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

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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