Golf cultivates a sense of continuity throughout the generations. The rules, the equipment and even the players have evolved. But with a little squinting to blur the differences, players from different centuries can be both treasured and compared to their contemporary counterparts.

The desire to maintain continuity seems to be the primary reasoning behind the USGA and the R&A adopting Rule 14-1b outlawing anchoring the putter. To be clear, this about a method, not the equipment. The putter that any player uses can be long enough to hang laundry; they just have to swing it freely starting in 2016.

Many people ask “why do it?” and “why now?” The anchored putter has been in use for years and PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem says that there is no compelling data to show a competitive advantage by using an anchored putter. But the clear answers to those two questions are “because it works” and “better late than never.”

In his official statement, USGA President Glen Nager said:

“Having considered all of the input that we received, both before and after the proposed Rule was announced, our best judgment is that Rule 14-1b is necessary to preserve one of the important traditions and challenges of the game – that the player freely swing the entire club.”

A skilled Washington, D.C. attorney, Nager shows his skills when he states that the ban “eliminates the possible advantage that anchoring provides, ensuring that players of all skill levels face the same challenge inherent in the game of golf.”

While there may not have been any long-term scientific research done to support a ban, the governing bodies were willing to take action on the empirical evidence: Three out of the last four major winners have used the anchor putter, and Adam Scott’s win completed the “anchor slam.” The previous school of thought was that the same reason that a guy went to the anchor putter, being shaky under pressure, would be the same reason that the anchor putter would not win major tournaments in bunches, if at all. That turned out to be a myth that has been utterly destroyed.

The ruling is not a surprise; in fact it, had been anticipated for a long time because the governing bodies were know to have been leaning against allowing continued use of the anchor method. Sources close to the USGA said that the penny dropped for it when one of its senior officials observed a junior tournament in which the majority of the best young players was using the anchor putter and sinking putts from everywhere. The official realized that a generation was coming that would establish the advantage that was only hypothetical before.

Perhaps the most interesting part of the controversy about the ruling is who is for it and who is against it. Standing in favor of the ban are all-time greats like Tiger Woods and Arnold Palmer, arguably the two most influential players in history. Both have stated that an integral part of the game is to have every club swung freely, and the anchor method does not meet that standard. This is especially interesting from Palmer, a player who stopped winning majors when he stopped being able to hit clutch putts. The use of an anchored putter might have enabled to him to add to his eight career major victories.

On the other side of the debate are current players who have benefited from the anchored putter. Keegan Bradley, who won the 2011 PGA Championship with an anchored putter, has been vehement in his defense of the method and the other players that use it. Then there is the resistance of the PGA Tour and the PGA of America. Already on record as a defender of the long putter and the high-profile players that use them on Tour, Finchem has also suggested what was once considered heresy; that there could be a world with two sets of rules, one for pros and one for everyone else.

PGA of America President Ted Bishop was more blunt, saying in a recent blog that “[having two sets of rules] seems destined” sometime after the rule takes effect in 2016. The possibility of two sets of rules does not sit well Palmer.

“I don’t think that golf has a place for two sets of rules,” Palmer said. “I think one of the reasons that the game has progressed in the way that it has over the years is the fact that the amateurs and the pros all play the same game and they play under the same set of rules. I feel like that is very, very important.”

There is a slight chance that The King might be wearing no clothes in this case. His stance on “one game, one set of rules” was quite different when it came to the non-conforming Callaway ERC drivers he was sponsoring some years ago. In that instance, he said that recreational players should use whatever makes the game more fun when they go out to play “with family and friends.” Surely sinking more putts makes the game more fun?

It will also be interesting to see how the players perform using the anchored method during this twilight period between now and 2016. If they continue to win majors it could get ugly. In 2010, we had Ping Wedges with square grooves deemed illegal and Scott McCarron accusing Phil Mickelson of cheating for using them after the fact. Now Sergio and Tiger have introduced a new era of confrontation that may get taken to the next level if players continue to use and win with anchored putters.

At the end of the day this tempest will be forgotten, just like similar dust-ups over the introduction of the sand wedge (which Bobby Jones opposed), square grooves, driver size limits, the use of laser rangefinders, etc. The fact is that when it comes to rules and equipment, players will adapt and so will the public. The golf manufacturers will bemoan the dusty inventory of long putters in their warehouses. But maybe the public will eventually come to think of the anchored putter like the laser range finder, which is prohibited in Tour play but is routinely used by recreational golfers.

At the end of the day, the game will go on, free swinging putters and all.