in Keegan Bradley and Webb Simpson who use the long putter.

“I’ve heard Webb talking and he says that stats show that the top putters don’t use belly putters,” Haas said.

The proposal will undoubtedly give birth to heated debate over the next couple of years, with the rules only being changed after a long period of consultation.

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  • Thought of the Day

    2 Peter 3:18 – “But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.”

    True Christianity starts with accepting Jesus Christ as your saviour and redeemer and fully surrendering to him. You have to start living a new life; submit daily to the will of your master.

    We need to grow within grace, not into grace, and the responsibility rests with us. Your role model is Jesus Christ and he is always with you to strengthen you in your weakness, but you have to cultivate your growth. So spend more time in prayer and use the faith you already have.

     

     



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