[psheehan]

Even great ballstriking cannot make up for a balky putter, and Sarge's putting was among the worst. He trembled visibly over the short ones and said his arms "feel like spaghetti."

Then, along came the Senior Tour and the long putter, the 1985 brainchild of Charlie Owens. Charlie, a fellow competitor, was an ex-paratrooper whose leg had been broken in a jump and then fused at the knee. A story in his own right, he tooled a home-made 46-inch long putter -- later refined and marketed by Matzie Golf as the Slim Jim -- to help him solve his specific problems, not the least of which was that he could not bend his knee. After much wrangling, both the R&A and the USGA ruled the club legal, and yipping golfers around the world found their salvation.

Yoda,

Sarge mentioned that the putting got so bad that if he made a 4 ft. putt or even missed it by a ball he was VERY happy.... he said he often started 3 ft. putts 6 inches off his intended line. "Worse case of the yips ever."

To make his long putter Sarge shafted the putter with a 2 iron shaft and then banged another 2 iron shaft down into it to make it 50".... he now has a Callaway that has been made for him but the darn thing sits with the heel slightly off the ground and makes it hard for good contact. He told me he usually putts pretty well with it... but not on that day.

The man can still hit the ball. It was 45 degrees when we first started, and it didn't take him long to warm up. The motion just never varied. He said when he won at Champions it was hot, and he hit NO balls before playing...someone (don't remember) tied with him came in and they were dripping wet before they went out and he was pretty sure he'd get by that guy. He loved hitting that 60º very low..... skipping it once or twice. And he isn't that short... he carries it 225 probably but everything is so pure he can get some roll and get it out there okay.

He won the legends 7 times... btw.... the first 2 where in the open division then 3 in the 65 to 70 and the last 2 with Jimmy Powell in the 70+.... he and Jimmy are defending in April? I believe in Savanah. I may go down and watch.