I had the fortunate opportunity to work with one of my friends and clients at the 2007 PGA Championship at Southern Hills in Tulsa this year. While there and working with him on the practice grounds and in practice rounds, I was able to observe the greatest players in the world in practice and play. And what a place to do it as the PGA Championship again had the strongest field of the year with over 90% of the world's top ranked players participating.
First, the practice pitching area and putting green were the busiest places. These great players were working on chips, pitches and putts to the sloping fast greens. They would use tried and true methods as well as test different ways to control the ball out of the deep Bermuda rough and deep greenside bunkers. The practice area around the pitching green had fairway and rough available for practice. Each player I saw hit a few shots from the fairway cut and two to three times more shots from the rough. The putting green was dominated by players focusing on their strokes for consistent impact and distance control. Rarely did I see putting practice on 3-4 footers but more on 15- 30 footers with the focus being on controlling their distance.
Second, on the practice tee, the focus of these great players was their set up. Many were focused on their lower bodies, sensing and creating stability in their base. That stability allowed for consistent contact, controlled ball flight and great balance throughout their swings. There was very little focus on the backswing and a lot of focus on the follow through and their targets and trajectory. Additionally, the focus was on their iron play. The most drivers I saw any one player hit on the practice tee was approximately 15. The Tour player works on his mechanics to better his strikes and ball flight with his irons and then tests it with his driver. If the irons are going well then he hits the driver to see if the same mechanical changes are truly working.
What then can we all learn from these observations? Do what the best of the best do.
Improve your iron play, the driver will follow. Once the driver is more in play and longer, your iron game will be ready to provide more birdie putts.
Spend more time on your short game. Practice more lag putts, especially the length you usually have on the greens. When your lag putting improves to where you are leaving yourself putts of 2 feet or less, then you won't have a need to practice all those six footers you've been practicing.
Learn to hit more shots around the green. Experiment with different clubs, lofts, techniques, ball flights, lies and slopes. The more you get comfortable in practice the easier it gets when you play.
Do what the best do. Phil Mickleson just won the second leg of the Fed-Ex Cup. He was 52 of 52 from 5 feet or less on the greens. No three putts. 23 putts in the final round. Of those 52 times he had it within 5 feet, the majority were from chips or pitches.
Do what the best do: 1) Practice and improve your putting, focusing on lag putting; 2) improve your chipping and putting by learning creative shots around the green; and 3) improve your iron play first and your driver will follow.
Do what the best do. Follow these three simple suggestions and lower scores are guaranteed. When the best need help, they all have a PGA Professional to turn to for feedback and help with their games.
You are the best in business and do what the best do. Do the same for your golf game. When you do, you will enjoy the game and your success that much more.
