I "invented" belly putting about twelve yrs. ago when I was injured and couldn't do full swings, so I turned my attention to putting. I was really ticked off, and wanted to come up with something big.
I showed it to a pro in Arizona, and sometime later, I was watching it on TV.
The truth is, it's likely quite a few people have "invented" this method independently over the years. I have heard a fellow in New Zealand applied for a "belly putting" patent about 40 yrs. ago.
Anyway, in the early 90's, I had special belly putters made up and you should have seen the look on peoples's faces when I first tried it out on the putting greens. I knew it was good.
I wrote a 150 pg. book on putting (unpublished) on another method of putting. But that's another story.
David Alford