Tour players who cannot putt

[playit]

Golf is actually two games, ball-striking and putting. Has there been any pro that is a great ball-striker and a terrible putter? I don't mean that he's just a so-so putter for a pro, I mean he's really a crappy putter! It would seem that they have to be a decent putter to even get on the tour. I mean, you hit a bunch of greens as an amateur, ok, but then you still have to make a boatload of birdies to even qualify for the tour!

 

I saw something recently where it was talking about how good a ball-striker Bruce Leitzke was and was dead last in putting stats. Which the author was saying proves just how good a ball-striker he was, lol. I don't recall him being a bad putter. Maybe it was just one year, I dunno.

 

Anyone come to mind where you could say, "If he would have been a great putter, he would have won everything!"

 

EDIT:  I recall there being some talk about Hal Sutton being such a great ball-striker but bad putter. And when I would watch his putting stroke, I'd be thinking, "How does he ever miss!" His stroke looked good. Maybe he couldn't read 'em.

 

Or, do you have a friend who this fits, who just absolutely canNOT putt?

Edited October 5, 2021 by playit

[iBanesto]

Lietzke won 13 times on the PGA Tour, so he can putt.

 

Maybe just average by tour standards.

[Body_Visions]

They are all great putters or they wouldn’t be out there, some are just better than others.  

[Body_Visions]

Deleted.

 

Dont want to be blamed for a 4 handicap war at this time. 😳

Edited October 5, 2021 by Body_Visions

[playit]

8 minutes ago, Body_Visions said:

They are all great putters or they wouldn’t be out there, some are just better than others.  

 

If that is true (not sure it is but for now, will go with it), I wonder if there have been terrific ball-strikers whose poor putting kept them from qualifying for the tour. Now that would suck. Stripe it, shot after shot, and can't putt a lick. That would be hell.

 

I wonder how good a putter Hogan was. I know he complained about putting playing too big a role in golf, so, he obviously got frustrated!

[Body_Visions]

That might be possible, but anyone you’ve ever “heard of” can putt.

 

Many said Hogan was possibly the best putter when he was younger.  Many also said the accident, and resulting eye injury he didn’t talk about was the reason he lost his putting. 

[Fairway14]

55 minutes ago, playit said:

 Has there been any pro that is a great ball-striker and a terrible putter?

Club pro, yes. Tour pro, no.

[dbleag]

9 minutes ago, Body_Visions said:

That might be possible, but anyone you’ve ever “heard of” can putt.

 

+1  -  no one would be "on tour" if they were not a good putter.

[Neo1]

there are good putters and then there are great putters and then there are clutch putters...i honestly believe nobody on the pga tour are bad putters...only the pressure of a back 9 on Sunday separates the men from the boys...with that being said Sergio Garcia during the 2000's was one of those guys that should've picked up a couple majors but didn't because of putting..notable mentions to Adam Scott and Rors.

[NJBigFish22]

If your on the tour you are definitely in the top 5% of all golfers in the world in both ball striking and putting.

[nsxguy]

1 hour ago, playit said:

Golf is actually two games, ball-striking and putting. Has there been any pro that is a great ball-striker and a terrible putter? I don't mean that he's just a so-so putter for a pro, I mean he's really a crappy putter! It would seem that they have to be a decent putter to even get on the tour. I mean, you hit a bunch of greens as an amateur, ok, but then you still have to make a boatload of birdies to even qualify for the tour!

 

I saw something recently where it was talking about how good a ball-striker Bruce Leitzke was and was dead last in putting stats. Which the author was saying proves just how good a ball-striker he was, lol. I don't recall him being a bad putter. Maybe it was just one year, I dunno.

 

Anyone come to mind where you could say, "If he would have been a great putter, he would have won everything!"

 

EDIT:  I recall there being some talk about Hal Sutton being such a great ball-striker but bad putter. And when I would watch his putting stroke, I'd be thinking, "How does he ever miss!" His stroke looked good. Maybe he couldn't read 'em.

 

Or, do you have a friend who this fits, who just absolutely canNOT putt?

 

Tour players that cannot putt ? No. There ARE none who cannot putt.

 

Anyone come to mind where you could say, "If he would have been a great putter, he would have won everything!" No, there are too many "great" putters on Tour

 

Or, do you have a friend who this fits, who just absolutely can NOT putt? Sure. Who doesn't ? 

 

Great, good, poor, terrible are all relative terms.

 

The worst putter on Tour is a great putter - if compared against the entire golfing population.

 

Most of us have never played with anybody who could putt as well as the worst PGA Tour pro.

 

 

Edited October 5, 2021 by nsxguy

[Mustard_Tiger]

Paging Richie Hunt...

[ChrisL52188]

Bruce Lietzke? The guy was an incredible ball striker, played the tour part time, never really practiced and won 13 times. Ben Crenshaw and other players were amazed and jealous of how Bruce can just do that. Sure... If Bruce played full time, he likely wins more than 20 times. They don't make players like Bruce anymore.   But he could putt fairly well to win 13 times on the PGA Tour. He even won a US Senior Open. So yes, Bruce was a decent putter. But compared to whom? Ben Crenshaw? Ben is one of the finest putters ever. 

 

The worst putter on Tour is likely better than any other person that plays golf. No such thing as a Tour pro who can't putt. If there is, they wouldn't be on Tour.  Now some of the best putters of all time could get away with some poor ball striking or wild shots such as Seve Ballesteros. But there only one Seve...a genius. 

Edited October 5, 2021 by ChrisL52188

[ChrisL52188]

1 hour ago, playit said:

 

If that is true (not sure it is but for now, will go with it), I wonder if there have been terrific ball-strikers whose poor putting kept them from qualifying for the tour. Now that would suck. Stripe it, shot after shot, and can't putt a lick. That would be hell.

 

I wonder how good a putter Hogan was. I know he complained about putting playing too big a role in golf, so, he obviously got frustrated!

Ben Hogan was a wonderful putter. His putting gets overlooked... 

 

Same with Arnold Palmer. Arnold Palmer was perhaps the best putter in his prime, which Jack Nicklaus has said. Now, if you ask me who are best clutch putters? Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods. By far... Of course. 

 

 

Edited October 5, 2021 by ChrisL52188

[tacklingdummy]

Lee Westwood, Tom Watson, and Fred Couples come to mind. However, I think Lee Westwood tops the list.  He has missed so many short putts at crucial times or just a low percentage of them in both majors and other tournaments.  Had he made a few more, it could have easily pushed him into the winning's circle. 

 

 

[grm24]

2 minutes ago, tacklingdummy said:

Lee Westwood, Tom Watson, and Fred Couples come to mind. However, I think Lee Westwood tops the list.  He has missed so many short putts at crucial times or just a low percentage of them in both majors and other tournaments.  Had he made a few more, it could have easily pushed him into the winning's circle.

Tom Watson for many years of his career was the best putter on the PGA Tour. Simply had no fear of any sized putt. That said at the tail end of his career his short putting became an issue. He was able to overcome it somewhat but was never again the putter he was from the early/mid 1970's to the mid 1980's. You don't win 39 PGA Tour events and 8 majors while becoming the dominant golfer on the PGA Tour for years by not being able to putt.

[iBanesto]

What does the OP mean by "can't putt"?

 

It is a very vague statement. All Tour pros can putt, even club pros, but at what benchmark would you classify a person as "can't putt"?

 

They wiff the ball with a putter? 😂

 

 

[grm24]

7 minutes ago, iBanesto said:

What does the OP mean by "can't putt"?

 

It is a very vague statement. All Tour pros can putt, even club pros, but at what benchmark would you classify a person as "can't putt"?

 

They wiff the ball with a putter? 😂

Yes. See Hale Irwin at 1983 Open Championship @ Royal Birkdale when he whiffed a back handed putt that cost him a playoff with Tom Watson. 

 

https://www.golfchannel.com/video/british-open-1983-hale-irwin-royal-birkdale

 

Check the video around the :25 second mark. 

[Righty to Lefty]

At that level the poorest putter is still better than any of us can even fathom. You have to realize the difference between the best putter and the worst among them is probably only a couple putts per round but it is magnified because the margins are so slim.  I don't think we truly realize how good they really are.  I have a buddy that was tryin to get his European tour card back and he is the best putter I have ever witnessed as I've seen him shoot 7 under on nine holes on multiple occasions. I couldn't believe how steady he was and how many  putts he made over the 50 rounds that I played with him as it was uncanny. And to think that a Euro or PGA tour guy is putting better than him is hard to even comprehend....but they do.  A pro putting 1 or 2 putts per round better than him is like a scratch handicap putting 10 or more putts per round better than a 2 handicap.  Those guys are really good. 

[huskydawg]

I remember Vijay Singh yanking putts all over the place in one tournament but he still won.  Guess he made enough of them but it was really tough to watch.

 

Looking it up, it might have been the WGC Bridgestone Tournament in 2008.

[BIG STU]

And I thought I would put this out here since it has not been mentioned--- 99% of tour quality greens stimp out a hell of a lot faster than what most of us play on a weekly basis. We still have a couple of courses here that have fast bent greens but they only stimp about 10 or maybe 11 on a good day and most of the locals around here complain they are lightning fast. Also most tour quality greens have what I call engineered undelation and that combined with fast speeds makes them difficult to putt. Most folks can not fathom that maybe the "worst" putter on tour is 99% better than all us average Joes

Edited October 5, 2021 by BIG STU

[No_Catchy_Nickname]

There are certainly streaky putters on Tour. Hideki Matsuyama comes to mind. I wouldn't call him a bad putter, but he's not consistently a good putter.

 

Streaky is about the closest I can think of regarding a "bad" putter. Not always good.

 

Relative to the golfing population, I do not think you can be a bad putter and make it to the PGATour, European Tour, LPGA Tour and Korn Ferry and other big ones.

[iBanesto]

1 hour ago, grm24 said:

Yes. See Hale Irwin at 1983 Open Championship @ Royal Birkdale when he whiffed a back handed putt that cost him a playoff with Tom Watson. 

 

https://www.golfchannel.com/video/british-open-1983-hale-irwin-royal-birkdale

 

Check the video around the :25 second mark. 

 

You got me!

 

Hale Irwin obviously can't putt!

 

[Golfingfanatic]

Mac O'Grady

[tacklingdummy]

3 hours ago, grm24 said:

Tom Watson for many years of his career was the best putter on the PGA Tour. Simply had no fear of any sized putt. That said at the tail end of his career his short putting became an issue. He was able to overcome it somewhat but was never again the putter he was from the early/mid 1970's to the mid 1980's. You don't win 39 PGA Tour events and 8 majors while becoming the dominant golfer on the PGA Tour for years by not being able to putt.

 

Yeah, but Watson is on record as saying "the yips (on short putts) likely cost him at least one major victory a year over a decade of his more than four-decade-long career."   Yips on short putts cost him one major victory a year. That is 40+ majors. Try to wrap your head around that one. Imagine if he won half of that. 😂🤣 Honestly, who knows he may of been past Jack if he could make short putts. 

[tacklingdummy]

Jordan Spieth as well when he plummeted down the rankings. He had the yips on short putts. 

[Yuck]

I agree there is a difference between bad putting and “less good putting.”   In my world, bad putting is averaging more than 40 putts per round, notwithstanding GIRs.  There is not a ballstriker is history that can overcome that.  There are amateur putters out there as good as some tour pros.  

 

There is a gap between the very best and very worse on tour, but that gap is under 1.5 strokes a round.  Example, in 2021, Louis Oosthousen SG putting was .764 and Colin Morikawa SG was - .457.  This is a difference between the 1st and 176th ranked putter of a little more than 1.2 strokes per round, or just under 5 shots per 72 hole event.  

 

Just looking at putts per round, there is about a 2 shot per round difference between elite putters like Cameron Smith (27.7) or Patrick Reed (27.8) and  “less good” putters like Cameron Champ, (29.6) or Bubba Watson (29.8).  This is nowhere near the difference between a good putter and a bad putter.

Edited October 5, 2021 by Yuck

[Ferguson]

2 hours ago, Golfingfanatic said:

Mac O'Grady

 

Phil McGleno 

[kasting333]

I think putting is more closely related to a regular full-swing shot. The high speed of a full swing masks flaws at times putting can expose. 
 

Like tai chi for the bottom of the swing 

[playit]

7 hours ago, grm24 said:

Tom Watson for many years of his career was the best putter on the PGA Tour. Simply had no fear of any sized putt. That said at the tail end of his career his short putting became an issue. He was able to overcome it somewhat but was never again the putter he was from the early/mid 1970's to the mid 1980's. You don't win 39 PGA Tour events and 8 majors while becoming the dominant golfer on the PGA Tour for years by not being able to putt.

 

As for Watson, I recall from decades ago that he said that he wanted to reach the hole with pace, the ball going five feet past on a routine basis. Because he had zero fear of a five footer. That's stout!

 

EDIT:  Based on what has been written in later posts in this thread, his pace creating five footers cost him dearly!

Edited October 5, 2021 by playit