Caddies confirming alignment needs outlawed

ANCHORING may be on the agenda but the game’s rulesmakers should be looking at something far more distressing when it comes to the art of putting.

Until now, the sight of caddies standing behind a player and telling them the clubface is aligned, either on the hole or a spot close to it, has been restricted to the ladies’ game. It’s not right there and there should be no place for it either in events on the PGA Tour, as was the case in the Northern Trust Open in Los Angeles with Charlie Beljan.

It came down to a play-off and for no other reason than Beljan doing something that, in my eyes at least, is effectively cheating, I found myself rooting for John Merrick, the eventual winner.

During the HSBC Abu Dhabi Championship earlier in the year, I stood for a while at the side of the practice putting green to watch Peter Hanson do some drills with his short-game coach.

It was fascinating and all around them other players were either working with gurus or trying out all sorts of fancy contraptions in their quest to enjoy a successful week on the greens.

Once the gun goes off, it’s perfectly okay for a player to ask his caddie for advice on a line but no-one should be 
allowed to have an outside influence to help them actually line up.

Instead, why don’t players ask their caddies to shout “Fore” when a ball is hurtling into the crowd because, by the looks of things, it’s something you rarely hear in top-level golf these days.

As these players are the role models for the next generation of golfers, it’s about time someone reminded them about one of the basic elements of the game’s etiquette.