To ban or not to ban? That is still the question, but Tiger Woods thinks he might have the answer.
Golf's last major championship was the first to be won by a player - Keegan Bradley - using a long putter.
"Personally, I think it's an easier way to putt," he said, "especially when there's some nerves."
There were also big wins late last season for Adam Scott, Bill Haas and Webb Simpson and the fact that none of them had a conventional putter has got people talking again - including golf's two ruling organisations.
The debate over whether such putters should be allowed has been going on for decades, those against arguing that pressing a club to the body in some way is not a proper stroke.
So far the United States Golf Association and the St Andrews-based Royal and Ancient Club have not taken action, but that does not mean to say that - even after all this time - they won't.
David Rickman, the R&A's executive director for rules and equipment standards, said: "The issue of anchoring and long/belly putters has come to the fore again in recent months.
"We have regular discussions with the USGA as part of our every day governance of the game and this is something that we are continuing to look at along with many other aspects of the game."
Woods will be happy if a ban is brought in and has spoken repeatedly to R&A chief executive Peter Dawson about how it could be done.
On the use of long putters he said: "I've never been a fan of it. I believe it's the art of controlling the body and club and swinging the pendulum motion.
"I believe that's how it should be played - I'm a traditionalist when it comes to that.
"I've talked to Peter about this for a number of years going back and forth on how we can word it. My idea was to have it so that the putter would be equal to or less than the shortest club in the bag.
"I think that would be able to get away from any type of belly anchoring. You can still anchor the putter like Bernhard Langer did against the forearm, but that's still the art of swinging the club."
The two bodies spoke recently at the USGA's headquarters in New Jersey and a report in the American magazine "Golfweek" mentioned "a new ban-the-belly movement within the R&A".
Mike Davis, the USGA's executive director, told the magazine: "All of a sudden this has become a much bigger topic. The USGA and R&A have been talking about this at length.
"It is something we have taken a fresh look at. More players are using it, both on the elite level and the recreational level.
"We want to be sure that we are looking at all the angles and thinking about what is in the best interests both of the traditions of the game, the history of the game, and what we think would be good for the game."
An unnamed source was then quoted as saying: "The R&A do not like the fact that golfers can steady themselves by using a putter as a crutch in windy, rainy or cold weather.
"This was never intended under the Rules of Golf. They are using the putter for something other than a traditional stroke.
"Nobody (within the ruling bodies) wants children to know nothing else but sticking putters in their bellies.
"It now seems possible that an entire new generation of golfers could learn to putt this way and never use the traditional method that has been the bedrock of putting for hundreds of years."
Asked about a possible ban Simpson said last August: "I think it's pretty crazy because if it was so easy why isn't everybody using it?
"I think the belly putter/long putter is still in the minority."
Ernie Els was among the earliest critics of long putters, but that did not mean he was not prepared to use one last season.
"I've been outspoken about it. I've been against it," he said. "Right now I'm glad they haven't banned it. If they ban it that's also fine with me.
"As long as it's legal I'll keep cheating like the rest of them!"
His objection to their use is this. "I think nerves and skill in putting are part of the game and you should take a tablet if you can't handle it.
"It's become such an easy way to putt. You push the putter into your body and then you can make a perfect stroke."
Colin Montgomerie is another who has tried one despite his feelings.
He wrote in his autobiography: "I think that all long putters - yes, all of them - should be declared illegal.
"Long putters - be they anchored to the chin, the chest or belly - all give the player the three pivotal points of two hands and the body rather than just the two hands.
"You would never be allowed to have a brace that helped to keep your right arm on target when throwing a dart. Nor would you be allowed anything to steady the moving arm in snooker.
"It is extraordinary, to me, that golf officialdom has not acted on this score."
That was 10 years ago, but maybe now the long putter has only a short time left.
