Dan Bradbury has responded to accusations he grounded his putter during his one-stroke victory at the French Open last weekend. The 25-year-old edged out Thorbjorn Olesen, Yannik Paul, Sam Bairstow and Jeff Winther to claim a narrow victory, but it was not without controversy.

Bradbury brought a broomstick-shaped putter to Golf National and some viewers felt like he was anchoring it to his body. A player is deemed to anchor his putter if he intentionally holds it or his gripping hand against any part of the body other than a hand or forearm.

Players who anchor their putters are usually hit with a two-stroke penalty, but Bradbury was not punished. During an appearance on the Sky Sports Golf podcast, he passionately defended his putting style.

“The way I grip it, my thumb is at the top of the handle,” he explained. “You are not allowed (the putter) to touch your chest or any other part of your body. That would be considered grounding.

“Obviously as a bigger boy I have a lot of space up there, I wear baggy shirts. Touching your shirt is allowed. That’s totally fine. I have my own, say -it this way I can scan my body without touching my hand so there are at least that many (pointing to a gap).

“I know it, the rules officials know it. Everyone I’ve played with, everyone knows it. If you’re there in person you can see it, but some people want to sit at home and comment and that’s fine, but it’s within the rules.

“I’m 100 percent stigmatized. Okay. I had that stigma until I tried it and realized how much it helped me. It’s within the rules so if you have a problem , change the rule, right? It’s not my fault…well, please don’t change the rules!

Bradbury won £420,000 for winning the French Open, but he would have won far less if he had been found to have docked his putter. A two-stroke penalty would have seen him slip to sixth place and pocket just £80,000 for his troubles.

Speaking after his victory, the Wakefield man admitted he was surprised by his performance after approaching the event with modest expectations.

He told Sky Sports: “The goal this week was to make the cut so I don’t have to go to Korea and try to keep my card, to be honest with you.”