Check out Bubba’s latest video diary entry for a behind the scenes look at the PGA Playoffs 2010.
Watson serves as host and camera operator as he provides his own personal video diary throughout the Playoffs. Family members, friends and fellow competitors will be featured with Watson, for whom nothing is out of bounds.
“It’s one of the unique ways ‘Inside’ is able to document the PGA TOUR Playoffs, providing a fresh perspective of life outside the ropes through the eyes of Bubba Watson,” said Michael Riceman, coordinating producer of the Emmy-nominated flagship program of PGA TOUR Entertainment.
For the fourth consecutive year, “Inside the PGA TOUR” will provide comprehensive coverage from the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup, offering viewers an all-access pass to the game’s elite golfers from The Barclays, Deutsche Bank Championship, BMW Championship and THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola.
This year, 2010 Travelers Champion Bubba Watson <http://www.pgatour.com/players/02/58/04/> will serve as a special correspondent for “Inside The PGA TOUR,” while still pursuing the FedExCup. Watson will serve as host and camera operator as he provides his own personal video diary throughout the Playoffs. Family members, friends and fellow competitors will be featured with Watson, for whom nothing is out of bounds.
“It’s one of the unique ways ‘Inside’ is able to document the PGA TOUR Playoffs, providing a fresh perspective of life outside the ropes through the eyes of Bubba Watson,” said Michael Riceman, coordinating producer of the Emmy-nominated flagship program of PGA TOUR Entertainment. “Bubba’s excitement for this project and his engaging personality make him a natural player to showcase.”
“Inside The PGA TOUR” airs six times weekly on Golf Channel, premiering Tuesdays at 7:30 p.m. ET. Extended video diary entries will also be posted to PGATOUR.COM each week, beginning with the submission above in which Watson prepares for the start of the Playoffs.
Bubba Watson cheerfully hammered the ball all week and didn't worry about the ramifications. (Getty Images) Bubba is seen here wearing TM Polo style Bentley.
It was all or nothing.
Bubba Watson’s gamble on the third playoff hole didn’t work out the way he wanted, but the big lefty had no regrets. He was playing to win and, he said, his aggressiveness had propelled himself into the playoff in the first place.
KOHLER, Wis. — In gambling terminology, Bubba Watson didn’t come all this way to break even.
That’s why the left-hander from Bagdad, Fla., went for the kill shot on the third playoff hole at the PGA Championship. Watson’s approach shot to the 18th hole came out heavy and landed in the water in front of the green, essentially killing his chances to win at Whistling Straits. But when the bell had sounded and Martin Kaymer was holding the Wanamaker Trophy, Watson had no second thoughts.
“Before you ask, if I had it to do over again, I would hit it every day,” Watson said. “I play to win a golf tournament. I don’t play to lay up and hopefully make a par and tie or win. I went for the win and I’d do it over again, just like I did earlier in the day.”
Watson and Kaymer were tied going into the third hole of the aggregate playoff, Whistling Straits’ difficult 500-yard 18th hole. Watson had birdied the first extra hole and Kaymer evened the match with a birdie on the second. Both hit their tee shots in the rough at No. 18, but Watson had to play first. He had 206 yards to the front of the green and pulled a 6-iron.
“I was hoping to catch a flyer with a 6-iron,” he said. “I hit it as good as I could, just came out dead. Went into the water. I hit a good shot. It just didn’t come out like I wanted it to and, then, I still had a chance to make bogey.”
After taking his drop, Watson knocked his approach shot into a greenside bunker. Despite a tough lie, Watson nearly beat the odds by holing his sand shot. The ball hit the flagstick and rolled a couple feet away.
“If it would have went in, we’d still be out there playing,” Watson said.
Watson used his length to overpower the course at times. For the week he was 9 under on the lengthy par 5s. He kept hammering the ball and not worrying about the ramifications.
“I just tried not to throw up on myself. I get nervous,” he said. “The game is fun, but I want to win every week. I’m like Tiger; I come to a golf tournament to win. I just don’t win as much as he does.”
While Watson was disappointed to lose, he was ecstatic about making the U.S. Ryder Cup team for the first time. He moved up the standings from 18th to third place, which gave him one of eight automatic spots awarded Sunday night. He is one of four Ryder Cup rookies who will compete against the European team in Wales in October.
Neither the champion nor the chump, Watson instead turned out to be the charmer of these festivities. This fact was evident even if you didn’t tune into the tournament until after his wayward second shot on the final playoff hole found a water hazard, ultimately eliminating him from title contention.
Whereas most players would be heartbroken after such a loss, Watson was hopeful. Flanked by a radio announcer and bouncing with anxiety, the first words he said upon losing the playoff were, “Do we know anything about Ryder Cup? That’s all I care about.”
Believe it, too. Bubba is a guy who speaks his mind and wears his emotions like a badge of courage. So when he was told that yes, he did qualify for the United States team — well, his smile turned so unending you could have mistaken him for the guy who won.
In fact, later in the interview room, one reporter began a question with “I’m sure you’re feeling a mix of emotions, but …” only to have Watson cut him off. “No,” the player maintained. “I’m happy as can be.”
Bubba Watson didn’t win Sunday, but that underscores his newfound role as a fan favorite and ultra-talented up-and-comer. This will go down in history as the PGA Championship that Kaymer won and Johnson lost, but chances are we won’t forget Watson’s sincerity and playfulness for a very long time.
An emotional Bubba Watson opens up about his father’s fight against cancer after grabbing the lead in the first round of the 2010 PGA Championship.
Check out this video interview from the Golf Channels’s ‘Inside the PGA Tour’ featuring TM Player Bubba Watson (wearing TM throughout). The video is a behind-the-scenes look at his game, his life in North Carolina, his charity work and his appearance on the Ellen DeGeneres Show. You can noticeably see him wearing various TM apparel throughout. Great interview… Way to go Bubba!
TM Ambassador Peter Tomasulo is featured in the Caifornia GOLF Magazine article wearing TM Polos Thrasher, B-Rip and Stitch, TM pant Chucks in Grey and Basic Instinct pant in white, and the ever popular TM ICON belt. Looking good Petey!
You don’t get many second chances in life, and that especially holds true for professional golf. However, for Long Beach native and Cal Bear alumnus Peter Tomasulo that may not be the case. After all, he’s about to get another shot at the PGA Tour.
Now back on the Nationwide Tour, Tomasulo is currently eighth on their 2010 money list and certainly on his way back to the PGA Tour.
Peter is featured here wearing TM Polo style Stitch, TM Basic Instinct Pant, and the TM ICON GOLD belt.
Watch this video excerpt of Jamie Sadlowski, the Travis Mathew sponsored Long Drive Hitter, demonstrating his long drive tip on the popular Golf Channel show ‘The Big Break Sandals Resort’. Sadlowski offers up a tip to improve performance in your drive. You’ll see him wearing TM polo style B-Staple, and TM ICON belt in white. Looking sharp Jamie!
Check out this video of highlights from Peter Tomasulo’s win at the Ford Wayne Gretzky Classic on Sunday. You’ll also notice that Peter, a Travis Mathew supporter, is wearing the TM polo style Tilt in this video. Congratulations Peter on your win!
Jul. 11, 2010
By Joe Chemycz, PGA TOUR Staff
Clarksburg, Ontario, Canada – Peter Tomasulo fired a 10-under-par 61 Sunday to come from eight shots behind and win the Ford Wayne Gretzky Classic by one. The 28-year old Californian rallied on the final day, racing by the leaders to finish with a 24-under par total at the Georgian Bay Club, a shot ahead of Vermont rookie Keegan Bradley.
Bradley birdied the final hole for a 6-under 65 and solo second. Kevin Chappell, who had a five-stroke lead after three days, managed only an even-par 70 to wind up at 22-under and in third place.
“To be honest, I thought he (Chappell) was uncatchable because of the way he played the first three rounds,” said Tomasulo, who won for the second time in his career, both coming in Canada. “I thought we might be able to get something going and think about second place. I wasn’t expecting to shoot 10-under.”
Bradley, who started the day in second and five back of Chappell told the media Saturday that somebody could shoot 61 on Sunday, considering he’d done it on Friday and Chappell had done it in Thursday’s opener.
“I felt like I played great all week and I was close to a really good round,” said Tomasulo, who also shot a second-round 61 in his first win, the 2005 Alberta Classic. “I just tried to stay patient. All of a sudden I started making putts and hitting it close today. I just got on a roll early and kept it going.”
CROMWELL, Conn. (AP)
Bubba Watson really wanted to play well at the Travelers Championship to impress U.S. Ryder Cup captain Corey Pavin.
He did.
Watson overcame a six-stroke deficit Sunday to force a playoff with Pavin and Scott Verplank, then beat Verplank with a par on the second playoff hole.
Watson, the long-hitting left-hander from the Florida Panhandle, closed with a 4-under 66 to match Verplank (64) and Pavin (66) at 14 under. Pavin dropped out on the first extra hole.
After making a 3-footer on the par-3 16th to win, Watson hugged wife Angie and began crying. He said he was so nervous, he could not feel his arms on the final putt.
“I’m a very emotional guy,” he said. “I cry all the time. When I go to church on Sunday, I cry at church. I couldn’t get the ‘Yes’ out of ‘I do’ at my wedding. The pastor said, ‘You got to say it. You can’t just nod. You can’t nod.’
“Everybody has issues. My family had some issues. My dad is battling cancer. My wife last year thought she had a tumor in her brain. We got lucky with that one, and now, we’re battling with my dad. It’s emotional.”
It was largest comeback on the tour since Padraig Harrington also came from six back to win the 2007 British Open.
(Read more at http://www.golf.com/golf/tours_news/article/0,28136,2000027,00.html)
Jun. 27, 2010
MORE TRANSCRIPTS: Travelers Championship transcript archive
DOUG MILNE: Okay. We’d like to welcome the winner of the 2010 Travelers Championship, Bubba Watson. I know that’s gotta sound good. It was quite a week. I’m sure starting off today you didn’t imagine that you would be sitting in this chair right here. But you did. Went a little bit of extra holes. You got the job done. You picked up five FedExCup points moving you to eighth in the ranking. So just some comments on the day overall and then we’ll take a few questions.
BUBBA WATSON: You know, at the beginning of the day I was six back, shooting 4-under. I think I shot 4-under. I shot 4-under. There’s no way that wins. You know, to be realistic, we don’t think that’s going to have a chance to win. If somebody would have told me that at the beginning of the day if I shot 4-under, I would’ve thought I would come in Top 5 or something.
For me getting in the playoff after shooting 4-under was just unreal and then to actually somehow make that par putt to win was unreal.
But today was a good day. I wasn’t nervous the front nine or the Back 9 till the last few holes because I thought that a few under wasn’t going to have a chance to win, but somehow I scraped it around, and 4-under did have a chance to win and ended up winning.
For us three guys to be in the playoff, I mean we weren’t one or two starting the day, so for us three guys to be in the playoffs was weird. There was no way to expect that. There was no way you could write it like that.
DOUG MILNE: Okay. We’ll go ahead and open it up for some questions.
Q. Bubba, can you talk about 17 and what happened there and how you were able to recover?
BUBBA WATSON: You know, it’s a bunker shot. We joked about it walking down 18 after I did it is that they tell you in a bunker, everybody tells you in a bunker you gotta hit ball first. Don’t hit sand first. I hit the top of the ball, hit ball first, but it didn’t work out.
You know, it’s just one of those things, you know. I guess you can’t say I choked because I came back and birdied the next hole and now I’m the champion. But you know, I was nervous. I tried to hit a pitching wedge 157 out of a fairway bunker over water to win a golf tournament. And I didn’t do it. I hit it about 73 yards or something, came up short. But.
You know what, what I was thinking was let’s drop the ball, let’s make a bogey, we could still birdie and win. Then it came up short.
I didn’t get mad. One thing I didn’t do, I didn’t get mad at that time. I just remember thinking to myself, and my caddie said, too, we chip this in, we make bogey. It was a terrible lie with chip and came out, went to about a foot and I was like double. Now we’re 13, we’re one back. Let’s birdie the last.
So you know what, I never once put my shoulders down and pouted after that shot, but somehow I just kept going.
Q. Talk about the drive there. I think that went 396.
BUBBA WATSON: Boy, that cart path helped out a lot. You know, I hit it really well. It was more downwind in the playoff. Matt Jones, he hit it past the cart path. We saw it going past the cart path from the tee. Then I hit a good one. We thought it was going to be a short iron, 100 yards or so just give or take, and then Matt saw it hit the cart path. I didn’t even look. I picked my tee up and started walking, just put my head down trying to grind out another birdie, and Matt said it hit the cart path and bounced straight up in the air. So we knew it had to be pretty far down there. So I was just inside 50 yards, and I was like, my best chance for birdie on this hole is right now. Somehow I walked away with a birdie.
Q. Bubba, talk about how nervous you were when you thought you had a chance to win.
BUBBA WATSON: I was nervous.
Q. Compare that to this.
BUBBA WATSON: I was just as nervous. It was a bunker shot on 17. If I make par there and then hit that drive, I can walk away without having to play extra holes.
You get nervous. You want to do something so good, you want to win, you got — people have different reasons why they want to win. You know, I wanted to impress Corey Pavin so I could make the Ryder Cup, but that’s a whole different story. Corey, if you’re listening –
But you know, I was nervous, just like Bob Hope, you know; Tampa I was nervous. I shot, what, 4-under at Tampa, came in third, just gotta play a little bit better. But I played good on Sunday on a tough golf course. So the nerves are there. It just happened — even with my mistakes I stayed there and my caddie kept chirping in my ear, you’re still in this, you’re still in this. So my nerves were there. Just like I said earlier, that putt that I made for par to win, I don’t remember taking that putter back. I just remember that one arm went one way and the other arm went the other way and somehow it went straight in the hole.
Q. You called your shot in the playoff the shot of a lifetime. If so, how hard was it to regroup if it’s not a win?
BUBBA WATSON: First of all, my caddie, and me — you hear a lot of people talk about it, you always gotta expect the unexpected.
So when I was over there, I was already thinking what we’re going to do on 16 while he was putting. I was thinking about what club we’re going to hit, which way the wind is going, the pin’s tucked.
I was just thinking everything on the next hole because I knew I was going to make my putt, hopefully. I was an inch away. All I thought about was what we’re going to do on the next hole. I never thought about if he misses, I win right here. I just thought about what I was going to do on the next hole. So I didn’t really think about what he did.
Q. Bubba, can you talk about your emotions? It was very visible out there after you made that putt on 16.
BUBBA WATSON: I’m a very emotional guy. I cry all the time. When I go to church on Sundays, I’m crying at church. I couldn’t get the “yes” or the “I do” out on my wedding day. And the pastor said, you gotta say it. You can’t just nod.
So you know, and just all the — everybody has issues, but you know, our family had some issues, and my dad’s battling cancer; and my wife, we had a scare, we thought she had a tumor in her brain. We got lucky with that one, and now we’re battling with my dad. So it’s emotional.
You know, my dad taught me everything I know. It’s not very much, but that’s all I know. He would agree with that.
You know, I’ve never had a lesson. My dad, he took me to the golf course when I was six years old and just told me he was going to be in the woods looking for his ball, so he just told me to take this 9-iron and beat it down the fairway. And now look at me after beating a 9-iron on the fairway coming from Bagdad, Florida, I never dreamed this.
Q. When you finished second at the events you have, did you ever have any doubts that you would one day be sitting in the trophy room or did you really believe it would happen?
BUBBA WATSON: Truthfully, I never doubt myself. I think I have the ability, maybe just not a strong enough mind, to keep me going, because I’m emotional.
But you know, like I say all the time, I’m not worried about winning. I’m a Christian first, you know, and golf just happens to be how I can support my family. The game’s given me a lot, lets me support my mom and dad, lets me support the junior tournaments that I put on that I have next week I gotta go down to and do another speech.
But you know, it’s something I get to do for a living, but I don’t ever question why I don’t win. I don’t ever question — I don’t ever envy anybody else.
You know, I did a couple years ago, and it was wrong for me to do that, and you know, I just lucked up and won today. You know, I was just blessed that I won today. So no, I don’t ever think I deserve a win. You never deserve anything. If it’s in the will, it’s in the will.
Q. You mentioned a couple years ago you might have envied somebody. Is there something that changed your outlook or something you can point to?
BUBBA WATSON: Just being a better Christian. You know, going the wrong path. When you want to live your life one way and not doing what — you say one thing, but you don’t do it.
And thinking that — thinking that I was good enough to win. And if it’s not in the books, it’s not in the books. You know, I could go in second place for the rest of my life and never win, but that’s not a reason for me to pout. Sometimes the media puts pressure on you — I don’t know if y’all know that.
But you know, that’s the way I — and that’s my problem. When I first got out here, my problem was why can’t I win, why can’t I do this. My caddie stayed with me for four years even though I kept being mad and pissy on the golf course.
Q. You gave us some shots to remember out there today obviously, but I’m just kind of curious, he’s already missed his putt and he’s bogeyed, how long does three feet look at that point?
BUBBA WATSON: I couldn’t take a breath. The reason — we’ve already figured out what we’re going to do. We’re going to hit it dead straight up the hill, doesn’t break. And then he missed it, and I was like, now what do I do? Are we still at the break? What do I do? My head’s just going a thousand miles an hour.
When I bent down to get behind it to act like I was lining it up, I was trying to breathe. And the sad thing is is my trainer, Fish, Andrew Fisher, who travels with me everywhere I go, when we’re working out, he says, you gotta breathe. You have to breathe. Breathing is part of it. This is going to help you in golf. You’re going to be stronger, you’re going to be this. And all I could think about was, man, how does he tell me to breathe? How am I supposed to be breathing right now? And my heart was pounding.
And again, all I remember is I’m supposed to rock this way and rock that way and the putt hopefully goes in. And it went in. That’s the dead-honest truth. I couldn’t feel my arms, I was so nervous.
Q. Did it surprise you the different players in this playoff, the big hitters, different forms, styles, big hitter yourself?
BUBBA WATSON: You know what, it’s funny that starting the day there’s no way you thought us three — a guy who teed off an hour before me, us three being in the playoffs, you know.
But if you look at Corey, me and Corey are just alike, except he’s won 15 times and he’s Ryder Cup captain. But we’re just alike. He shapes the ball more than anybody, and I shape the ball more than anybody, just I’m younger, so I hit it a little bit farther than he does. That’s it. Love you, Corey.
No, it’s just — and Verplank is more just a steady, putts it really well, gonna get up-and-down, just going to be steady, right down the middle, just going to hit the greens, gonna hit the fairways. And Corey likes to shape the ball. That’s how I like to do it. We just do it at different club head speeds, I guess.
So yeah, it was three different players, but all great players and then me.
Q. Have you heard from your cohorts from home yet?
BUBBA WATSON: I’m not allowed to look at my phone right now since we’re in a meeting, or not a meeting, official business right now.
My phone has been going off right now as we speak, and I want to check it so bad, but I can’t.
Q. (Indiscernible)?
BUBBA WATSON: If I had to say, I’d say yes.
DOUG MILNE: Last thing.
BUBBA WATSON: People I don’t even know are calling me right now. IRS. (Laughs).
DOUG MILNE: If you would just run us through your birdies real quick and give us some clubs and yards.
BUBBA WATSON: Which hole are we at? First hole of the day?
DOUG MILNE: Yeah.
BUBBA WATSON: I birdied 3. I hit driver. I hit lob wedge, we had 99 yards, I think, 99 yards and I hit it to about a foot, made that putt.
I birdied 6 — oh, 6, a slice driver, had to chip out of the tall hay, so I had 208 hole. Hit 7-iron to eight feet and made the putt.
And then 11, I made a bogey. I was so mad about that hole. I hit 52-degree, pin high, about 40 feet, 30 feet, three-putted, hit a good putt, missed it, like a 5-footer.
I birdied 12 and 13 every day of the tournament. So 12, I was kind of keeping it on top of the hill, so I hit this big slice, started at the houses and sliced it back to the center of the fairway. Had a pitching wedge in there from 131 playing 128 or something. So I hit a little pitching wedge in there to about 10 feet and made it up the hill.
13, I hit driver, aimed it over the water, sliced it back to the bunkers. It’s kind of weird, but that’s what I do. Then I hit 4-iron out of the first cut there, just to the back bunker, hit the good bunker shot, and it lipped out to about a foot, made it for birdie.
What’s 15? 15, the short hole. I hit 4-wood just off the side of the green. Me and my caddie call it my famous chip shot. So I hit this little bump-and-run with a 63-degree into the hill to about eight feet and made it. Then hit 9-iron on the par-3 to about 12 feet past, made that one, a little breaker there.
Then my famous 17, I hit 3-iron off the tee into the bunker, hit a top of the wedge into the water, dropped it, hit lob wedge and spun it off the green, chipped the lob wedge about a foot, made it for six.
Then 18, my favorite cart path, I hit it down there about 50 yards short of the hole, chipped it to about six feet, seven feet and then made it force a playoff.
Q. What did you hit in the playoff?
BUBBA WATSON: Driver, and then I had 125, and I hit 56-degree about an inch.
16, we changed everything we was going to do after he hit his shot, pulled it a little bit. But I hit 9-iron. I just chipped the 9-iron. Trying to hit it in the fat of the green and hopefully par wins it.
Q. Are you playing the CVS?
BUBBA WATSON: Yes. I’m there tonight sometime.
Q. Who are you paired with?
BUBBA WATSON: My partner? Camilo Villegas, because we’re defending champions. We won two years ago, and then the U.S. Open rained out, so we had to finish on Monday. So there’s two defending champions this year.
DOUG MILNE: All right. Bubba, congratulations.
BUBBA WATSON: Thank you very much. Thanks, guys.
1. You Probably Need More Loft
My wife, Angie, is a good athlete who played pro basketball with the WNBA’s Charlotte Sting. When she started playing golf seriously, six years ago, she used a driver with 9 degrees of loft and could carry the ball about 170 yards. Just before she played in the Bob Hope Classic pro-am earlier this year (a fifth-anniversary gift from me), she switched to a driver with 13 degrees. She instantly increased her carry distance to 215 yards with the same amount of roll she had before. Angie isn’t much different from most male amateurs in that the quickest shortcut to more distance is getting a driver with more loft. And don’t stop there; get a light, properly fitted shaft, too. You should use every bit of technology available before taking the leap of overhauling your swing. A custom-fit driver can easily give you 20 yards overnight; changing your swing can take months, or longer.
2. Utilize Your Best Physical Trait
Long hitters are long for different reasons. J.B. Holmes has a thick, strong, corn-fed kind of build. He’s very powerful from the elbows down, with strong, fast hands. Dustin Johnson is sort of skinny, with tremendous speed in his hips and torso. Me, I’m tall with a wide arc and long swing. People have different physical assets. It might be strong thighs, broad shoulders, a strong core, whatever. Find your strong point physically, and take advantage of it. And be careful that an instructor doesn’t try to build your swing around a part of you that isn’t your strongest point.
3. Try A Shorter Shaft
Twice I’ve been offered a spot in the Re/Max World Long Drive Championship, and both times I turned it down. It was nice to be invited, but I thought altering my swing specifically to get more distance for that one event might wreck my game. But I did toy with the idea, and even had Ping build me a driver with 5.5 degrees of loft and an extra-long, 48-inch shaft. The longer shaft, which many people assume is an automatic trick to generating more clubhead speed, didn’t work at all. It threw my timing off, and I didn’t hit the ball much farther even when I nailed it. I did much better with my standard 44½-inch driver, simply swinging a little harder.
Trying a longer shaft is a popular suggestion these days, but most players should, if anything, try a shaft half an inch shorter than what’s in their driver. (The average, off-the-rack driver shaft today is 45½ inches.) Tiger Woods at his longest used a relatively short 43½-inch driver, with a steel shaft to boot. You’ll find it easier to hit the sweet spot with a shorter shaft, and you can go after tee shots without losing much control.
4. Learn To Hit A Draw
learn to draw the ball If you slice, you’re not paying as high a price as players used to with the older equipment. That’s because modern drivers don’t spin the ball as much, and the ball doesn’t spin as much, either. But the lesser penalty for a slice has lulled a lot of amateurs to sleep. The best way to really boom the ball out there is to swing from the inside and turn it over. You’ll compress the ball more, and the shot will bore through the wind better. And if you find the right driver, you’ll carry the ball farther with a draw than you would with a fade — another result of modern equipment.
5. Accept Days When You Don’t Have It
I started the last day of Bay Hill in 2008 in a five-way tie for the lead. For the first 10 holes, I hooked almost every shot, even when I consciously tried to hit a big fade. I was hitting the ball so far off line it cost me not only accuracy but distance. I fought that darned hook the entire time, and after a while it was too late to recover. I finished tied for eighth. If I had it to do over, I would’ve just accepted my natural ball flight that day instead of wrestling with it. There are times when you’ll wake up with a certain ball flight, or you just don’t feel as strong or flexible as you normally do. Roll with it. That’s what separates great players from the rest of the field.
6. Tee Off Like You Just Made Bogey
We all get a little angry at times after making a dumb bogey or double. How many times when that happens do we just get up on the next hole and rip it down the middle? A lot. The reason is, you’re so distracted by being mad that you don’t strategize too much or get balled up with swing mechanics. Try to hit every tee shot that way. Use emotion more than thought. It’s amazing how your body will respond to plain old desire.
7. If You’re Small, Hit More Balls
There are ways for smaller or older golfers to condition themselves to get more power, even if they don’t spend time in the gym. For many, the best training ground is the practice range, the old rock pile. So wear it out. Ben Hogan once said that beating hundreds of balls made him incredibly strong and improved his swing along the way. Get “golf strong” by hitting a lot of balls. Your hands and arms will become more wiry and your body more toned.
8. Flare Out Your Front Foot
I’ve played a lot of practice rounds with Tiger (who I tease for being a short hitter, by the way). When Tiger wants to really pound a drive, he fans his left foot out at about a 45-degree angle. That almost forces him to clear his hips and lower body faster through the swing, his belly button facing left of the target at the finish. It allows him to generate tremendous power. I’ve copied that move from Tiger, and it works. Just be careful not to flare the foot out too far, or you’ll limit your backswing turn. Get it right, and you’ll hear the difference — you’ll make a louder swish when you swing the club through impact.
9. Beware: Rust Forms Fast
If I go three days without playing, I know I’m not going to show up with my usual 126 miles per hour of clubhead speed. Rust kills distance, and it doesn’t take long to form. Going a week without playing is the story of the amateur golfer’s life, so learn to live with it, and lower your expectations a little. You can fend off the rust by making 30 or 40 full-speed practice swings on days you can’t make it to the course.
10. Tee Off Like You Just Made Bogey
I’ve heard guys talk about making a big shoulder turn on the backswing but a modest hip turn. I say that’s bogus. The farther I turn my hips, the farther I can turn my shoulders, and the farther I can hit the ball. Don’t restrict your backswing in any way. Turn everything, so you have as much windup as you possibly can. Extra motion means a longer swing, more clubhead speed and big distance.
