Equipment of the Year
Each season golf manufacturers try to outdo each other by launching new drivers, easier-to-hit irons and longer balls – but the club that made the most headlines in 2011 was one that has been around for quite some time: the belly putter.
Keegan Bradley became the first player to win a major championship with one when he triumphed at the US PGA in August – and since then, they've hardly been out of the news, with Phil Mickelson, Jim Furyk and Webb Simpson all wielding them at one point or another.
"Personally, I think it's an easier way to putt," Bradley said. "Especially when there's some nerves."
Purists have decried their use, saying the way that the putter is anchored to the body (adding a third point of contact) should be banned from tournament play. But this doesn't look like happening any time soon, with the R&A and USGA continuing to monitor the situation but without any timetable in place for their rollback. Mickelson certainly doesn't think it'll happen.
"If it were going to be banned, it should have happened 20-plus years ago," he said. "But now that it's been legal, I don't think you can make it retroactive."
Winner: Belly Putter
