The Great Bobby Locke Putting

I FOUND THIS SHORT VIDEO of South African Bobby Locke putting. A three-time winner of the British Open, Locke is considered by many to be one of the greatest ever with the flatstick. Although he missed the medium-range putt shown in the above clip, you can observe the technique that holed so many putts: feet close together and a wristy pop stroke with no follow-through. Gary Player describes and demonstrates Locke’s method here.

I was reminded of Locke the other day when I received an email from a reader named Mike in response to my post titled 20 Greatest Putters of All Time. I ranked Locke No. 4. Mike mentioned Locke in reference to Ben Hogan.

Mike took exception to Hogan not making my top-20 list. (I did include Hogan as an honorable mention pick.) He said in his email that Locke called Hogan the greatest putter he ever saw. I can’t verify that, but I do agree with Mike that many people don’t give Hogan the credit he deserves because of his struggles on the greens late in his career.

In his prime, Hogan was a terrific putter who rarely three-putted and was adept at putting fast greens. As Mike asked, how do you win four U.S. Opens without being a great putter?

−The Armchair Golfer