Tough Day for Hunter Mahan

What a shame for Hunter Mahan today in the Ryder Cup. The immense pressure of the moment proved costly for the US squad as Hunter flubbed a chip shot on the 17th hole to open the door for Graeme McDowell to win the Cup for Europe. Tough shot under the circumstances, if you watch the replay you will see that his hands and arms took over on the downswing as he very nearly double hit the ball. Remember to keep the chest and body rotating through first on these shots so that the shaft stays ahead of the clubhead. We all have stuck the club in the ground on these shots and it is a shame for Hunter that this happened to him as well.

Great comeback by the United States to make it this close! Nice to see Woods and Mickelson play well today also.

Pre Round Warmup

How many times have you played a round of golf and found that you played much better on the back nine than you did on the front? Chances are, this is a reflection on the lack of a pre round practice routine. Now if you are rushing to get to the golf course from your office or from getting the kids to the bus stop, a pre round warm-up may not get to happen. This can lead to a poor first few holes with a rushed and quick tempo that can wreak havoc with your golf swing. At a minimum, try to do some stretching and deep breathing before tee-off so you can manage to relax and get off to a decent start.

Now I am not saying that you need to go through the whole bag like Tiger Woods does, but some basic techniques that only take a few minutes will result in much improved first nines for you. Ideally, a trip to the chipping green would be first, hitting a variety of straightforward chips and pitches which allows you to establish a good feel of ball to club contact. Next, go to the range and start with your shortest club. Hit some half and three-quarter shots. Go through the bag and gradually lengthen your swing ending up with a half dozen drivers. A good selection would be to hit the 60° wedge, pitching wedge, 8 iron, 6 iron, hybrid, then the driver.

After the range, go to the practice green and roll some putts. Try to concentrate on mid range putts to establish the speed of the greens. Don’t be overly concerned with the three footers before your round. If you do, and are missing them, it will leave a bad feeling in your mind before the round even begins. Get a feel for the speed of the greens so that your second putts are only tap ins.

Mickelson Wins the 2010 Masters

What a dramatic week at the Masters last week. Phil Mickelson held off all pursuers to grab his third green jacket, as Tiger Woods made his return to the golf course and basically ran out of steam on the weekend. A bit of a surprise for Phil considering his form so far this year. But I feel certain that having his family with him for that week really helped his mental attitude. As for Tiger, we can't be surprised that most likely, some mental exhaustion took place, especially on Sunday in the final round. I can't believe that we have seen as many poor swings from him in one round ever in his professional career. Never the less, it would have to be labeled a successful week all in all even without the victory.

The Masters has such a rich and storied history since its inception and CBS Sports does a wonderful job of reminding us of that fact every year. Here is this years opening montage which aired on Saturday.



Four years ago the opening montage featured Errie Ball, the sole survivor of the very first Masters held in 1934. It is truly remarkable and will give you chills at the memories.

Putting Clock Drill

Here is a great drill that you can use to really improve your putting. Everybody knows that practicing putting is boring. However, way too little attention is paid to this important facet of the game. Par is based on an allowance of two putts on each green for an expert golfer. That equals exactly half of a score of 72! This means that putting is a lot more important than many of us realize.

If you watch much televised golf, you might have noticed that Phil Mickelson has a somewhat unusual preshot routine on the greens. As he sets up to make a practice stroke, he is usually not set up square to the hole but is rather to an angle to the side of the ball. This is nothing more than his re-creation of a very common and useful practice technique known as the “clock drill”. Take six golf balls and place them in a circle approximately three feet from the hole.

The objective of this drill is simple-Hole all six putts in a row.

Now that may sound easy, and it may be easy, but once you can make all six balls in a row the next step is to move back to four feet from the hole. As you get progressively farther from the cup, the task becomes a lot more difficult. The terrific key to this drill is that each of the six putts is an entirely different line and speed. This is one of the best ways for us to start to feel these vital aspects of good putting.

Goal setting is an extremely important element in developing good practice techniques. This drill gives you a goal-to make all six putts in a row before moving back from the cup. If you use this drill properly, your putting will improve dramatically and your scores will get better as well.

Putting Drills for Spring

One of the first parts of the game that gets rusty over the winter is putting. It is imperative to start the spring out with some practice on the greens and the best way to do this is to use drills. Putting drills are designed to help the player work on either the stroke itself or on distance and direction. If you consistently miss short putts, you probably need to work on your stroke. The first drill I will talk about is designed for just that purpose.

One of the best ways to practice putting is to make up “games” that you can play to make it more fun. Most people don’t practice their putting because it is boring. Your practice sessions should be as enjoyable as possible in order to reap the benefits they can produce.

Take five golf balls out to your practice green and find a hole location that is as level as possible. Then, try to determine the straightest line that you can and place a coin 3 feet from the cup. Putt each of the balls from the same spot where you placed the coin. The object is to hole all five golf balls in a row. A dead straight putt is perhaps the most difficult putt, because it requires the best possible stroke to hole out. Once you have made all five balls in a row, move the coin another foot farther away and repeat the drill. You will reach a distance where you will no longer be able to hole all five balls, but the objective is to get your stroke to the point where you can consistently start the golf ball on the same line every time.

Another great drill is one that deals with distance control. Many mid-length putts are missed not because the line is way off, but because the distance control was not good.
Place five golf balls on the putting surface 10-15 feet from any hole. Then got directly beyond the cup and place 5 or 6 tees (you can use coins or other objects as well) in the ground approximately 18 inches behind the hole. The objective of this drill is to putt all five balls and have the distance control such that each putt rolls past the cup without going beyond the barrier you have created. This may sound easy, but I believe you will find it to be a more difficult exercise than you think.

Ideally, on longer putts if the ball doesn’t go into the hole, we don’t want to leave ourselves with those 3-5 foot awkward second putts. Anytime that we can eliminate a three-putt green, it is going to help our score. Most players would do themselves a favor if they would actually keep track of the number of putts per round of golf played. If you are using more than 33 putts per round, you need to get to work on your putting. Touring pros average anywhere from 27-29 putts per round. This should become a goal for you because putting is one part of the game where there is no reason that anyone can’t become as good as a touring pro. By using the above drills, you will improve both your putting stroke and your distance control on the greens.

Use Proper Alignment for Consistency

Proper Alignment

Here is a tip that involves proper body alignment for the full swing. If you have ever attended a PGA Tour event and had the opportunity to go to the range to watch the best players in the world practice, you would see a recurring theme. I am certain that most, if not all, would be hitting balls with some sort of alignment aid. Lining up is not an automatic thing; remember that many mistakes occur before the club is even swung.

Proper body alignment is essential to having a consistent shot pattern. Most of us have a tendency to either align too far to the right or left of the target. The truth is that the body should be aligned parallel to the ball to target line. This, depending on the length of the club involved, will align the body “parallel left” of the target.

Think of it in the following regard. Imagine a pair of railroad tracks. The far rail is a straight line from your golf ball to the target. The inner rail is the line on which you set up to swing. Your feet, knees, hips and shoulders should be parallel, and on line with the inner rail. The question is how can you consistently achieve this objective.

The number one answer is to start practicing with a shaft on the ground parallel to your target. In other words, get used to how it is supposed to look and feel. But if you are playing, the rules won’t allow you to do this. Therefore, answer number two is to develop a pre shot routine that will enable you to set up correctly. One way to do this is to follow the method established by none other than Jack Nicklaus. From behind the golf ball, look at the line from your golf ball to the target, picking out an intermediate target a foot or two in front of the ball. It is much easier to line up to an object that is close to you than one that could be two hundred yards away. When I say an intermediate target, this could be an old divot or irregularity in the turf. Then align yourself on that inner rail of those tracks I mentioned above.

With a little practice, this is a great way to get yourself aligned correctly. Check your alignment on the course from time to time by laying a shaft along your foot line after you have hit a shot. You may be surprised at where you were aimed!

It's The Masters

Well, it's going to be the Masters that will serve as Tiger Woods' return to professional golf. Some things I just don't get and this is one of them. First off, it is difficult to arrive at a major championship after a long layoff without having had any competitve rounds under your belt for months. Secondly, it would seem to be logical to go ahead and face the public at an earlier time, go ahead and answer all the inevitable questions and be done with it. It would take an hour or less of Mr. Woods' time to successfully defuse the press and quiet the discontent among the public in order to allow him to save some face and begin to repair his public image. Is he being stubborn? Likely yes. Is he being advised to act as he has over the past several months? Probably not. We shall see how this all plays out this summer, which may be a difficult one for Tiger. But once the birdies and eagles begin to fall, perhaps that will be all that matters once again. That, would be a good thing.

Tiger's Next Move

Love him or hate him, golf sure needs him. My personal feeling is that he should try to play at least one tour event before the Masters to acclimate himself to what could become a very different environment for him competitively. Last time he tried to make a comeback at the Masters after his father passed away, the results were less than riveting. The Tavistock Cup at Isleworth would provide Tiger with a terrific opportunity to compete in a "friendly" competition with other tour players, then he could follow that up with the Bay Hill Invitational at Arnie's place. These two events would give Tiger a decent warm up leading into the first major of the year. If you love this game as much as I do, you better be rooting for him to be successful. Golf needs its superstars more than any other sport and it has always provided us with them. From Bobby Jones to Byron Nelson to Ben Hogan to Arnold Palmer to Jack Nicklaus, Tom Watson, and Tiger himself. They are good for the game and we will always need them.