Tiger Woods is wrong about long putters, charges Adam Scott

Tiger Woods may have the ears of golf’s governing bodies but as far as Adam Scott is concerned, the world No. 2 does not have his facts straight when he calls for a ban on long putters.

"His voice carries some weight on the issue, a lot of players have been quite outspoken about it, and certainly when Tiger Woods speaks about it generates a lot of interest," Scott told Reuters on Tuesday about Woods’ oft-stated opposition to lengthy wands like Keegan Bradley’s belly model and Scott’s broomstick.

Speaking ahead of this week’s Singapore Open, an event he has won three times, the 32-year-old Aussie took issue with Woods’ support for an anticipated rule change from the USGA- and Royal and Ancient that would outlaw anchored putters. Woods has lobbied the USGA on behalf of making the putter the shortest club in a golfer’s arsenal -- a view with which Scott took serious issue.

“I'm not necessarily sure his views on what the putter should be are correct at all,” said Scott, who employs Woods’ former caddie, Steve Williams. “I don't think the putter should be the shortest club in the bag. Tthat has never been a rule in golf so I don't know why it should be now."

Scott added his voice to a growing chorus of golfers -- including 2011 PGA champ Bradley, reigning U.S. Open winner Webb Simpson, and the victor of this year’s British Open Ernie Els -- who would call a foul on an anchoring proscription.

"It is very hard to find a good reason to [ban anchoring] at this stage so my conversation was to find out where things sit because it is very hard to get information," said Scott, who has wedged a 49-inch Scotty Cameron by Titleist Kombi mallet into his chest since last year. "My opinion would be I don't think it is in the best interests of the game to ban the long putter. I think there are some more important issues [like the lengths of courses] that probably should have time spent on them than putting."

Bradley and Els have threatened legal action if golf’s rules-makers take away their belly bats. Scott appeared unlikely to go to such an extreme, though he reiterated his displeasure with any sort of ban on long flat sticks.

“We certainly don't need that sort of carry-on going on in the game of golf,” said Scott. “I think it is all unwarranted, all of it, and there are more important things to worry about.”