Having a student make the United States Open Championship and being asked to caddy in the championship have been one of the biggest honors I have experienced as a golf coach. As we await our 2:20pm tee time today (Thursday), I am reflecting on the previous three days of practice rounds and all the learning we had and then how it can help improve our games, the everyday golfers.
#1: Preparation and practice habits. Watching the best players in the world practice and prepare for the championship has been nothing short of amazing. Every single one of them is practicing and preparing with a PURPOSE. Each and every shot is designed to learn something, create a certain feeling, learn what a certain lie or slope might do, how the speed of the greens may affect break or distance control, or working on basic items such as alignment, tempo or routine.
What we can learn from this: Even though we certainly do not have the time to practice as much as these players do, we can make the practice count. Are we using drills and games to practice and prepare our games? I noticed so many players do basic things but do them diligently. Do you use an alignment rod during full swing work? Do you do basic putting drills like distance control work, 3-to-5-foot putt challenges or map out learning to putt holes with break to them? When working around the green for chipping, are you tossing balls all around in different conditions and letting the lie be what it is or do you stay static and only hit from the same spot mostly? Varying your practice, doing drills and games along with constant maintenance checks for set-up and alignment can have massive positive impact on your game.
#2: What are we doing between shots? We ran into Sacramento’s own John Wood on the driving range and had a great conversation with him. John was a long-time caddy on the PGA Tour and now is both a Golf Channel and NBC TV analyst. As we discussed Oakmont and the difficulty of it, he said to me, “This is going to be a long, hard test of golf with frustration and tough breaks throughout, make sure in between holes you talk about stuff other than what is happening with the golf”.
What we can learn from this: Staying too focused on golf or what is happening with your round, swing, etc. in between shots can be detrimental to your performance. Take the time to escape and take a mental break, enjoy your playing companions, the beauty of the course, or anything that takes you away from the golf. Staying engaged the entire time can wear you out, reduce energy, create frustration, and frankly, reduce fun and performance. Learn to check out, then check back in as you walk up to your next golf shot. This can be learned during practice sessions as well. Work on your routine, hit a shot, take a couple-second break with some other focus, then check back in and get back into your routine to hit another shot.
#3: Hitting shots out of the rough when the ball is sitting down. As I am sure all of you have heard by now, the rough at Oakmont is well, beyond thick and brutal. We have spent a ton of time working on this so far and what is the best course of action to be consistent with these shots. We were lucky enough to play a practice round with current USA Ryder Cup Captain, Keegan Bradley, and we noticed how fluid it looked for him hitting these shots, so I asked him about what he is doing. He gave me great advice and mostly lent credence to what I have been talking to Zach about while in the rough around the greens. Keegan said he tends to use more of a mid-lofted sand wedge (in his case, a 55 degree) rather than a lob type wedge. He uses the length of the backswing to create the force needed to remove the ball, meaning a longer backswing. He feels his swing go more up at the start with gravity shallowing it on the downswing, while making sure his chest turns to the target.
What we can learn from this: Most average golfers automatically grab the most loft in their bag for these shots, which may or may not always be the right move. Experience using different lofts for these shots. Also, most golfers tend to take a shorter backswing then force or jam the club at impact to attempt to create speed, rather than have a solid overall tempo and allow a longer backswing to naturally create more force needed to get the ball out of the rough.
#4: Pars (and even bogies) are your friend. With the difficulty of Oakmont, there is a premium on making pars and even limiting mistakes to bogeys. I truly believe the winner this week will be the player who turns what could be double bogeys into bogeys and bogeys into pars. There will be no way around keeping the ball out of the rough or putting oneself into tough places. But what do we do once being put into those positions? Do we attempt the near impossible or do we chip out, maybe make a par, but limit it to a bogey? Hard to do sometimes but very important to end up with the best score possible. I have heard many players this week talk about the importance of valuing pars and even some bogeys, we probably should too.
What we can learn from this: The average golfer tends to compound their first shot which puts them into trouble by attempting another shot which most likely is not possible. We should use the 80-20 rule for this. Is the shot at least 80% probability I can pull it off? If it is only around 20% probability, then choose to just knock it back into play or take the easy route to set your next shot up for success. This is tough to do sometimes, but I can guarantee you, it will reduce your score. Value making those pars and even those bogeys, while eliminating the doubles and higher.
#5: “Follow the tilt”: During another practice round, we ran into past tour player, past European Ryder Cup Captain and current Golf Channel analyst, Paul McGinley on the course. He was very generous with is time and asked us a lot of questions and congratulated Zach for making it to the U.S. Open. Before walking away, he said, “Follow the tilt”. His quick explanation of what followed is great advice. Oakmont has massive slopes both in and around the greens. He said to make sure of taking a big view of how they flow and do what you can to let your golf ball work with them, actually use them to your advantage, rather than work against them.
What we can learn from this: Most courses we will play certainly will not have the severity of slopes Oakmont does, however, we can learn from what Paul told us. Take the big view from around the green, not just the green itself. How does the fairway or surrounding areas flow onto the green? If we hit it short, right or left, will the surrounds throw the ball more toward the green? Learn to play golf more intentionally and let the ground actually help the shot rather than thinking we need to carry the ball to the hole all of the time. Great advice for us all from a true legend.
Tom Morton, PGA, is the President of Morton Golf Foundation and PGA Director of Coaching and Development for Morton Golf.
