Former Baseball Player Uses Stand-Up Putter In Pro-Am Victory
John Smoltz sent social media wild after a video emerged of him using a self-standing putter in competition
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John Smoltz sent social media wild after a video emerged of him using a self-standing putter in competition
Former Baseball Player Uses Stand-Up Putter In Pro-Am Victory
Former baseball player John Smoltz successfully defended his Celebrity Pro-Am title at the LPGA Tournament of Champions at Diamond Resort last weekend, but it wasn't his play that was getting the attention.
The American baseball Hall of Famer did indeed play well, scoring 150 stableford points for four rounds, but a video of him putting sent social media wild.
That's because he uses a 'Bloodline' putter, a model that stands up on its own to help the player line up putts.
The video posted to social media showed him behind the putt checking his line before rolling it in, with many questioning its legality.
Watch the video below:
Smoltz is a serious player and even appeared at the 2018 US Senior Open.
It didn't happen for him that week, as he went on to shoot 85-77 to miss the cut by 14 strokes.
Still, very impressive.
Back to his putter - it is in fact completely legal, despite what people were saying on social media.
The putters have been used by the likes of Vijay Singh and Ernie Els in competition.
Self-standing putters are completely legal 'to assist a player in taking a stance or to point out the line of play only when the putter is placed right next to the ball,' the USGA said in a statement per Golfweek.
“Everybody I play with says ‘That’s illegal,’ ” Smoltz told Golfweek.
“I make a lot of putts in casual games.
"People are always looking to see where to get [the putter] online.
"Because honestly if you can trust the line – you’re not always going to have the right line – but if you can trust it, that’s half the battle.”
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Elliott Heath is our Senior Staff Writer and has been with Golf Monthly since early 2016 after graduating with a degree in Sports Journalism. He manages the Golf Monthly news, features, courses and travel sections as well as our large Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages. Elliott has interviewed some huge names in the golf world including Sergio Garcia, Thomas Bjorn, Bernd Wiesberger and Scotty Cameron as well as a number of professionals on the DP World and PGA Tours. He covered the 2022 Masters from Augusta National as well as four Open Championships on-site including the 150th at St Andrews. He has played 35 of our Top 100 golf courses, with his favourites being both Sunningdales, Woodhall Spa, Old Head and Turnberry. He has been obsessed with the sport since the age of 8 and currently plays at West Byfleet Golf Club in Surrey, where his handicap index floats anywhere between 2-6. His golfing highlights are making albatross on the 9th hole on the Hotchkin Course at Woodhall Spa, shooting an under-par round, playing in the Aramco Team Series on the Ladies European Tour and making his one and only hole-in-one at the age of 15 - a long time ago now!
Elliott is currently playing:
Driver: Titleist TSR4
3 wood: TaylorMade SIM2 Max
Hybrid: TaylorMade SIM Max
Irons: Mizuno MP5 4-PW
Wedges: Cleveland RTX ZipCore 50, 54, 58
Putter: Odyssey White Hot OG #5
Ball: Titleist Pro V1x
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