These Guys Are Good - Part Two

Although possibly not as impressive as their long games, the short games of tour pros are every bit as good.

When it come to putting, three putts are incredibly rare. The reasons for this are good distance control and solid short putting. These guys hardly ever miss from inside three feet so a two putt is pretty much guaranteed if the first putt is within that range. The importance of distance control is obvious when given some thought. It is far easier to hit a putt four feet too far than it is to misread a putt by four feet. When on the practice green before the round most players tried to stay to the flatter parts of the green. I believe that this is to help them get a better sense of the speed of the greens. The short putts are generally hit firmly and the players look confident over these putts. Rolling short putts in with some pace is advantageous because it reduces the amount of break the player needs to allow for. It also has few downsides because in the worst case scenario where the putt is missed, the return putt is still only around two feet.

While difficult to observe without following a group, course management is also worth a mention. The twelfth hole on the Marquess' course at Woburn is a classic risk and reward short par four. It is drive-able for many players but water short and on the right means many golfers elected to play the lay up with a shorter club. Watching on the Friday, I noticed that the majority of the players taking a shot a driving the green needed to make some birdies to make the cut. This shows just how many golfers felt it was not worth the risk, particularly with their fantastic wedge games. Of those who elected to lay there were many different distances of shots left to the green. Very few left themselves under sixty yards to the green while some left more than one hundred yards to the pin. This comes down to what shot they are most comfortable playing where as most amateurs would be tempted to get as close to the green as possible.

Kiradech Aphibarnrat taught me the lesson of taking your medicine. On the par three seventeenth he was left with a chip shot that was almost impossible to stop near the hole. I feel that in this situation many amateurs would get too greedy and leave the shot in the rough just in front of them trying to get as close as possible. Aphibarnrat on the other hand made sure of getting onto the green. While his shot ran some thirty feet past the hole he almost eliminated the chance of making a five by leaving the ball in the rough. This demonstrates how confidence in putting can affect your decision making around the green because without the belief he would two putt he may have tried the more risky shot.

While this is the last post exclusively about my trip to the British Masters I learnt so much from the experience I am sure I will refer to it many more times. Finally, I will leave a link to the results of the tournament where you can also view the stats for the week.

British Masters Leaderboard

These Guys Are Good - Part One

Last week marked the return of the British Masters to the European Tour, and as this it is the nearest event to where I live I decided to make the trip to spectate at Woburn. The first thing most people notice is the length of tour courses, with the Marquess' course at Woburn playing at around 7200 yards. However the length of the Marquess' course is not the only challenge, it is tree-lined putting a premium on driving accuracy and the greens are undulating. This makes it a test of all components of a player's game.

The main lesson I learnt from watching some of the best players in the world was just how accurate these players are. The winner of the tournament, Matthew Fitzpatrick, hit 80.4% of fairways throughout the week, the equivalent of just over 11 per round. I was even more impressed with the players' accuracy with the irons as I watched them fire right at pins I for now can only imagine going straight at.

Something I have never been able to pick up on television is the shot shaping of tour players. We are so used to hearing that certain players prefer hitting a draw or a fade but I had not realised what this meant in reality. When a five handicap player says they hit a fade, they normally mean about 20 yards of movement in the air, whereas when a tour player says they hit a fade they mean 5 or 10 yards of movement. This gives them far more choices in terms of shot selection. For me the dogleg left second at Woburn looked like it had to be a draw off the tee. The reason for this is I while I can hit a draw or a fade, I struggle to control the amount of draw or fade and I would be worried about losing the ball too far right with a fade. However some touring professionals who are more comfortable working the left to right still hit a fade on this hole because they are only moving it a relatively small amount from left to right.

While watching on the practice range I saw first hand the many different techniques and ball flights from tour players. Peter Hanson could be seen hitting the ball long and straight, while Johan Edfors was working a high draw. Miguel Angle Jimenez has a much flatter swing than others and Luke Donald looks far more controlled in his tempo. The common factor with all the players is they have consistent swings in which they trust. They are all comfortable with their swings are trust that they work for them. From the point of a consistent swing they can then use small changes in equipment to fine tune their performance. This is in contrast to most amateurs who are often trying to make swing changes and wishing their swing was different to how it currently is rather than trusting what they have.

These are some of my observations of the long game of the best players' around and I will continue tomorrow with some observations on their short game and course management.

British Masters Leaderboard