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Charles Owens, Golfer, Dies at 85; Novel Putter Brought Late Success

Related Topics: Putter, The New York Times

If Charles Owens was going to jump-start a late-blooming golf career, he had to fix his putting. He was 51 and playing on the Senior PGA Tour. He had bad legs and a painful back. And he had the yips — involuntary hand and arm movements that caused him to yank his putts one way or the other.

“I had the yips so bad,” he told Golf Digest, “that I would freeze up on a two-footer.”

Weary of the many putters that had failed him, Owens drew up plans for an extra-long one and gave them to a machinist friend.