Keegan Bradley was the first player to win a major using an anchored putter, so it was always going to be a big deal when the 2011 PGA Championship winner eventually switched to the more conventional stroke prior to the 2016 ban on anchoring. Upon making the move at Muirfield Village last week, the natural question is how did he fare with his new, non-anchored putter? It's obviously an extremely small sample size, but if his performance at the Memorial is any indication, it seems Bradley might have some work ahead of him when it comes to holing putts between five and ten feet.
Here were some of Bradley's key putting stats for the 2013-'14 season heading into Memorial:
Strokes Gained/Putting 44th .264 3-Putt Avoidance T-28 2.11% 19 Three putts this year Putting from 3' T-107 99.27% 409 attempts 406 made Putting from 4' 14th 95.95% 74 attempts 71 made Putting from 5' T-142 77.08% 48 attempts 37 made Putting from 6' T-44 75.00% 24 attempts 18 made Putting from 7' 15th 72.09% 43 attempts 31 made Putting from 8' 187 31.48% 19 attempts 6 made Putting from 9' T-178 33.33% 21 attempts 7 made Putting from 10' 93rd 39.29% 28 attempts 11 made Putting from 4-8' 70th 68.66% 134 attempts 92 made Putting - Inside 10' T-38 88.14% 666 attempts 587 made Putting from - 10-15' T-37 33.33% 114 attempts 38 made Putting from - 15-20' 78th 18.84% 69 attempts 13 made Putting from - 20-25' T-25 16.33% 49 attempts 8 made Putting from - > 25' T-129 4.55% 145 attempts 7 made
And here was how he performed in the tournament, his first start with a non-anchored putter:
Strokes Gained/Putting 55th -.365 3-Putt Avoidance T-14 1.39% Putting from 3' T-1 100.00% 46 attempts 46 made Putting from 4' T-71 83.33% 6 attempts 5 made Putting from 5' T-1 100.00% 4 attempts 4 made Putting from 6' T-57 57.14% 7 attempts 4 made Putting from 7' T-45 50.00% 4 attempts 2 made Putting from 8' T-1 100.00% 3 attempts 3 made Putting from 9' T-51 25.00% 4 attempts 1 made Putting from 10' T-16 50.00% 2 attempts 1 made Putting from 4-8' T-28 72.22% 18 attempts 13 made Putting - Inside 10' T-41 86.84% 76 attempts 66 made Putting from - 10-15' T-38 28.57% 14 attempts 4 made Putting from - 15-20' T-42 14.29% 7 attempts 1 made Putting from - 20-25' T-35 14.29% 7 attempts 1 made Putting from - > 25' T-46 .00% 16 attempts 0 made
It's worth noting that Bradley's 2014 stats pre-Memorial were generally representative of his putting stats from previous years. He gained .250 strokes per round on the field putting in 2013 compared to his .264 average heading into the Memorial, and his combined strokes gained/putting average for 2011 and 2012 was .209.
What's more interesting is his performance inside 10 feet. His putting from that distance at the Memorial, on paper, looks pretty good, but that's because his perfect putting from three feet masks some problems he had elsewhere. This year with his belly putter, Bradley made 75 and 72 percent of his six and seven footers. At the Memorial from that distance, he finished at just 57 and 50 percent.
Again, it's a small sample size, but that might be an area worth watching if he decides to continue down his new route.
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