Golf has long been a sport of precision, but lately, a different kind of debate has been swirling around the PGA Tour: the use of AimPoint. Slow play has long plagued the PGA Tour, but nothing sparks debate like players using AimPoint to read greens. While critics say it worsens pace-of-play issues, Collin Morikawa and another player are defending the method.
On Thursday, Michael S.Kim, winner of the 2018 John Deere Classic, took to X to explain a simplified version of AimPoint. “Before you (get angry), I show you a way to do AimPoint WITHOUT straddling, and it’ll make your routine simpler and faster for some. Regardless, it’s a good thing to know. There’s a reason why so many pros use it. You’ll need a level that reads slope as a %.” He then went on to post a thread explaining the method and the basics.
But not everyone was on board.
Kim was met with immediate criticism, with one user even mocking AimPoint by comparing it to the outdated and widely discredited Plumb Bob method. That’s when Kim fired back, stating hilariously that the comment “rage-baited” him into a response and said, “Didn’t realize I needed to make this point. Aimpoint is not the same as a plumb Bob. Aimpoint actually works and plumb bob does not. Sasho Mackenzie even did a study on it showing it doesn’t work. You can find the study with a quick Google search.”
Clearly, Kim wasn’t about to let AimPoint get dragged through the mud, and he did it with a little humor and a lot of facts.
Michael Kim is probably one of the few players, like Morikawa, who has been vocal about his support for the AimPoint method. Earlier this year at the Genesis Invitational, Collin Morikawa was asked about AimPoint, especially after Lucas Glover publicly called for it to be “banned.” Glover was visibly frustrated when he said, “It needs to be banned. It takes forever. AimPoint, statistically, hasn’t helped anybody make more putts since its inception on the PGA Tour.”
That comment didn’t sit well with Morikawa, as he took a cheeky jab at Glover — “I don’t have anything against Lucas, but if we’re banning AimPoint, we should ban long-putters.” But Morikawa also backed the method, stating that it had helped him read the greens better. “From my perspective, AimPoint has 1,000 percent helped me. It’s just like reading something from behind the hole or behind the ball. That’s how I’m getting my general read for that,” he added.
But despite the benefits it may have provided to Morikawa and Kim, criticism has been growing louder against AimPoint, especially by some of the most recognizable names in golf. One of the most vocal critics of it has been Jim Nantz. He has never been shy about his disdain for the technique, especially when he boldly expressed on a podcast that he “can’t stand looking at it.” Even at the Genesis Invitational, he sarcastically quipped — “That’s not a new dance step he’s doing there, turning around, spinning around a couple of times. That’s AimPoint.”
Didn’t realize I needed to make this point. Aimpoint is not the same as plumb Bob. Aimpoint actually works and plumb bob does not.
Sasho Mackenzie even did a study on it showing it doesn’t work. You can find the study with a quick Google search https://t.co/KNIFIyX3HN
— Michael S. Kim (@Mike_kim714) September 4, 2025
Golf influencer Paige Spiranac didn’t hold back either. Around the same time, she too expressed her opinion, calling for a rather extreme measure against the technique — “Ban Aim Point. Trampling around the golf hole is not it.” Then came Brandel Chamblee, who brought data into the debate. Sharing Tour statistics, the analyst claimed that AimPoint has done nothing to improve putting outcomes — “On average players putt worse/make fewer putts over the last five years (2019–2024) than they did the first five years (2004–2008) of measurement and from every distance: 4–8 feet, 10–15, 15–20, 20–25 and >25 feet.”
But before dismissing AimPoint outright, it’s worth understanding where the system came from and why so many pros swear by it.
Why AimPoint might be fueling slow-play on the PGA Tour
This was not the first time Michael Kim’s use of AimPoint has drawn attention. At the RBC Canadian Open in June, Kim was reportedly told to “emulate Ryan Fox’s pace of play” — likely a not-so-subtle dig at how long his green-reading routine was taking. And let’s be honest, AimPoint can sometimes feel like a long and slow process. It’s mainly because for over 500 years, golfers have relied on a simple, time-tested method to read greens — just squatting behind the ball and visually surveying the slope of the putting surface.
But everything changed when putting coach and data analyst Mark Sweeney developed AimPoint. Originally, it was created as a tool for on-course TV analysts to improve broadcast accuracy, but it was immediately adopted by players for being reliable and accurate. Players like Keegan Bradley swear by the method. Bradley embraced the method in 2022 and, along with coach Phil Kenyon, vaulted into the top 20 on the PGA Tour in strokes gained putting within a year. It’s this kind of success story that keeps AimPoint’s loyalists fiercely defending the method, despite the growing chorus of critics concerned about its impact on the pace of play.
For those watching from the sidelines, it can look like a slow-motion dance around the hole, as Nantz hilariously pointed out. And given the pace-of-play problem plaguing the tour, it might actually be making it worse. But given that it has so many players vouching for it, one thing is for sure — AimPoint isn’t going away.
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