VIDEO: Matt Kuchar style Arm-lock putting lesson with Sam Bettinardi
17 Feb 2016
by Pete Wlodkowski of AmateurGolf.com
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When you watch Matt Kuchar on TV, from many angles it's hard to see there is anything unique or different about his putting style.
That's the way he wants it.
If everything works together -- and it usually does for "Kooch" on the greens -- the pendulum stroke looks as smooth as silk and his distance control is impressive.
The bottom line?
Since he made the change to what's now coined the "Kuchar Method" in 2011, the Georgia Tech grad has finished well inside the top 10 in total putting twice, won four times and made over 21 million dollars!
In 2012 he was 8th in total putting and in 2014 he was 7th.
It all started at the Bob Hope Desert Classic when Kuchar attended a clinic run by Dave Stockton and his sons, well regarded as some of the best putting gurus in the game.
After absorbing the concepts the Stocktons described (many not "style" related) Kuchar began experimenting with all types of putters. Previously, he used a longer model with left hand low, and he gravitated towards something that was somewhere between a belly putter and standard putter in length.
"I choked down on it and ran the grip up my forearm," Kuchar told Jim McCabe of Golfweek.
“I said to myself, ‘What if I leave it there?’ Then I started knocking in putt after putt.”
Most golf insiders know that the putter used by Kuchar is a Bettinardi model called the Kuchar Model 1. The family-owned company designs and mills their putters in Chicago, Illinois. And while they might be most famous for the Kuchar model, Bettinardi has a full line of traditional and counter-balanced models that look as good as they feel. Finishes, materials, and spin-reducing face milling techniques are right in their wheelhouse, not to mention an amazing wedge line.
The company's marketing director, Sam Bettinardi, is a scratch amateur but until making the change to arm-lock didn't consider himself to be the best of putters. Now he feels more comfortable carrying the family name on his bag at tournaments, because he employs the Kuchar Method and it's turned putting from embarrassment to a point of pride.
Check out Sam's arm-lock video above, and their complete line of putters at www.bettinardi.com.