Lucas Glover on Thursday at the American Express tournament.
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He made the well. And there aren’t, as they say, pictures on the scorecard, but a five-second video struck a chord.
Like here:
And here:
And on and on. You can Google “Lucas Glover putt” or Twitter search the same subject for more. Although despite the wealth of information, you may be asking yourself this:
what is that
Technically, that’s easy! It was a 3-foot par putt by Lucas Glover, your 2009 US Open winner, during Thursday’s first round of the American Express tournament. But as you can see – perhaps – there is more. Or is it less? On the putt, Glover took his blade back with a quick wrist twist, then moved it forward with another twist, and his ball rolled in.
Although now you may have more questions…
Has Lucas Glover said this way before?
yes, most notably at last year’s Honda Classicwhere it was recorded and shared across the internet much like this week’s putt, and you can watch that below.
Is it legal?
On the Honda putt, we dug this. In short, yes, and this is what we wrote:
Under Rule 10.1, you will see the “stroke” defined as follows:
A stroke is made by sufficiently hitting a ball with the club head. The fundamental challenge is to direct and control the movement of the entire club by swinging the club freely without anchoring it.
In the related language under 10.1a/1, the rules outline three methods that do not constitute a “stroke”:
This eyebrow-raising blow was almost illegal — here’s why it wasn’t
Luke Kerr-Dineen
– A player holes a short putt by striking the ball with the bottom of the clubhead, using a motion similar to that used in making a shot in billiards or shuffleboard. Moving the ball like that is a push.
– Player moves the club along the surface of the ground pulling it towards him or her. Moving the ball like that is scraping.
– A player slides a club under and very close to the ball. The player then lifts and moves the ball using a forward and upward motion. Moving the ball like that is a move.
Which brings us back to Glover. After the Honda putt fell, a small group of commentators on social media speculated that the putt was more of a push, which should have constituted a two-shot penalty. And while it may look that way to the naked eye, when you slow down the video, you can see the tiniest of backswings. You can also see Glover’s arms move (slightly), which means this was a legitimate hit under the rules of golf, fair and square.
Why?
It’s a Jap move. Golf Digest’s Luke Kerr-Dineen expertly noted that Glover had putted “traditionally” on at least two other occasions Thursday at the American Express, and the putt in question was extraordinary. Although at least it was under some control After all, there was this from Glover:
Of course, it wasn’t always this way. Glover was a world-class player; in addition to his Open victory, he also won the 2005 Funai Classic and the 2011 Wells Fargo Championship. But then golf got into his head, because that’s what golf does.
But Glover worked on it, as Michael Bamberger wonderfully described here. And Glover won again, in 2021 at the John Deere Classic.
There is a quote in the Bamberger piece, however, that perhaps best sums up our question. It comes from Glover’s agent, Mac Barnhardt.
“You can’t be cured of the ips — everyone has them. But you can minimize them.”
And on Thursday, Glover made the well.
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