Sergio En Fuego; Azinger Recalls Invention of Belly Putter

He's not making everything, but he's making damn near everything. With a birdie on the tough 17th, Garcia has now ridden his belly putter to a two-stroke lead (at -6).

Interesting sidelight: Paul Azinger happened to be in the booth while Sergio was climbing the board, and was asked about his experience with the belly putter. He was, he recalled, "the first one" to use it on Tour, nearly winning the Silly Season mixed-team JC Penney Classic with it at the end of 1999, and then taking it to Hawaii the following January to win the Sony by seven strokes, whereupon it "became a popular device."

The genesis of it? "I was just messing around in the pro shop at my home club and a guy, a short guy, was swinging a long putter"-- meaning, a long putter of the kind then used by Rocco Mediate--"and I just took it and stuck it in my belly butt and started hitting it, and hitting every piece of furniture [he aimed at--presumably chair legs] in the pro shop."

Funny-- I for one had forgotten that Azinger was responsible for making this particular innovation. Of course, now that Sergio's profiting from it, he probably regrets it.