The 10 Worst Putters on Tour

Post by Sports Writer Derek Clements

Watch any tournament and the winners all have something in common - they hole putts from all over the place. It's the nature of the beast. There are so many superb players on tour these days that you just have to be able to putt well to have any chance of winning. But there are, and have been, some notable exceptions. Here, we look at 10 of the worst exponents of the short stick - and there are some VERY well known names on this list!

1. Sergio Garcia

The Spaniard has been one of the best ball strikers in the game ever since he first burst upon the scene as a precocious teenager, almost beating Tiger Woods at the 1999 US PGA championship when he was still only 19. He has struggled with his grip, he has struggled with his temper and he has even struggled to keep his golf shoes on his feet on occasion. But, more than anything else, he has struggled with his putter. It became painful to watch. With long putts he was just fine, but put the ball two or three feet from the cup and Garcia could easily two three putts. He tried putting left hand below right, he tried changing putters - it is even rumoured that he considered putting left-handed. Eventually he tried the claw grip. There are times when he holes everything in sight and although he is better these days with short putts, he still misses more than his fair share of tiddlers

2. Adam Scott

The Australian is going to have big problems when anchored putting is banned from the beginning of 2016, but we will come back to that shortly. He reached number three in the world rankings and seemed to have the world at his feet. He hit the ball miles, his iron play was immaculate, he had a good short game and was a better than average putter. A much better than average putter. And then, overnight, he no longer was. All of a sudden, he couldn't hole a thing and in 2008 averaged 31 putts per round, which was four shots worse than the best - that is a staggering 16 shots over the course of a 72-hole tournament. Scott's career was revived when he turned to a broomhandle putter that he anchors to his chest. It is a club that will be outlawed from January 1, 2016, and he is still using it. What Scott will do, and how he will fare, is anybody's guess.

3. Jason Dufner

From tee to green, Dufner is just about as good as it gets. His approach play when he won the US PGA Championship in 2013 was something to behold - shot after shot finished a couple of feet from the hole. But something happens to the American when he reaches the green. All the confidence seems to drain from his body and, all of sudden, he looks like a weekend golfer. The thing with Dufner is that he looks like he is going to miss every short putt he faces. Strike that - the thing with Dufner is that he looks like he is going to miss EVERY putt he faces, regardless of length. It is painful to watch

4. John Daly

In his prime, which was all too brief, Daly was one of the great putters. He had always used a long putting stroke, with both the backswing and follow through seeming to go on forever. When you are in your twenties, you can get away with that but, as the years take their toll (and, let's face it, they have probably taken their toll on Daly more than any other tour player) the confidence starts to go, the nerves take hold and hesitation enters the equation. Daly has never done anything by halfs and when he misses a three-foot putt, the chances are that the ball will roll six feet beyond the hole and he will also miss the return.

5. Bernhard Langer

Has any top golfer suffered more on the greens than the German? Probably not. Could anybody else have come back as often as he has? Definitely not. It all started so well for Langer and then he lost it. Langer couldn't hole a short putt to save his life. To his eternal credit, he worked out a way to overcome the yips. With his left hand on the putter, he then grabbed his left wrist with his right hand and, incredibly, the yips were gone and he became a winner. But before too long, even that method failed him. His saviour came in the shape of the broomhandle putter, a club that saved his career and has turned him into the best player on the Champions Tour.

6. Kevin Stadler

The Smallrus is different. For a start, he weighs about 250lb which, as anybody will tell you, is not the ideal physique for an athlete - and Stadler is most certainly not an athlete. But you would think that somebody who was so, erm, well-built would have a terrific centre of gravity which would surely help their putting. Not in Stadler's case. He hits the ball a long way, he is accurate off the tee and he hits way more than his fair share of greens in regulation. But his putting is woeful, even though he has turned to a long putter.

7. Billy Mayfair

Mayfair once went to Butch Harmon and Dave Peltz, two of the top coaches on the planet, and told them he wanted to change his putting stroke. Peltz asked him why and Mayfair replied that everybody kept telling him that although his practice stroke was perfect, when it came to hitting the ball he took the putter way outside the line and cut across the ball. Peltz asked him if he was happy with the amount of tournaments he was winning and the percentage of putts he was holing and when Mayfair replied that he was, Peltz told him to go home and forget about making any changes. But the thing is that it was in his mind. And, sure enough, he started missing short putts.  When it gets in your head, you are finished. Mayfair is now using a long putter. Poor boy.

8. Joe Durant

For many years, Joe Durant was officially the worst putter on the PGA Tour. In fact, for 10 years he was the worst. The stats don't lie. Since 2004, Durant has putted worse than any other player on the PGA Tour, averaging .644 strokes gained putting. Despite his suffering on the greens, he somehow managed to win four times, including two victories in 2011. Later in his career, his putting stats did finally begin to improve, but by that time the rest of his game had become too ragged for it to make a difference. He turned 50 in April and is now playing on the Champions Tour where, all of a sudden, he has a putting stroke that looks like one of the best in the business - but that is only when compared with his other 50-plus rivals.

9. Omar Uresti

During his time on the PGA Tour, Uresti hit more than 71 per cent of fairways from the tee. If you look at the averages, you will quickly conclude that 71 per cent is a pretty impressive stat. The 46-year-old hit more than his fair share of greens in regulation too. But he has never won a tournament and had to go back to the qualifying school several times. And the reason for that? The Texan's putting stats were right up there with Durant's. These guys practice - a lot. But if you haven't got it, you just haven't got it.

10. Boo Weekley

Boo is a former Ryder Cup player. Nobody who saw it will ever forget Booster riding his driver down the first fairway at the 2008 Ryder Cup. What many of us will not remember was the putts he missed. Boo hits an awful lot of top quality golf shots and should have won far more often than he has - and it is the short stick that has prevented him from landing a load more titles. His biggest problem is that he is very aggressive on the greens and leaves himself with too many three-feet putts after racing the ball by. One day, maybe, he will get the message.

The jury is out....

Webb Simpson and Keegan Bradley have both achieved a great deal on the PGA Tour, the former winning the US Open, the latter the US PGA. But here's the thing. Neither player has ever used a normal-length putter. They learnt the game using a belly putter, anchored to their stomachs. Anchoring is about to be banned - when Ernie Els heard that he abandoned his belly putter and went back to a traditional one, with good results. But Simpson and Bradley have never learnt to putt normally. Simpson appears to have made the transition to the short putter with some success, but Bradley continues to struggle.