Anchored Putter Ban: One Year Later How Five Players Affected

Webb Simpson

Webb Simpson has been outspoken of his disdain for the anchored putter ban.

Webb Simpson was among those unafraid to speak out in opposition to the proposed anchored putter ban.

“If you look at the facts, last year there was no one in the top 20 of strokes gained category that anchored a putter,” Simpson said in an Associated Press report in 2012.

Simpson used his trusty belly putter dating back to 2004 starting out at Wake Forest. He ranked inside the top 60 in SG in his first six years on Tour. He began to transition to a conventional putter in 2015 and his stats on the greens took a tumble.

Simpson’s Game After the Anchored Putter Ban

Simpson dropped from 34th in SG in 2014 to 165th the following year. A drop to 177 in 2016 appeared to spell doom for the four-time PGA Tour winner.

He’s still had a few chances to win, including a four-hole playoff loss to Hideki Matsuyama at the Waste Management Phoenix Open in February 2017. Nonetheless, he’s slipped further to 189th in SG early on in 2017. The once uber-consistent world No. 5 dipped as low as 90th.

His fall might have been worse had he not been solid elsewhere. Simpson was fourth in 2016 in strokes gained approaching the green and 11th in strokes gained around the green. Those numbers have held steady the past few years.

Simpson appears to have the chops to keep his PGA Tour card for years to come. Until he corrals the putter, though, his career might not bring much more.