It is possible, if you believe the Canadian version of the origin of the old nugget, that the late Al Balding coined the phrase: "Drive for show and putt for dough."
Balding, the first Canadian to win on the PGA Tour, was a darned good putter for most of his career, a relative rarity among our touring pros.
While guys like Moe Norman and George Knudson were renowned ball strikers, their putting was less so. Lee Trevino once said of Knudson: "He had a million-dollar swing and a 10-cent putter."
So it continues to befuddle me when I see just about everyone I play with spending hundreds of dollars on a driver they will hit (badly, usually) a maximum of 14 times during a round, while they play with a "10-cent putter." A rough calculation indicates that most recreational players will use the putter close to three times more often than their driver during 18 holes.
The putter remains the Rodney Dangerfield of clubs, to the detriment of the average player’s game. It’s no wonder that for years Ping has been fitting putters to individual players just as they do for irons and woods. Other companies have followed suit.
While I love my trusty old Ping Anser, I adore its great-great grandson, my new i-Series Anser. It’s the right length and lie, the grip is the right size, and the two-piece insert urges the ball to the general proximity of the hole every time. Before I settled on it, I tried a variety of flatsticks, pored over Geoff Mangum’s excellent website, and read his book, Optimal Putting.
I even tried the oversized SuperStroke grip that K.J. Choi uses. It did help take the hands out of the stroke, but I had a heck of a time getting it in and out of my small carry bag. If I had a tour-sized bag and a caddie, I’d put one on my Anser.
Now that I got one not only suited, but fitted for me, things are looking up on the greens.
So that’s the equipment taken care of. Now for the philosophy…
For that I have a new mantra. I silently chant the words I heard from my young son years ago. We were on the practice green and he was making putts from all over. I wasn’t.
"Will, what do you think of when you’re putting?" I asked.
"Getting the ball in the hole, Dad," he answered with that special disdain reserved for sons who wonder how a doofus like that could have fathered such a special child.
Getting the ball in the hole.
Drive for show, putt for dough.
Get fitted for the putter that’s right for you and learn how to use it before you spend another cent on yet another new driver.