Playing against Irishman Eamonn Darcy in the 1987 Ryder Cup at Muirfield Village, Ben Crenshaw got off to a poor start in the singles.
There was a heated atmosphere and the normally “gentle” Ben became agitated. In fact, his frustration got the better of him as he went two-down through six holes. Walking off the green he slammed his trusty Wilson 8802 putter into the ground – It snapped.
He was not allowed to replace or repair the putter. The Rules state that you can replace or repair a damaged club, but not in the case of abuse. Ben hadn’t purposefully snapped his putter but he had done so in anger, so he wasn’t allowed a replacement.
For the rest of the round, the Texan had to putt with a selection of long-irons, including a 1-iron, and he did so very effectively – taking the match all the way to the 18th hole before Darcy holed a heroic putt to win one-up.
The answer to the question, are you allowed to putt with any club in the bag? Is, yes. You can use any conforming golf club anywhere on the golf course.
The putting green is on the golf course… of course… so there’s nothing to prevent you using anything from driver right down to sand wedge to make a stroke on the putting green if your putter is either misbehaving or has been damaged in anger.
Players will use different techniques when faced with putter-less putting. Si Woo Kim putted with a 3-wood in the 2021 Masters after breaking his putter in anger on the 14th hole of the second round.
Others might opt to use a shorter club like a sand wedge and putt using the leading edge. Effectively playing a “belly wedge,” a shot that can be effective when a ball sits against the fringe or a collar of rough.
Robert Streb used the belly wedge technique after snapping his putter (throwing it at his bag) at the 2015 Greenbrier Classic.
Interestingly Streb did rather well with his wedge as a putter. He made five birdies on his back nine and got into a playoff for the title, losing out on the first extra hole.
If your putter accidentally breaks during a round, say you are leaning on it and it snaps or bends, you have the option to repair or replace it. If you don’t unduly delay play, you can grab another from your car or the pro shop.
If it’s bent rather than snapped, you can choose to either – continue using it, try to bend it back into shape, or replace it.
If you have simply had enough of your putter and you can’t hole a thing, there’s no reason in the Rules why you can’t take out any other conforming club in your bag and use it on the putting green.
