Wednesday 11 July 2007

Montgomerie Wins (and size matters)

The Principal’s Nose is highly disparaging this week not just about the European Open in general but the K club in particular, but someone who’s probably impervious to any of it is Monty, who (despite my previous pessimism) chalked up a win there last week after a long drought. Good on him, I say. Naturally this will put him back in the spotlight for the big one at Carnoustie. Will he live up to it? Maybe I should say 'no', just to bring him luck. But the main thing is, he’s got that win under his belt. It may be the first of a second coming, it may be the last. Either way, it’s a win and no one can take it away from him.

As to size, well, it’s nothing to do with Monty's girth (or anything more personal). I refer, of course, to his putter, which he has now replaced with a belly putter, possibly the most ungainly item in any golf bag. I must say I have never seen a regular club golfer with one of those contraptions, but the new blog at Golf for Women is right in pointing out that the putter is the club most readily thrown out by pros under pressure, and also the club most invested with superstition/reverence/disdain, depending on the last round. You’ve seen it yourself, the guy with a set of shiny new Callaways or Pings who swears by the ancient blade bequeathed by his granddad because of a good round two years ago. Like the lady says, (check out Putter Voodoo) putting is as much a matter of belief as technology.
BTW my own putter is an Odyssey White Hot, about two years old now. I think it’s a nice compromise between a traditional and a modern look and I can’t imagine giving it up for any of those frying pan models. If you want to know about the technology of all the new putters, check the putter guide on Great Value Golf.

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