Ernie Els, don’t you start using the old man putter too

Let's just throw this out there: getting old sucks. No matter whether you're a golfer or an insurance adjuster, you lose a couple miles on your fastball every year you're in middle age, and every year you have to compensate. That doesn't make it any easier for the rest of us to watch, though.

One of golf's uglier concessions to the dreaded march of time is the long putter, an abomination of golf equipment that the old codgers bust out once the yips and the years have taken their wrists. For years, it was accepted as the province of the Champions Tour, and you don't question your elders, you just giggle a little behind their back.

But then Adam Scott went and nearly won the damn Masters with a long putter, and suddenly it got new legitimacy all over again. And now one of golf's stalwarts, Ernie Els, is possibly giving it a go. (Note: Els is not in that picture.)

As Local Knowledge reports, Els had a belly putter, the Odyssey White Hot (like that soup you made for your grandfather! What, are you trying to scald him to death here?) in his bag for Wednesday's pro-am. Els currently ranks 159th in putting on tour, a hundred-place dropoff from last year's two-win season.

"I might have it in this week, but I'm not set on that yet," Els said. "I'm giving it a tryout ... I think I might just need a different look and a different way of seeing the putts."

They say the eyes are the first to go. Good luck with the early bird special, Ernie.

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