Tag: Putting

Here are 5 tips to take your practice session to the next level

Many who go to the driving range don’t have a proper practice routine and aren’t making the most out of their time.

One of the great things about golf is that every player is striving to get better. Improvement is measurable and the opportunity to hit the best shot of your life is always lurking around the next fairway.

Many players are quick to spend time on the course, but fail to put in time at the driving range or at short game facilities. Those who go to the driving range may not have a proper practice routine and are not making the most of their time. This has many guessing why they are not shooting the scores they think they are capable of.

The answer is simple: you are not practicing intentionally and with a purpose.

Here are five tips to optimize your time when you are practicing at the range:

Looking to putt better? This two-time U.S. Open champ says your putter needs to ‘become your second wife’

“You need to look after that thing because that’s where the money is.”

Sure, it might make for the best social media moments, but losing your temper on the golf course will likely keep you from putting success. At least that’s according to two-time U.S. Open champion Retief Goosen, who is playing this week at the PGA Tour Champions’ Mitsubishi Electric Classic.

Goosen was asked after his second round at TPC Sugarloaf if his calm demeanor and his impressive putting go hand-in-hand.

“Definitely,” he responded. “Golf, the more you can stay at the same level and not have too many ups and downs in temperament and emotions, the better it is for your game. You’ve got four hours there that you’ve got to hit hopefully 65 shots and those 65 shots only take a few minutes, and what do you do with the other three and a half hours? Walking on the course, you need to stay in focus, you need to calm yourself down.

“All that kind of stuff breathes into your game, how your emotions are between shots. If you’re cursing everything and coming to the ball for the next shot, you’re probably not going to hit a good shot because you’re not mentally ready to hit it. It’s important how you manage your emotions on the golf course to stay consistent.”

Goosen, who has seven victories on the PGA Tour to go with twice as many on the European Tour, said he’s maintained the same putting technique through the years, one that has served him particularly well.

“I’m pretty much still the same. I tried a little bit with the long putter and the belly putter. Who didn’t? But you always seem to go back to what you did when you played your best golf and made all the putts. Just got to find the confidence again and the belief that you can putt well again. Putting is very much a feel game, there’s no strength or anything involved. Some players lose their feel and you’re not quite sure how hard to hit it or … your eyes go a little bit. As you get older, you don’t see the lines as clearly as you used to see it.

Retief Goosen (RSA) prepares for a putt on the first hole during the first round of the Chubb Classic, Friday, Feb. 18, 2022, at Tiburón Golf Club at The Ritz-Carlton Golf Resort in Naples, Fla.

“Putting is very much, can I say, a personal thing. You’ve just got to find something that works for you to hit the ball online. It doesn’t matter how you stand or how you hold the putter as long as you can start it online and at the right speed. Speed is probably the most important thing.”

Even though he’s now 53 years old, the Pietersburg, South Africa, native still can get it rolling. On Saturday, for example, he birdied four of his first five holes to climb near the top of the leaderboard on a course where he captured his second PGA Tour win (at the BellSouth Classic in 2022). He finished with a pair of bogeys, but still shot a 67, and sits at 3 under for the tournament.

And while others are prone to tinkering with their putters, Goosen insists familiarity has helped to breed success.

“I use the same putter. I don’t often change putters,” Goosen said. “I won a lot of my tournaments with a putter or two, two putters or so. Even now I’m still putting with a putter that I’ve used for a while. I think, yeah, changing putters constantly is not a good thing. You’ve got to get a putter that you like and then try and stick with it even during the times when you go a little off. It will come back, but once you start just swapping out putters every week, it’s difficult to get a feel for it and putting is feel.”

That recipe keeps producing something delicious. Goosen is fifth on the PGA Tour Champions in putting average this season and that’s translated to five top-6 finishes in his seven Champions starts.

Of course, he can occasionally have frustrating spells with the flat stick, but he feels the attachment a player builds with his putter needs to be one that creates trust. Almost akin to a marriage.

“Well, I’ve had my times that I toss it a little bit and kick it a little bit. You get back in your hotel room in the evening, you bang your head against … why did I not hit a good putt there?” he said. “A putter, it needs to become your second wife. You need to look after that thing because that’s where the money is. It doesn’t matter how good you hit the ball; if you can’t make the putt, it’s useless.”

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Watch: Basketball fan cans 94-foot, full-court putt at Portland Trail Blazers game to win big bucks

A fan at a basketball game made a 94-foot putt through the front door of a model house to win $50,000.

If only the Portland Trailblazers had the touch of David Dalla Gasperina this season.

The basketball fan drained a 94-foot putt from one end of the court to the other during an in-game promotion at the Trailblazers game on March 25 at the Moda Center. The putt earned him $50,000.

No one had won the promotion, sponsored by mortgage lender Directors Mortgage, which gave one lucky fan a chance to hit a putt and have the ball go through the front door of a model house at the opposite end of the court, all season. As detailed by KGW, the NBC affiliate in Portland, Dalla Gasperina got a call the night before saying he’d been picked to take part in the promotion during the game against the Houston Rockets.

“The person on the phone said five other people she called didn’t pick up. I was the sixth person she called. Thank you to the five other people,” Dalla Gasperina said.

Dalla Gasperina said that when he putted, he went back to his time as a musician.

“I kind of have a Zen place I can get to,” he said. “I literally told my wife, I’m going to make this putt.”

He did just that and now he and his wife are planning a trip to Italy to meet family they’ve never visited.

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These 4 training aids will help you make more putts

Every golfer feels like they should be making more putts… and they’re right! While very few golfers have the physical gifts to be able to hit their driver 300-plus yards in the air like Dustin Johnson, we can all improve our putting without spending …

Every golfer feels like they should be making more putts… and they’re right! While very few golfers have the physical gifts to be able to hit their driver 300-plus yards in the air like Dustin Johnson, we can all improve our putting without spending hours on the course or at the gym.

So how do you do it? We reached out to Perfect Practice, an innovative golf training aid company that has developed a lineup of effective and simple-to-use products with some of the biggest names in golf.

Please enjoy these recommendations from Dustin Johnson, his brother/caddie Austin Johnson, and top-ranked instructors Matt Killen and Zach Allen to learn more about their favorite Perfect Practice training aids and how they use them to make more putts.

Dustin Johnson: Two-Time Major Champion                                                Recommendation: Perfect Putting Mat™

The conditions vary from one PGA Tour event to the next. However, when it comes to practice, I know I can count on my Perfect Putting Mat to remain consistent.

The team at Perfect Practice ships me a mat at every tournament I play, so I can lay it out in my hotel room or at the house that I’m renting. Sometimes I use it before the round, sometimes after and occasionally both. It’s hard to walk past it without hitting a few putts, which has been very helpful.

The Perfect Putting Mat is something every golfer should have at home or even in their office because it makes practice so convenient. If you’re crunched for time, you can still get in some tour-quality practice.

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Austin Johnson: PGA Tour Caddy For Dustin Johnson
Recommendation: Laser Putting Glasses

Caddies on the PGA Tour do a lot more than just carry the bag. Players like Dustin Johnson (my brother and for whom I caddy on Tour) often lean on us to check their fundamentals, and that’s why I love the Laser Putting Glasses. With the Laser Putting Glasses, we can look at his eye position together, whether we’re out on the course, on the practice green or at home on the mat.

It’s the little variations from week to week that can be the difference between missing a cut or winning the tournament—having a tool like the Laser Putting Glasses allows us to check one of the most important things about putting and be as consistent as possible.

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Matt Killen, GOLF Top-100 Teacher
Recommendation: The Raindrop — Retractable Putting String

I work with several of the best golfers in the world, and many amateur golfers, too. When it comes to putting, one thing they have in common is that they can struggle with their start lines.

In the past, we’ve seen golfers using chalk lines and a lot of other things to practice this. I wanted to create something better. The Raindrop is the best putting string in the world. It’s easy to use. It won’t tangle. It extends to 20 feet. And just as importantly, it’s retractable, so you can set it up and take it down quickly.

The Raindrop is one of the few products that will show you in real time why you’re missing putts. Is it the read… or your stroke? And once you know the answer, you can start making more putts.

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Zach Allen, Southern California Teacher Of The Year
Recommendation: True Pendulum Motion (TPM)

I’ve taught with almost every putting training out there. The TPM, by far, is the simplest. It fixes the most common setup flaws and teaches golfers to make a perfect pendulum putting stroke that used to take golfers years to learn.

With the TPM, there’s no need to manipulate the putter or change anything during the stroke. It’s the only training aid I’ve ever used that teaches golfers what it’s like to make a perfect putting stroke every time.
Golfers will get better every time they use the TPM, which will translate to a lot more made putts on the course.

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Ready to make 2022 your best year ever on the course? Pick up one or more of these training aids, and you’ll be surprised with how much more confidence you’ll have on the greens — and how many more putts you’ll make.

Visit perfectpractice.golf to learn more about all of the company’s training aids.

Golf instruction with Steve Scott: Use an arched wrist to putt for the win

Looking to drop putts like Webb Simpson, Bryson DeChambeau or Steve Stricker?

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Looking to drop putts like Webb Simpson, Bryson DeChambeau, or Steve Stricker?

Our Steve Scott says to try an arched putting grip, one that’s used by numerous pros to help on the greens.

Scott checks in from the gorgeous rolling hills of Sleepy Hollow Country Club, north of New York City along the Hudson River.

We’ve been celebrating with Steve of late, as the 25th anniversary of one of golf’s historic moments recently passed when Tiger Woods attempted to claim an unprecedented third straight U.S. Amateur Championship conducted at Pumpkin Ridge GC.

His opponent was none other than our Steve Scott, who, in a gracious move that follows golf etiquette, told Woods he had to move his mark back during a key putt. If Scott would have stayed silent, Tiger’s run would have certainly been derailed, but an act of sportsmanship still rings true a quarter-century later.

“Hey, Tiger – you need to move your mark back,” was released earlier this year (Skyhorse Publishing, $19.99), and is available at movethatback.com.

Aside from leading our lessons, Scott is also the PGA head golf professional at the Outpost Club, founder of the Silver Club Golfing Society and a PGA Tour Live analyst.

Click here to watch previous episodes of “Golf Instruction with Steve Scott” including iron play and flop shots.

Tiger Woods-backed PopStroke breaks ground on location in Orlando, with further expansion planned for 2022

The concept combines food, drink and putting, with further expansion planned in 2022 in Florida, Texas and Arizona.

The Tiger Woods-backed PopStroke, an experiential golf and casual-dining business, has broken ground on the east side of Orlando as the company plans to open seven new locations in 2022.

PopStroke currently has two locations open, one in Fort Myers, Florida, and another in Port St. Lucie, Florida.

Each PopStroke location features two 18-hole putting locations designed by Tiger Woods and his TGR Design, which also designs full-size courses. Other amenities at each location will include a jumbotron screen with a putting leaderboard, an outdoor gaming area with pingpong and other games, an open-air restaurant, an ice cream parlor and a playground. PopStroke said in a media release announcing the fresh groundbreaking that the golf experience will be designed for players of all skill levels.

PopStroke, Tiger Woods
A finished PopStroke facility (Photo submitted)

The Orlando location in Waterford Lakes is one of seven that are scheduled to open in 2022 in Sarasota, Florida; Houston; Salt River/Scottsdale, Arizona; Glendale, Arizona; Tampa, Florida; and Delray, Florida.

The Orlando location is scheduled to open in April and was the second groundbreaking among the list of announced new locations. The Sarasota facility is scheduled to open in March, with the others in line behind that, according to popstroke.com.

“Orlando has long been recognized as one of the premier entertainment destinations in the world and a natural fit for PopStroke’s continued expansion,” company founder Greg Bartoli said in the media release. “We look forward to being a part of such an exciting and rapidly expanding community as we introduce the PopStroke brand to people of all ages across Central Florida.”

Founded in 2018, PopStroke is co-owned by Bartoli and Woods’ TGR Ventures. The company is headquartered in Jupiter, Florida.

PopStroke, Tiger Woods
PopStroke, Tiger Woods

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Phil Mickelson finding putting success with a longer arm-lock model

Phil Mickelson is contending at the Fortinet Championship with a new putter and putting grip.

NAPA, Calif. — Phil Mickelson is contending this week at the season-opening Fortinet Championship and doing so with a new putter and putting grip.

Mickelson has been using a longer arm-lock model this week at Silverado Resort & Spa’s North Course and has found it mostly to his liking. He ranks fifth through three rounds in Strokes Gained: Putting.

“I just felt like I had been putting really well all week and I just needed to settle down and let one go in, not force it,” said Mickelson, who is tied for ninth at 10 under through 54 holes. He’ll start Sunday’s round four shots back of the lead. “I needed to get a couple of fairways hit because so much easier from the fairways getting to these pins. I just rolled a couple in, so it was nice.”

Right after his third round Saturday, as soon as he left the scoring area, Mickelson was on the practice putting green.

Fortinet Championship
Phil Mickelson putts on the eighth hole during round one of the Fortinet Championship at Silverado Resort and Spa on September 16, 2021 in Napa, California. Photo by Meg Oliphant/Getty Images

“I felt like I blocked a couple putts,” he said. “I blocked two short ones, the one on 12, the one on 7, and I just wanted to work on that. So I feel like I was a little long in the stroke and kind of came up and out of it. If I keep it short and up, I can release into the finish and get the ball rolling online.”

Does he feel like he’s going to stick with this for a while?

“It’s how I putted as a kid,” he said. “I always had a lot of forward press and all it’s doing now is getting in the same position as a kid, but it’s getting to that same position every time,” explained Mickelson. “I’m not over-pressing, I’m not under-pressing, so my launch characteristics when I get on the Quintic system is very consistent and that’s what I’m looking for.”

Mickelson used this method earlier this year, starting in Memphis at the World Golf Championships-FedEx St. Jude Invitational.

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Olympics-bound Anne van Dam finds confidence on the greens by putting with her eyes closed

Anne van Dam’s putting had become such a point of frustration that she closed her eyes and hoped for the best. Seriously.

Anne van Dam’s putting had become such a point of frustration that she actually thought about taking a break from the LPGA. Something drastic needed to be done, so she closed her eyes and hoped for the best. Seriously.

“I just started hitting some putts with my eyes closed,” said van Dam, “and just felt way more comfortable.”

The 25-year-old Dutch player ran into Suzann Pettersen this week at the Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational, and they talked about the unusual practice. Pettersen told van Dam about the time she closed her eyes and won six tournaments.

“At one point it just gets really mental,” said van Dam. “If you can’t see what you’re doing, you just trust your inner instincts.

This week van Dam has teamed up with longtime best friend Sophia Popov for the Dow team event. She had a handful of important putts in Wednesday’s opening alternate shot format and made them all dead center – eyes closed.

Known for having one of the most enviable swings in golf, van Dam ranked first on the LPGA in driving distance at 292 yards but 156th in putting average and 137th in putts per greens in regulation.

“I had multiple rounds in a row where I hardly missed a fairway or hardly missed a green and was three-putting from 10 to 15 feet,” said van Dam. “At one point you just kind of feel hopeless. You don’t really know where to go.”

She missed them in all sorts of ways – long, short, left, right. It wasn’t the yips, she said. More like a negative spiral of thoughts that began with venues earlier in the year that featured poa annua greens.

What started out as a drill blended into competition, and the fix came just in time for a run of big events. Van Dam will become the first Dutch golfer to compete in the Olympics next month. She actually qualified for the 2016 Summer Games in Brazil but was unable to compete because she wasn’t ranked inside the top 100 in the world at the time, which is an additional requirement from the Netherlands National Olympics Committee.

Van Dam, a five-time winner on the LPGA, thought the same might happen again this year after she dipped to No. 145 in the world. She was actually inside the top 100 for the original cutoff before the Tokyo Olympics was postponed to 2021.

The Netherlands made an exception for van Dam this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“They’re only sending athletes that have a good chance of finishing in the top six,” she said.

That’s easier to determine in other sports, of course. Popov won the AIG Women’s British Open last year when she was ranked outside to the top 300 in the world.

“Obviously for golf,” said van Dam, “it’s a hard decision to say when do you have a good chance.”

A positive-sounding van Dam views this recent dip in her career as part of the process. If everything always came easy, she said, it could get a little boring. She looks at the downtimes of a Jordan Spieth or a Rickie Fowler missing out on majors and knows that struggles come to everyone.

“My game is way too good to play like that,” she said.

At last, things are looking up.

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Watch: Mark Hubbard invents a putting stroke you’ve got to see to believe

We’re not sure what Mark Hubbard was thinking on this putting stroke but you’ve got to see it to believe it.

Never underestimate the creativity of a desperate putter.

But as Golf Channel’s Trevor Immelman so aptly put it, Mark Hubbard went “next level” on Friday at the American Express. The 31-year-old Colorado native was having a forgettable round of 76 that would send him packing for the weekend, so, why not try something, well, a little different.

And different this was.

Hubbard extended his right arm and wrapped his pinky finger around the lower portion of his shaft for support on his 10-foot putt.

“What in the heck was that?” Golf Channel’s Curt Byrum said.

“He can’t believe he missed it,” Immelman said.

This is a video you have to see to believe. Words don’t do it justice, but wonderful analysis from Immelman. And even the judge from the former Soviet Union would have given Hubbard at least a 9 for creativity.

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Watch: Bernhard Langer, 63, makes incredible 63-foot putt at the Masters

At 63, Langer became the oldest player ever to make a Masters cut. And he just added to his legend with a 63-footer dead on the money.

Bernhard Langer has seen it all. The beloved German, a two-time Masters champion in 1985 and 1993, is making his 37th start at Augusta National this week. At 63, he became the oldest player ever to make a Masters cut.

Langer, who has won a remarkable 41 PGA Tour Champions Tour titles as part of his more than 100 wins worldwide, never really seems to age. On Saturday, he found himself in the first group off No. 1 tee alongside 23-year-old amateur John Augenstein and former World No. 1 Rory McIlroy.

Now, add this to Langer’s legend. The veteran rolled in this 63-footer for birdie on No. 16:

An ageless wonder, indeed.

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