DP World Tour winner accused of rule break makes feelings very clear with passionate reply
Dan Bradbury has clapped back at accusations that he anchored his putter during his one-shot victory at the Open de France last weekend. The 25-year-old edged out Thorbjorn Olesen, Yannik Paul, Sam Bairstow and Jeff Winther to claim a narrow victory but it was not without controversy.
Bradbury brought a broom handle-style putter to Le Golf National and some viewers felt he was anchoring it against his body. A player is deemed to be anchoring their putter if they intentionally hold it or their gripping hand against any part of the body other than a hand or forearm.
Players found to be anchoring their putters are usually hit with a two-stroke penalty, but Bradbury was not punished. During an appearance on the Sky Sports Golf podcast, he issued a passionate defence of his putting style.
“The way I grip it, my thumb is at the top of the grip,” he explained. “You’re not allowed [the putter] to be touching your chest or any part of your body. That would be classed as anchoring.
“Obviously as a bigger lad, I have a lot of space up there, I wear baggy shirts. It’s allowed to touch your shirt. That’s absolutely fine. I have mine, put it this way, I can sweep down my body and not touch my hand so there’s at least this much there [showing a gap].
“I know that, the rules officials know it. Everybody that I’ve played with, everyone knows it. If you’re there in person you can see it, but some people want to sit at home and comment on it and that’s fine, but it’s within the rules.
“I get the stigma against it, 100 per cent. Fine. I had that stigma until I tried it and realised how much it’s helped me. It’s within the rules so if you have an issue, change the rule, no? It’s not my fault… well, please don’t change the rules!”
