Nearly a quarter of the golfers in the last British Open used a long putter or belly putter. Those that anchored those putters against their body could have less than three years to drop anchor.

Last week, golf’s two governing bodies (U.S. Golf Association and Royal & Ancient Golf Club) adopted Rule 14-1b, which prohibits players from anchoring a club against their bodies, either directly or by using an anchor point. In other words, "holding the club or a gripping hand in contact with any part of the body," or "holding a forearm in contact with any part of the body to establish a gripping hand as a stable point around which the other hand may swing the club."

The bodies already have exceptions — "the player may hold the club or a gripping hand against a hand or forearm" — and lots of confused golfers. The rule doesn’t even go into effect until Jan. 1, 2016, the beginning of the new four-year cycle for changes to the Rules of Golf.

The silence of the PGA Tour, which has had four of its past six major champions use an anchored putter, has been deafening. The LPGA immediately signed on. Most of the other major tours are expected to follow so a 600-year-old sport can remain under one set of rules.

The PGA has argued anchoring is not hurting the game and no statistical proof of advantage has been shown. If it sets its own standard, the future could be funky.

Most golfers aren’t sure what all the fuss is about, including those who play for a living.

Kailua’s Scott Simpson, a U.S. Open champion now on he Champions Tour, estimates the percentage using anchored putters on his tour at less than 20 percent. He also points out many of the best seniors do anchor. That includes four-time — and current — money leader Bernhard Langer, who told the Associated Press, "I just don’t understand why it took them 40 years to come to their conclusion."

"My personal opinion is it’s no big deal," Simpson wrote in an email. "If it’s that good, we can all do it. I think it does help certain people who struggle with a short putter, like Adam Scott, Bernhard Langer. Guys like (Keegan) Bradley, (Webb) Simpson have been using it a long time and would probably do fine with short putters, but just haven’t ever used them because they like the belly style.

"I also agree that for the general public we don’t need to be driving anyone away from the game, but we need to keep people playing and having fun. If they need a long putter to enjoy playing, then that should be fine."

The PGA Tour is getting feedback from its players. Clearly, the USGA and Royal & Ancient are getting tons of feedback. They say the reason for the rule is to define what a putting stroke should be, not based on statistics, but on the "challenge to control the entire club, and anchoring alters that challenge."

Jared Sawada just graduated from the University of Hawaii. In a quirk that maybe only golfers can appreciate, Sawada said his passion for the game was reignited a year ago, in his final days of college eligibility. He has been in contention at nearly every local tournament since — with a traditional short putter. He gave up the long putter in 2011.

"I went to it (the long putter) because I tried it one day and it just felt really good, stable and solid," Sawada said. "As I kept using it, under pressure situations, the feeling changed. I kept thinking about how it had to be anchored in your stomach. I had too many thoughts in my mind.

"I don’t think they need to change the rule. It’s not cheating. I had it, but I putt better with the short putter. Anchoring is what people don’t like. It’s not really a stroke, but it’s not a big deal."

The USGA and Royal & Ancient say it has become too big a deal to ignore, calling anchoring a "substantial departure from the traditional free swing."

They are also worried about the increase in anchoring the past 20 years, particularly among beginners and juniors. Evan Kawai, a 5-foot-3 13-year old, won the 62nd Francis Brown Four-Ball with Sawada earlier this month with an adjustable length putter stuck in his stomach.

You won’t see Sawada using it as he "plays every single tournament this summer — I’m having too much fun playing golf now."

You also won’t see Simpson trying it. He likes the idea because he prefers a pendulum stroke, but when he tried the long putter "it feels like the putter head is swinging all over the place, and with a belly putter I feel pretty wristy on the stroke."

Simpson is also not clear on what constitutes anchoring, and has no idea what his tour will do, and what impact the rule will have.

"Most guys feel like they should have done it 30 years ago if they wanted to do it right and it would have been fine," Simpson says. "Like they outlawed Sam Sneed using the croquet style.

"I don’t think there is any consensus on either tour (regular or senior), and it will be interesting to see what happens in the next month and beyond."