The long putter debate still raises the temperature of golf aficionados who believe it isn't in the spirit of the game. With good reason really.

After all- is it truly a stroke?

We can't attach a crutch to our driver if we aren't good drivers of the ball. We can't run a stick up the shaft to keep the left wrist from breaking down if we aren't capable of performing the short chips and pitches necessary at the scoring end of each hole.

So how is it that we are able to anchor an extended shaft up the arm to lock it into place or use such a long shafted version of the putter that we can basically lock the top hand still and perform a pendulum with just the bottom hand?

Many of the older generation will remember that when I won the 1993 Australian Masters I did so with the "broomstick" putter. I swept my Titleist in the hole from every which way during a final round 7 under par 66 to ultimately catch Peter Senior in regulation and sneak by him on the first playoff hole.

Truth be told I did hit all 18 greens in regulation that final day so the putting didn't have to be too strong to be rewarded with a low score.

1993 Playoff Participants- Peter Senior & Myself

The fact that Senior and myself and third place getter Terry Price all used the long putter that week created a little uproar in the golfing fraternity. Other participants that week , such as Craig Parry and Nick Price, were outspoken in the aftermath about the legality of the long handled tool. Their belief was it made putting easier and should be outlawed for not being a real stroke.

I- in fact- couldn't have agreed more with them.

The 1993 Masters was in fact my very first tournament with the long putter. One for one!! Batting at 1000....

I was never a bad putter. I never had the yips. In fact several of my friends thought I was one of the best putters from inside 5 feet from the hole they had seen or played with. My bugaboo was the mid range putt.

I wasn't making many putts from that range- which is vital to featuring in the end result of PGA events. No matter how well you strike the ball, you aren't going to stiff it close all day long. I used the long putter to try get a better roll at the mid range putts and in it's very first week it had paid off.

I heard the outcry. I heard the calls for it to be banned. I believed it would be. I honestly thought that by years end there would be a new rule in place for 1994 to have the broomstick outlawed. So I put it in the closet and went back to work with the regular length putter.

It's quite humorous how the stigma still lingers. Oh "Hugo" - he's the long putter guy... Funnily enough I only ever used the long putter for approximately 10 events in my life- during that period- yet it hung over me like a bad smell.

Adam Scott rolled his way to victory at Augusta in 2013 with the long wand- 20 years after it should have been banished. Scotty often mentioned in the media that he felt less nervous over short putts by using it. You know there's something going on when you can use a club that helps eliminate anxiety and fear and doubt.

So here we are 35 years after the 93 Masters outrage and the club is still allowed- slightly tweeked they say- "without" the anchoring to the chestbone. Or without the "intent" of anchoring it to the chestbone.

The way the club is used still riles up the passion of the traditionalist. It certainly appears several golfers are not always using the right "intent" of avoiding the anchoring to the gut. So with all the outcry, all the negativity and all the years of opportunity to ban this beast once and for all- why has it not been done?

You can't go hide somewhere with your bad tee balls, mishit iron shots or skulled chips and pitches- so why is this debate still raging? 

Surely we need (needed) two sets of rules a long time ago. The amateurs and the professionals play such a different game as it is, why shouldn't they play by slightly adjusted rules to negate the disparity?

Take it from someone who used it- the long putter is easier to wield. The pendulum stroke is easier. The straight back and straight through stroke is easier. The tempo is easier to control. The hands control themselves better if nerves creep in.

For professional golf- it should have been a no brainer. Make the putter the shortest club in the bag- avoid any controversy. And at the same time allow it for regular amateur member play. We want them to still enjoy their golf. Right?

Make the golfer who wants to reach the highest levels of the game work on the skill of the body and the skill of the mind to overcome any negative area of their games- just like they have to do with all the other clubs in their bag.