Gary Player is well known for his controversial takes and his uncompromising nature when it comes to his opinions and views on the professional game.
Player is one of the most successful golfers in the history of the sport, with 159 worldwide wins to his name including nine major championships.
Advertisement
The diminutive South African punched well above his weight during his prime when coming up against giants of the game at the time – Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer.
While Gary Player is unquestionably one of the greatest golfers of all time, he has been somewhat of a divisive figure throughout his time in the game.
Player has often criticized his fellow pros as well as some of the rules in the game.
Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images
And four years ago, the nine-time major champion made it very clear that he was completely unhappy with one change made by the USGA and the R&A.
Gary Player once fumed at ‘the worst rule ever invented’ in golf
Back in 2019, golf’s governing bodies decided to change one of their longest-standing rules.
Advertisement
Numerous high-profile players took advantage of the rule, including Bryson DeChambeau, Matthew Fitzpatrick and Charley Hull.
However, Player made it very clear that the rule change was one that quite simply never should have been implemented.
“I think the worst rule ever invented is leaving the pin, the flag, in the hole,” Player fumed, when speaking to Golf.com in 2022.
“You get these guys with their big hands, and they go to take the ball out of the cup, and they squeeze their hand in between the cup and the flag. They pull the cup up, and every cup you play now is raised.
“They tell you you’ll hole more putts hitting the flag. That’s hogwash. The greatest putters in the world never ever left a flag in a hole. And they were as good putters as you’ll ever find today.
Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images
“The whole idea is to save time. It doesn’t save time. I’m all in favour of everything you can do to save time, but get the flag out. That’s my opinion.”
Advertisement
Player made his stance very clear on the matter. However, what do the stats say? Do golfers hole more putts with the flag left in, or taken out?
The results of a study conducted by putting guru Dave Pelz
The late Dave Pelz was a true visionary when it came to putting.
Numerous leading Tour pros sought him out for putting advice, including the likes of Phil Mickelson, Vijay Singh and Patrick Reed.
Back in 2019, just after the rule changed to allow players to leave the flagstick in the hole when putting, Pelz conducted an experiment.
When writing a column for Golf.com, the highly respected putting guru shared his findings from the study.
Advertisement
-
Assuming the pin is securely in place, standing vertical and not swaying in the wind, the hole is 4.25” wide.
-
The diameter of a standard flagstick is 0.5” (some pins taper to ¾” and even 1” above the hole).
-
If you look at the space left for a golf ball, the 2.125” half-hole minus the 0.25” half-pin, leaves 1.875” between the cup edge and the pin.
-
Golf balls are 1.68” in diameter. This leaves a .195”-gap of open space for the ball to fit into the hole with the flagstick in place.
Pelz then explained why leaving the flagstick in is always the better option…
“This doesn’t sound like much space, especially if the pin is leaning slightly toward the golfer,” Pelz explained.
“This effect, however, has been tested, and my studies show conclusively that you should putt with the pin in!“
The key point to note here is that if leaving the flagstick in really does improve the chances of holing more putts, then every golfer would do it, wouldn’t they?
Gary Player evidently disagrees with Pelz’s study but if everyone is allowed to leave the pin in, then why does he have such a problem with it?
Read the full article here
