[Fourputt]

Originally Posted by Bulls9999

Filey, that is exactly what I got from watching and listening to the discussions this weekend. They were talking about why it was so hard this week....because of the wind, players were not 'grounding their putter' for fear of the ball moving before they putted, then they progressed to that is what's making it hard on putting, that were taken away from their 'normal routine' and have to put with the putter starting up in the air....and anything other than the normal routine takes you out of your comfort putting stroke.

I know 4putt and Atticus feel its a combination of "address and grounding the putter", but from that, I gather that 'addressing the ball' was not the issue, it was only if you grounded your putter. So I think they dispensed with the "addressing the ball" issue. That was a major discussion that lasted about 5 min, not sure if it was on the Golf Channel or the TV broadcast, but several commentators went on at length about that, I think Brandel Chamblee too.

Unless 4putt/Atticus are saying that you need both "Addressing" and "grounding" to get the penalty, and you can address without grounding to free you from penalty?

Read the definition in the Rules of golf for "addressing the ball" and "stance". Too many people equate stance with address, and they are 2 different things.

And getting your Rules information from a discussion between announcers on the the Golf Channel is pretty much a guarantee that you will rarely hear the correct answer.