Ernie Els has carved out a remarkable career, collecting 19 PGA Tour titles and 28 wins on the DP World Tour, along with four major championships.
The ‘Big Easy’ built a loyal following in the US, earning plenty of fans during his time on the PGA Tour. That same appreciation has carried over into his stint with the PGA Tour Champions.
There was also that claim from Els that he’d have doubled his major tally to eight if it wasn’t for Tiger Woods dominating during his peak years. It’s hard to argue against him, given how many players felt Tiger altered the entire landscape.
Despite being generally well-liked, Els was never afraid to speak his mind when it came to issues in the game.
Back in 2023, one piece of equipment caught his attention for all the wrong reasons. Els became quite vocal about wanting it removed from play entirely.
Ernie Els backed a rule change that never happened
The last few years have seen a few big debates pop up around the game, from the upcoming golf ball rollback to green-reading books being taken away on the PGA Tour.
Fans have also had their say on what should be changed, with AimPoint coming under scrutiny as well. But Els’ focus was on something else entirely.
Speaking to Golf Monthly two years ago, he laid out exactly what he thought needed to be done. Els told them: “You have to take away the long putter. The long putter has to go.”
“They made that change with the belly putter and for some reason they haven’t done it with the rest of the game. I think if the long putter goes, then I think we’re doing a lot of things right in the game.”
Els went on: “If you have a problem with putting, that’s part of the game. I believe you should go back to the original, short putter.”
“I don’t think it’s fair. If you have some type of problem putting, you’ve either got to live with it or get some other method.
“To have these putters anchored to your body, to your forearm, to your chest in many instances, I don’t believe that’s in the spirit of the game.
Ernie Els is right, the long putter should be removed from the game
Back in 2016, golf introduced a rule to stop players from anchoring putters to their bodies. Yet despite this, golfers like Adam Scott and Will Zalatoris are still using long putters as long as they’re not physically touching their body with the club.
A lot of high-profile names on both the PGA Tour and PGA Tour Champions use long putters, including:
The big issue here is that it’s hard to tell whether players are actually following the rule or not. It’s not always clear if there’s any contact between the club and their body.
One simple fix would be for golf’s governing bodies to set a maximum length for putters. For example, putting a cap at 38 inches would remove any grey areas around anchoring altogether.
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This change would also address inconsistencies left over from past rule changes. Many players who relied on belly putters had them taken away, but others can still use longer options that serve a similar purpose. The game could benefit from clearing this up once and for all.
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