‘Shame on followers accusing golf star of rule break that would have price him £340k’

Congratulations to Englishman Dan Bradbury on his stunning win at the Open De France near Paris.

And shame on those who took to social media to accuse him of ‘anchoring’ when using his long putter. I guess we now live in a world in which some people will always look to create controversies where none exist.

The cesspit that is Twitter, or whatever it’s called these days, is good at this. Bradbury putted within the rules. End of.

So he should keep doing what he’s doing and ignore what the sofa surfers decide to claim or say. Easier said than done, granted.

And not least when success on the golf course increases the profile and fame of someone like Bradbury. But the Wakefield-based star is more than capable of handling the attention coming his way.

Just keep knocking the putts in and your feet on the ground.

Defending his technique, Bradbury said: “The way I grip it, my thumb is at the top of the grip. You’re not allowed that to be touching your chest or any part of your body. That would be classed as anchoring. Obviously, as a bigger lad, I have a lot of space up there, I wear baggy shirts. It’s allowed to touch your shirt. That’s absolutely fine.

“I have mine… put it this way, I can sweep down my body and not touch my hand, so there’s at least this much there (1-2 inch gap). I know that, the rules officials know it. Everybody that I’ve played with, everyone knows it. If you’re there in person you can see it.

“But some people want to sit at home and comment on it, and that’s fine. But it’s within the rules. I get the stigma against it 100%. Fine.

“Say what you want to say. I had that stigma until I tried it and realised how much it’s helped me. It’s within the rules, so if you have an issue, change the rule, no? It’s not my fault…”