Is Adam Scott really a different player without his anchored putter?
Adam Scott has won 12 tournaments in his career. How do they break down between anchored putter and short putter?
By
Kyle Porter
•
2 min read
Narratives gain steam and become unavoidable at some point. But that doesn't mean they aren't dumb. One of the dumb ones is that Adam Scott is going to be a much worse player because of the anchored putter ban. Let me show you why.
Here are Scott's career wins with and without the anchored putter.
Short putter (2003-10, 2016): Eight wins in nine full seasons
Anchored putter (2011-15): Four wins in five full seasons
Then there's this.
@NoLayingUp didn't attempt to calc the midseason changes, so it's an imperfect calc but any difference would be immaterial. Point stands
— No Laying Up (@NoLayingUp) February 29, 2016
It goes even further, though. If you look at Scott's average PGA Tour position in strokes gained putting in the years he used a short putter (roughly 2004-10 and 2016 so far), it's around No. 112 on the PGA Tour (2004 was the first year this stat was kept).
If you look at his average position in strokes gained putting with the anchored putter (2011-15) it's No. 121. You could actually make the case that Scott has been better off for the entirety of his career with the shorter flat stick. Heck, he even finished No. 1 on the PGA Tour in this category in 2004.
It's true that he won his only major with the anchored putter. But the reality is that Scott is pretty bad no matter what he has in his hands on the green. Thankfully, he's one of the three or four best in the world off of it. Thus, the 12 wins by the age of 35.
The reverse argument here is that he was trending pretty badly when he switched in 2011. His finishes in strokes gained putting in 2008-10 were No. 179, No. 180 and No. 186. Yuck. But still, we can't only look at those and throw the rest of it out. Scott reiterated last week his lofty goals to return to being the best putter in the world by the Masters.
"Probably have a little ways to go to get to the best putter in the world by April, but maybe on the right path anyway," said Scott. "I feel like I'm getting more and more confident each time I play. I've only played twice this year, so it can only go as quick as I play, I guess. But with my schedule upcoming, I think that gives me ample time to feel like I'm one of the best putters by the time I get to Augusta."
That sounds ambitious to me, but it's also happened before. So we shall see.
