Pro Golfer DeChambeau Takes Advantage of New Rule, Putts with Flagstick In
The USGA amended the rules of golf such that players are now allowed to leave the flagstick in when attempting a putt.
Bryson DeChambeau took advantage of that rule during the Sentry Tournament of Champions at Kapalua Golf Club in Hawaii, at which he shot a first-round 69 and found himself in sixth place.
Here’s a shot of his putt on the 11th green Thursday.
⛳️ @B_DeChambeau uses the flag to his advantage. ?#QuickHits pic.twitter.com/LtlI4pMo4W
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) January 4, 2019
Some folks were legitimately puzzled as to what value leaving the stick in had in terms of putts being more accurate.
What’s the advantage?
— DR Ran Dados (@RanDados11) January 4, 2019
The main edge seems to be that when the ball is moving too fast, it can hit the pin and fall in.
Another commenter cited studies done that provided some statistical backup for the hypothesis that the stick provides an advantage.
Dave Pelz has tested this many times over the years. Different speeds, lengths and distances. His data shows that you are slightly better off leaving the flagstick in. Exception being, flagsticks that are more dense or have larger diameters at the base. Not found on tour in USA
— GREY SELLERS (@Selleg22) January 5, 2019
That caveat — except for denser or wider flagsticks — also seems to be common sense, since such a stick would be more likely to cause the ball to ricochet out.
After Friday’s round, when he had success on a putt on the 16th with the flagstick in, DeChambeau was asked how he thought the strategy was working for him.
“Yeah, I feel like I maximized my potential on that, especially on 16 today, where it’s kind of blowing downwind, 5 percent slope, straight downhill, you want that pin to help,” he said. “So that’s what I kind of did and utilized it to my advantage. So I felt like for the most part I needed the pin to be in, and it went in and it was a very nice help.”
DeChambeau was then asked how many putts he’s practiced with the flagstick in, and his response on that was telling as well.
“Maybe 20 putts, that’s it,” he said. “Nothing crazy.
“It’s not difficult. People make it too complicated. I’ve used some devices that have put it at different speeds and I’m still hitting it two feet by, just like you would normally if it doesn’t go in the hole, but I think every once in a while if I accidentally hit it to three feet by and I do push it or pull it that much I really think like on, let’s see, what was it, 14, I kind of pushed it a little bit and it went in the right side and if I hit it a little harder it may lip out, but instead it hit the flag and went in easily. So it’s totally situational, still liquid.
“I’m still learning, under competition, when it’s the right thing to do. Look, I’m going to be courteous to the player I’m playing with as well, I’m not going to try and be, ‘Oh, I need to put it back in every time.’ I’m not going to be one of those guys, that’s not me. I’m trying to be courteous to all the players out here and respectful. So that’s my opinion on it, thought on it, and it’s been a help so far.”
Justin Thomas, on the other hand, who is tied for second in the tournament, stuck to tradition and cast some shade over DeChambeau by suggesting that even though it’s legal to leave the stick in, it’s kind of a weak move for a professional.
“I mean personally I don’t think I can — I mean obviously whenever I’m like this and (caddie) Jimmy (Johnson) is, that’s one thing,” Thomas said. “But I mean if I have an 8-footer to win a golf tournament, I can’t — I mean no offense, I can’t really take myself seriously if I kept the pin in. I mean it just would be such a weird picture and like on TV me celebrating and like the pin is in and my ball’s like up against it.
“And so I don’t know, to me that’s one thing. But, yeah, I guess there’s some instances in tournaments where the pin is really the only thing that can stop it, that’s one thing. But if I have a putt I’m trying to make, that thing’s coming out.”
With the possible exception of baseball, no sport has quite the concentration of garment-rending, doomsaying traditionalists as golf, so it remains to be seen whether DeChambeau’s accomplishments with the flagstick in will be seen as a reason to diminish him as a player.
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