Matti Schmid came out of nowhere to contend for the PGA Championship.
The German has never had a major top-50 finish before Aronimink and was ranked 97th in the Official World Golf Rankings. But he found himself in the final pairing at the PGA Championship, and even led the tournament during his final round.
But Schmid became the subject of controversy when he was thrown into the spotlight, and that’s led golf fans to call for a rule change moving forward.
Golf fans accuse Matti Schmid of anchoring at the PGA Championship
Schmid uses a broomstick putter, which many players in the modern game have found success with. However, fans online accused him of anchoring with his flatstick.
Anchoring is when a player secures the putter against a fixed point on their body during a stroke. This method was banned by the USGA and R&A in 2016 due to concerns over fairness and the traditional character of the game, but according to fans, Schmid was holding the putter against his chest.
One fan took to X to post: “Is anyone gonna say anything about Matti Schmid and his anchoring?”, and that led to a surge of people calling for a rule change.
Someone replied, “Honestly, these putters just need to be banned”, and another added, “Can we ban these based on the fact that it looks dumb?”
There was some debate among fans as to whether he was actually anchoring. Akshay Bhatia came under fire for a similar reason earlier in the year, but he insisted the handle was touching his shirt, not his chest.
One fan wondered if that was the case with Schmid: “Hard to see, but touching his shirt isn’t anchoring, it has to touch your body”.
With that in mind, one fan suggested that players must keep their hands low down the club in future, and also called for Bryson DeChambeau’s arm lock technique to be banned too.
They wrote: “Noticed that too. It’s pretty obvious that he locks his thumb into his chest. They just need to mandate the old school hands-low rules. Bryson’s forearm lock stroke should be banned as well.”
If these controversies continue with these long putters, it’s hard to see how the rules surrounding these clubs aren’t changed.
