A Lesson Learned: Every Monday, a top PGA Professional from around the nation will analyze the week's PGA TOUR event and explain what lessons you can learn from that week's top performers -- and how to incorporate that lesson into your golf game.
As I watched the final round of this year's AT&T, it was my intention to find a critical shot or two that helped determine the outcome of the tournament. But as I watched Phil Mickelson run away with the tournament, I figured anyone could write a lesson on how not to seven-putt the final green and win.
Thus, I looked for other significant shots that you might encounter in your round. If you watched Live@ on pgatour.com at all this week (and if you didn't, you should have), you saw the world's best players hitting knockdown wedges to the spectacular seventh green. Also, on Sunday, Davis Love III made a really nice sand save from a buried lie in a bunker, which I thought might be a good article as well. But there was one type of shot that I saw executed in a consistent and effective manner, and I know you will see it several times in your next round, that really stuck out in my mind.
The final round of the AT&T yielded two great chip-ins on the back nine of Pebble Beach Golf Links. After making a double-bogey on the ninth, Kevin Sunderland watched his ball find the hole from just off the left side of the tenth green for birdie. On the 14th, Greg Owen knocked-it-in from just underneath the TV tower beyond the green. Both shots looked very similar -- they both flew fairly close to the ground and carried just onto the green. From there they both rolled into the hole just like a well-struck putt.
Such shots are nothing new at Pebble Beach. If you think back to the 1982 US Open there, Tom Watson made one of the most memorable chip shots of all time from just off the green on the 17th. Watching that historic shot closely, it did the exact same thing - flew just onto the green and rolled into the hole like a putt.
So what can you learn from watching the PGA TOUR pros at Pebble Beach? I've found that most amateurs are inconsistent when they chip because they use a club with too much loft, thus flying the ball higher than necessary, and as a result they carry the ball too far onto the green. The best chance to chip it in is to get the ball on the green as soon as you can and get it rolling like a putt. When watching your next TOUR event, pay attention to a player who misses a green and notice how they survey their chip. You'll observe that they'll read the green to determine where to land the ball. Why do they do this? Just like a putt, they fully expect to make it. Most average players are just trying to get the ball close to the hole. I can assure you that you won't make many chips with that mindset. During this week's tournament, you could see many players react to missed chips just as they did missed putts. Their mentality is the same, as yours should be!
So if you want to make more chip shots, adopt the following game plan:
- Choose a club with just enough loft to carry the ball onto the green - don't fly the ball higher than you need to.
- Read the green in order to determine where you want to land the ball. Visualize the line just as you would a putt rolling into the hole.
- Execute - land the ball on the spot you picked and watch it roll towards the hole.
Remember, you'll make more chips if you get the ball on the green rolling like a putt. Be precise with your routine and technique, and you'll begin to "expect" to make these shots! It might not win you a US Open, nor get you a five shot win at a PGA TOUR event, but it will make your weekly foursome round a lot more enjoyable and your scores will start to drop.
Scott Szymoniak is the Director of Instruction for Canongate Golf Clubs in Atlanta, Georgia. He has coached professionals on six different tours worldwide who have combined to earn over $4 million in prize money. He has also led players to collegiate victories at the Division I and II levels. Scott created and developed the Learning Center at Country Club of the South in conjunction with the Mizuno Test and Research facility before joining the Canongate group. Scott can be reached at sszymoniak@canongategolf.com.
