Updated Look At The US Ryder Cup Standings

Here is a look at the current Ryder Cup standings going into the PGA Championship.

TIGER WOODS

Advanced Total Driving: 8th

Putts Gained: 39th
Short Game Play: 70th

Birdie Zone: 115th
Safe Zone: 15th
Danger Zone: 5th

Obviously, Tiger is going to be on the team unless a sudden injury forces him out. His ballstriking is far better than his critics give him credit for at this point in time. However, what I saw from him at the British Open was almost every shot was either a pronounced ‘played’ fade or a stinger which would draw a little. It tells me that he is afraid of missing left and while he can hit effective shots by going around the course and hitting pronounced fades and stingers, it’s not where he is at his absolute best. However, it’s still amazing what he can do while not being at his absolute best.

I think this Tiger works better for the US team in the Ryder Cup because he can hit safer shots. I do think we have been missing those spectacular shots from Tiger that seemed to be the ones that only he could hit. I also think that the competition just is not afraid of him anymore. We don’t see competitors in the hunt on Sunday, only to shoot 78 and not even make it close. I think his ability to hit those spectacular shots, his surreal Danger Zone play and putting, combined with his intimidation factor is why he won Majors with Haney. He doesn’t have them now, but I think he’s a much better all-around player now than when he was under Haney and I think that will help the US team come Medinah.


JASON DUFNER


Advanced Total Driving: 6th

Putts Gained: 85th
Short Game Play: 4th

Birdie Zone: 41st
Safe Zone: 13th
Danger Zone: 32nd

He sorta worries me because he’s been the type of player that legitimately plays great on Tour, but come the Ryder Cup he struggles. Great ballstriker, but an average at best putter. Plus, when he’s had some big situations on Tour he has come up weak a few times. If he can putt decent and handle the Ryder Cup pressure, he’ll be a key member of the team. If not, he’ll be another Jim Furyk type.

BUBBA WATSON

Advanced Total Driving: 1st

Putts Gained: 159th
Short Game Play: 8th

Birdie Zone: 124th
Safe Zone: 85th
Danger Zone: 4th

He hasn’t played a lot of tournaments this year after winning the Masters. I do think that Medinah does allow him to play his game and that’s a nice advantage for the US team. But he’s another suspect putter and his driving is not always accurate and that can hamstring the team. As big of a boom or bust as the US team has in a player.


KEEGAN BRADLEY

Advanced Total Driving: 16th

Putts Gained: 15th
Short Game Play: 52nd

Birdie Zone: 110th
Safe Zone: 96th
Danger Zone: 68th

Bradley has been playing consistently well for most of this year. His weakness tends to be his iron game, but he’s a fantastic driver of the ball and for the most part has putted well this year. If you can drive it and putt it well, it usually keeps you in the hunt on Tour. I think it works well in the Ryder. Particularly since he hits it fairly long and finds a lot of fairways, which would be great for a partner in alternate shot and helpful in best score format.

WEBB SIMPSON

Advanced Total Driving: 138th

Putts Gained: 36th
Short Game Play: 38th

Birdie Zone: 6th
Safe Zone: 10th
Danger Zone: 12th

Last year, Simpson was one of those players who did almost everything well. This year his only real struggle has been with the driver. Still, he was able to win the US Open. He hits all of his irons from all distances very well and he’s a clutch putter.

ZACH JOHNSON


Advanced Total Driving: 29th

Putts Gained: 2nd
Short Game Play: 40th

Birdie Zone: 96th
Safe Zone: 35th
Danger Zone: 96th

Johnson is more of the type that I would think would play well in the Ryder Cup and in his brief time on the team has done well. He’s not wild off the tee. He hits his irons well. And he’s a great putter and has a great short game. He’s probably in, but I think he should be a captain’s pick if he doesn’t quite qualify. This team needs better putting.

MATT KUCHAR

Advanced Total Driving: 27th

Putts Gained: 42nd
Short Game Play: 88th

Birdie Zone: 64th
Safe Zone: 29th
Danger Zone: 9th

He’s another player that should be a captain’s pick if he happens to just miss the top-8. He’s not long, but he hits everything well and can putt. I think guys like Zach and Kuchar are the types that can give the Euros more problems than anybody else. Although I think it would be wise to split them up instead of pairing them together.

PHIL MICKELSON

Advanced Total Driving: 173rd

Putts Gained: 14th
Short Game Play: 35th

Birdie Zone: 31st
Safe Zone: 131st
Danger Zone: 66th

He’ll make the team because no captain wants to leave Mickelson off the team. Unfortunately, I think that’s where the Euros have the advantage as their captains are not afraid to not pick popular choices, like Colin Montgomerie not selecting Justin Rose, Paul Casey or Sergio Garcia last year. My problem with Phil is he’s a terrible Ryder Cup player at 10-17-6. He had success at the 2008 Ryder Cup, but it seemed that he was being carried by his partners. If he qualifies, there’s nothing DL III can do. But if he doesn’t qualify, it would be nice to see DL III make the tough choice.

HUNTER MAHAN

Advanced Total Driving: 3rd

Putts Gained: 92nd
Short Game Play: 80th

Birdie Zone: 137th
Safe Zone: 14th
Danger Zone:86th

Mahan’s game is that he’s got decent distance off the tee and is a great driver of the ball. He’s a much better putter than given credit for, but his short game stinks. And what it boils down for him is how well he’s playing from the Danger Zone. He’s been relatively average from the Danger Zone for most of his career. If he’s playing well from the Danger Zone, he doesn’t have to worry about getting up and down. If he’s playing poorly from the Danger Zone, then he’s got some serious issues. If I were DL III I would focus intently on how well Hunter is playing from the Danger Zone up until he has to announce his picks as if he’s striking it well, he would be a valuable member to the team. If he makes the team anyway, then I would probably favor him in the low-score format. If I go to an alternate shot, I would try to get him to be the player who tees off on the long par-4’s. He’s ranked t-55th in par-3 scoring average which tells me he is pretty decent from the tee box on par-3’s.

STEVE STRICKER



Advanced Total Driving: 73rd

Putts Gained: 56th
Short Game Play: 98th

Birdie Zone: 1st
Safe Zone: 11th
Danger Zone: 1st

The problem with Stricker is he does not play in a lot of events and since he won the Tournament of Champions, he cut down his schedule quite a bit. So he should be in the top-8 if he had played more tournaments. I would still pair him up with Tiger and see if the Euros can beat them.

JIM FURYK

Advanced Total Driving: 34th

Putts Gained: 21st
Short Game Play: 34th

Birdie Zone: 38th
Safe Zone: 44th
Danger Zone: 14th

Furyk is a hard player to stay away from because he has the game you want for a Ryder Cup player, a very predictable ballstriker and good putter and chipper. But, he’s been horrific in the Ryder Cup with a career record of 8-15-4. It would be tough to lay off on him with his recent play, but that may be what needs to happen or they may have to find a better player to pair him up with.

RICKIE FOWLER

Advanced Total Driving: 42nd

Putts Gained: 140th
Short Game Play: 67th

Birdie Zone: 81st
Safe Zone: 43rd
Danger Zone: 67th

The parts I like about Fowler is he’s a very good ballstriker, he’s young and when he’s on his ‘A Game’ he’s tough to beat. He kind of reminds me of Sergio, a great Ryder Cup player, in that sense. However, he’s currently in what appears to be a legit feud with Jason Dufner and I would not want a Sergio/Padraig in 2008 situation on my hands if I was DL III. Particularly since I would value Dufner’s style of play in the Ryder Cup far more than Fowler’s.

His play at Kiawah would tremendously influence my decision as I would want him when the iron is hot, otherwise I’ll pass.

BRANDT SNEDEKER

Advanced Total Driving: 108th

Putts Gained: 5th
Short Game Play: 58th

Birdie Zone: 37th
Safe Zone: 52nd
Danger Zone: 121st

Very average driver of the ball who does everything extremely well from inside 175 yards. Great putter who can roll it with the best of them. I would lean towards having him, although is collapse at the British Open would bother me. While his Danger Zone play has been poor this season, it has taken a noticeable jump recently and that does not include the British Open as ShotLink doesn’t record data for the majors. I’d be very keen on to how well he plays at Kiawah.

DUSTIN JOHNSON



Advanced Total Driving: 38th

Putts Gained: 66th
Short Game Play: 171st

Birdie Zone: 89th
Safe Zone: 40th
Danger Zone: 11th

Could get in with a good showing at Kiawah because he’s usually a great wind player because he can hit low, hard bullets. I would probably lean against him because he’s had such a difficult year with the injuries and has never really settled in and he’s too much of a problem on the greens.


BO VAN PELT

Advanced Total Driving: 13th

Putts Gained: 9th
Short Game Play: 174th

Birdie Zone: 7th
Safe Zone: 17th
Danger Zone: 3rd

Statistics wise, he should be having a much greater season than he is. He just has these almost inexplicable bad rounds and they often start off early on and put him too far behind the 8-ball. If I were to choose him, I would be conscious that he may get off to a slow start and really come around. I would probably have him play in the 1st day and see how it goes from there.

With the standings right now, here are the top 8:

1 Tiger Woods
2 Jason Dufner
3 Bubba Watson
4 Keegan Bradley
5 Webb Simpson
6 Zach Johnson
7 Matt Kuchar
8 Phil Mickelson

Here would be ‘captain’s picks’ at the moment:

1. Steve Stricker

Too good of a player with too good of an all-around game to pass up. Probably would not be overpowered at Medinah and he and Tiger have a history of good play together.

2. Brandt Snedeker

Another great putter who would be a good pair with a good Danger Zone player, preferably somebody long off the tee. I could see him and Dufner being a dominating duo.

3. Bo Van Pelt

I think the numbers tell me that he’s too good (if not great) to pass up. I would make sure to pair him up with a player that hits a lot of greens and when they miss greens, they don’t miss by much. Short Game play and 3-putting seem to be his only weaknesses. Another player that I think would pair extremely well with Jason Dufner or even Stricker or a Ben Curtis.

4. Ben Curtis

Another streaky player, mainly due to his inconsistent ballstriking. But typically has been a good putter and has solid Ryder Cup experience. Another guy that I would want to catch when he’s hot. I would also like to see how prepared he is for the Ryder Cup or if he just thought he didn’t have a chance to qualify and was not even thinking about it.






3JACK

3Jack Golf's PGA Tour Rundown - Week 31

Keegan Bradley wins the Bridgestone Invitational.
Since the Tour has never played at Kiawah Island, I really don’t feel comfortable making picks for the PGA Championship. However, here are 10 players that I would favor:

Matt Kuchar
Bubba Watson
Steve Stricker
Dustin Johnson
Tiger Woods
Jason Dufner
Louis Oosthuizen
Ben Curtis
Jim Furyk
Hunter Mahan

ADVANCED TOTAL DRIVING



1. Bubba Watson
2. Boo Weekley
3. Hunter Mahan
4. John Rollins
5. Rory McIlroy
6. Jason Dufner
7. Charlie Beljan
8. Tiger Woods
9. Graham DeLaet
10. Graeme McDowell

184. Matt Bettencourt
185. Nick O'Hern
186. Tom Pernice Jr.
187. Derek Lamely
188. Michael Bradley
189. Stephen Gangluff
190. Ryuji Imada
191. Joe Ogilvie
192. David Duval
193. Daniel Chopra

Biggest Improvement: Louis Oosthuizen
Biggest Decline: Robert Allenby


PUTTS GAINED (VIA PGATOUR.COM)

1. Aaron Baddeley
2. Zach Johnson
3. Ben Curtis
4. Luke Donald
5. Brandt Snedeker
6. Martin Flores
7. Bryce Molder
8. Brian Gay
9. Bo Van Pelt
10. Derek Lamely

184. Kris Blanks
185. D.J. Trahan
186. Roland Thatcher
187. Alexandre Rocha
188. Charlie Beljan
189. Scott Brown
190. Kyle Stanley
191. Boo Weekley
192. Kyle Thompson
193. Scott Dunlap

Biggest Improvement: Steve Stricker
Biggest Decline: Adam Scott


SHORT GAME PLAY

1. Lee Janzen
2. K.J. Choi
3. Jerry Kelly
4. Jason Dufner
5. Daniel Chopra
6. Ian Poulter
7. Brian Gay
8. Bubba Watson
9. Jonas Blixt
10. Stuart Appleby

184. Billy Horschel
185. Kyle Reifers
186. Alexandre Rocha
187. Michael Thompson
188. Charlie Beljan
189. Harris English
190. Sang-Moon Bae
191. Kyle Thompson
192. Cameron Beckman
193. Edward Loar

Biggest Improvement: Graeme McDowell
Biggest Decline: Robert Allenby

BIRDIE ZONE PLAY


1. Steve Stricker
2. Padraig Harrington
3. Jason Bohn
4. Garth Mulroy
5. Henrik Stenson
6. Webb Simpson
7. Bo Van Pelt
8. Richard H. Lee
9. Jeff Maggert
10. Vaughn Taylor

184. D.J. Trahan
185. Jonas Blixt
186. David Duval
187. Brandt Jobe
188. Aaron Baddeley
189. Adam Scott
190. Billy Hurley III
191. Miguel Angel Carballo
192. Edward Loar
193. Jamie Lovemark

Biggest Improvement: Rory McIlroy
Biggest Decline: Martin Laird

SAFE ZONE PLAY


1. Lee Westwood
2. Gavin Coles
3. Graeme McDowell
4. Scott Dunlap
5. Kyle Thompson
6. Alexandre Rocha
7. Nick O'Hern
8. Boo Weekley
9. Tim Clark
10. Webb Simpson

184. Billy Hurley III
185. Charles Howell III
186. Troy Kelly
187. Henrik Stenson
188. Mark Anderson
189. Edward Loar
190. Jamie Lovemark
191. Matt Jones
192. Daniel Chopra
193. Briny Baird

Biggest Improvement: Jim Furyk
Biggest Decline: Ian Poulter

DANGER ZONE PLAY


1. Steve Stricker
2. Bo Van Pelt
3. Chad Campbell
4. Bubba Watson
5. Tiger Woods
6. Justin Rose
7. Louis Oosthuizen
8. Kyle Stanley
9. Matt Kuchar
10. Charlie Beljan

184. David Mathis
185. J.J. Killeen
186. Rocco Mediate
187. Henrik Stenson
188. Sung Kang
189. Tim Petrovic
190. Sang-Moon Bae
191. Joe Ogilvie
192. Derek Lamely
193. Nick O'Hern

Biggest Improvement: Rory McIlroy
Biggest Decline: Sergio Garcia




3JACK

Aftermath of the State Am Thoughts...

I wanted to thank everybody for the kind words and advice after the disappointing FSGA Am qualifier. However, I did want to give some of my thoughts on the subject because as usual, nothing is really black and white in the game of golf. It’s always filled with complexities and intricacies that take a good deal of effort to come close to fully understanding.

When I was a junior golfer, the sentiment from friends and family in times of ‘golf failure’ was very much the same. What’s difficult is that when a competitive golfer does not meet their expectations in the game many people are kind enough to lend a lot of sympathy. But what often happens is that it starts to be treated like there was a death in the family more than a situation where the outcome was disappointing. On the other hand, the LAST thing any competitive golfer who works very hard at improving their ability wants to hear is ‘hey, it’s only a game.’ While true, I think it’s important for others to understand the fact that the game may mean a lot to the individual and there’s nothing really wrong with that.

Personally, I had a lot of nerves going on as I teed it up at Metrowest. But after the first tee shot, which was horrendous, the nerves were not really a problem. That does not mean that I treated the tournament as unimportant or that I ‘gave up’ after taking a triple-bogey on my first hole. I think I was not as nervous because I was able to put the game and the qualifier in a perspective that I was comfortable with.

Recently, I had a father of a promising junior golfer ask me questions about his son possibly getting a golf scholarship. The father was frustrated for his son because his son had been close to winning some tournaments, but a mistake here or there took him out of contention and he was worried that it may cost his son a scholarship down the road. I wound up telling him how I believed that the people that the junior golfers who truly love the game of golf and for what it is will wind up being the better golfers in the end. And I felt that it’s important to separate those golfers who truly love the game versus those golfers who are more in love with being successful in the game and love what rewards that success can bring them.

That’s why I feel so many ‘the next big thing’ junior golfers have flamed out over the years. They were more in love with being successful in golf than golf in itself. Down the line they were BOUND to face up against talented golfers who could beat them and when that success was no longer there, they stopped doing whatever it took to make them a better golfer. The golfers who truly love the game continue to work to improve because they love getting better or even the possibility of getting better.

And that’s what the FSGA Amateur qualifier was for me. I wanted to do well in the FSGA qualifier. I wanted to shoot 65 and beat the field like a drum. But I never felt that I had to do well in the FSGA qualifier because all that is, along with my goal of one day making the match play of the US Amateur, is reaping the rewards of being successful in golf. And that is fine to want in life. But, it is not *why* I play the game of golf and why I love it so much.

I love to play the game of golf for various reasons. I love to see myself get better in every aspect of the game. I love to discover new things whether it be swing mechanics, green reading, equipment, etc. I love experiencing the outdoors. I love playing golf with my dad and enjoying the moments when he does well. Golf is like a video game that never gets old and never repeats itself. It’s those complexities and intricacies that can be so difficult to deal with that always keep the game some interesting and appealing to the mind. And that is just the tip of the iceberg for me.

I’ve been thinking a lot about how many golfers tend to be unable to define what the game means to them. I think those who have lofty expectations for themselves and take it hard when they fail don’t quite understand that just because you are passionate about something, it does not define completely define you as a person. And I think people in general tend to think that way and that’s why they tend to act like a golfer’s lack of success is either like a ‘death in the family’ or they will try to patronize the golfer with ‘it’s only a game.’

It reminds me of the movie ‘Rudy’ where his friend, Pete, tells him that ‘dreams are what make life tolerable.’ I think that is a better perspective of what accomplishing goals in a game that is not your profession is really about. It’s just one of those things that spark interest in your life and allow you to aspire to achieve things you have always wanted. To me, without dreams…regardless of how silly they may be…would lead to one boring and intolerable life.

In the end, a story is always better when there are some bumps in the road. As long as I surround myself with good people and keep an open mind about learning the game, I’ll do alright.

Here are a couple of videos about Moe Norman that I think those who have not seen them will enjoy.











3JACK

3Jack's Current WITB

Here's my current WITB:





DRIVER

Wishon 919THI
10° loft (handpicked)
58° lie angle
0° face angle

45-1/8" long
UST Mamiya ProForce VTS Silver 6x shaft

D-4 swingweight
2,825 kg/cm^2 MOI
321 grams

Iomic Sticky 2.3 Grip






3-WOOD

Wishon 949MC
15° loft (handpicked)
57° lie angle
0° face angle

43" long
UST Mamiya ProForce VTS Red 7x shaft

D-3 swingweight
2,810 kg/cm^2 MOI
343 grams

Iomic Sticky 2.3 Grip




HYBRID

Wishon 775HS
18° loft
58° lie angle
0° face angle

40-3/4" long
Wishon Gold Tour Hybrid shaft (stiff)

D-4 swingweight
2,765 kg/cm^2 MOI
386 grams

Iomic Sticky 2.3 Grip




3 & 4-IRONS

Wishon 555C
21° and 24° loft
58° and 59.5° lie angle
1° and 2° bounce

39-1/8" and 38-3/4" long
Wishon Stepless Steel shaft (stiff)

D-2 & D-3 swingweight
2,725 kg/cm^2 MOI
410 and 416 grams

Iomic Sticky 2.3 Grip






5-IRON thru ATTACK WEDGE

Wishon 555M
28°, 32°, 36°, 40°, 44°, 48° and 52° loft

60°, 60.5°, 61°, 61.5°, 62°, 63°, 63° and 63° lie angle

2°, 2°, 3°, 3°, 3°, 4° and 5° bounce angle.

38-3/8", 38", 37-5/8", 37-1/4", 36-7/8", 36-1/2", 36-1/8" long
Wishon Stepless Steel shaft (stiff)

D-4, D-5, D-5, D-6, D-7, D-7, D-8 swingweights

2,725 kg/cm^2 MOI

422, 428, 434, 440, 446, 452 and 458 grams.

Iomic Sticky 2.3 Grip




SAND WEDGE

Cleveland Golf Reg. 588
55° loft
64° lie angle
16° bounce

35-3/4" long
Tour Concept Wedge Shaft

D-9 swingweight
2,725 kg/cm^2 MOI
469 grams

Iomic Sticky 2.3 Grip




LOB WEDGE

Edel Golf Digger Grind
60° loft
63° lie angle
27° bounce

35-3/8" long
True Temper Dynamic Gold SL (X100) shaft
D-9 swingweight
2,725 kg/cm^2 MOI
467 grams

Iomic Sticky 2.3 Grip














3JACK

Thoughts On The Anchored Putting Situation...

---

Currently the R&A is reviewing the legality of ‘anchored’ putting methods. This is a bit different from saying that long putters and belly putters would be banned because the idea is more about the putting technique of anchoring the putter against your body. Superstar amateur Beau Hossler was using a belly putter at this year’s US Open, which he borrowed from a member at his club, but was putting with it in a non-anchored fashion. So what the R&A (not the USGA) would be ruling upon would not affect a player like Hossler who doesn’t anchor the belly putter across his body.

First, let’s get some things about of the way that are of lesser importance. The USGA is not ruling on anchored putters at this time. The R&A covers most of the rest of the world when it comes to the rules governing golf. However, more often than not the R&A and USGA work in conjunction with each other. Years ago the R&A allowed for a smaller sized golf ball which would allow the ball to travel further. That’s one reason why international golfers often struggled playing in the US, they had to get used to the shorter flying golf ball.

Also, the R&A used to allow for drivers with a higher COR. The COR is essentially the ‘trampoline effect’ or ‘hotness’ of the driver face. The USGA has set it at 0.830. The R&A allowed the COR to go as high as 0.900. This higher COR means that the ball will fly at a higher speed when hit directly on the sweetspot. Eventually the R&A decided to put the COR limit at 0.830 as well. Thus, the real importance of this ruling is that if the R&A bans anchored style putting, odds are that the USGA will follow.

One of the other things to get out of the way is the R&A’s concern about a golfer using a long putter as the club for drops from hazards, ground under repair, etc. in the ‘2 club length process.’ The fix for that is simple, change the rule to you cannot use a putter for the ‘2 club length drop.’



To me, the crux of making a piece of equipment legal or illegal comes down to ‘is it in the best interest of the game.’ This is where I do not envy the R&A and USGA for having to determine this because that’s such an ambiguous concept to attack. And often times what happens is some people are going to place a great importance on certain aspects as being ‘good for the game’ than others.

One of the big questions I would ask is ‘will it hurt the popularity of the game and if so, is it worth hurting the popularity of the game in the long run?’

I’ve heard the claim that people will quit the game quite a bit if they have to go back to playing with the yips. That’s something that should be addressed, but that does not necessarily mean that a piece of equipment should be made legal in fear of people quitting the game. Imagine there was a putter that had some sort of device that made putting virtually automatic, but cost $10,000 for the putter. Thus, the wealthy could now become world class putters without having any skill. The governing bodies would have to rule against that even if those who could afford the putter claimed that they would quit the game. In that situation, it is worth making illegal in spite of hypothetically losing players.

However, the real crux of the situation is that the reality is that golf will probably not lose 0.5% of its players if the anchored putting style is illegal. For starters, the overwhelming majority of golfers do not have the yips. And a good percentage of anchored putting style golfers use the style because they essentially feel that will work for them in the meantime and then a few months down the road they will probably try a ‘standard’ putter with a ‘standard’ putting stroke because that’s what they will believe works for them in the end. Lastly, many players who have the yips don’t even really know it. The higher handicaps who have the yips just think they are terrible putters and often don’t care about it because they view it as their own lack of talent.

That leaves us with the lower handicap players who use the anchored style to combat the yips. And personally I view their talk about ‘quitting the game’ as an empty threat. Why? Because they love the game so much to begin with that they probably will not leave the game because they cannot putt as well anymore.

Where I have almost exclusively heard talk about golfers leaving the game and seen actual golfers leave the game is usually due to the point where their ballstriking regresses so much that they cannot fix those issues and no longer enjoy the game. While I have my complaints about titanium drivers from a competitive perspective and how they have changed the game, I think in the end they did get more golfers into the game because the experience of hitting the ball further with much more forgiveness has made the game much more enjoyable for them. Ballstriking tends to have a much bigger impact on the level of a golfer’s enjoyment in almost every golfer I’ve ever encountered.



Another question the governing bodies need to ask is ‘what’s the situation of anchored style putter manufacturer’s and the impact it would have if we essentially banned these putters?’

This is something to account for since it led to a huge lawsuit by PING back in the 80’s and the only reason it didn’t lead to one with the new grooves rule a few years ago is that they tweaked the rules and in the end, it worked out in the OEM’s favor, financially.

While I’m not a big fan of PING, I do agree with their side back in the square grooves rule in the 80’s. The USGA made the grooves legal and when PING’s sales sky-rocketed and they stockpiled their inventory to meet those sales, the USGA wanted to suddenly ban square grooves. Furthermore, their actual impact on performance was never really determined as good, bad or indifferent. So I can side with OEM’s in that regard.

With the latest grooves rule, I was against it for the fact that it would mean many golfers would wind up having to purchase new equipment. Particularly in a time when the economy was in extremely rough shape. In the end, none of the statistics back what the USGA claimed would happen once the U-Grooves were banned. But, they did offer an option that was not completely unfair to the manufacturers as well.

I don’t see that situation here with the anchored putters. First, I believe the inventory is far, far less. Secondly, the option is there to either trim down the shafts to make them into a ‘normal putter’ or remove the shafts and replace them with different shafts to make them more like a ‘normal putter.’

Eventually I get to asking myself ‘is there a clear hypocrisy in banning the anchored putting style versus other styles that are currently legal to use?’

I usually hear this complaint from pro-anchored style golfers about the cross handed grip. In general, I disagree with them because the typical cross handed grip is not anchored or held against something at all. In fact, there are many golfers who just happened to grow up thinking that the lead hand should be the lowest on the grip. I don’t find the typical cross handed grip to be out of the ordinary in ‘what a swing should look like.’

However, it does negate things like Bernhard Langer’s original cross handed grip, where he used his right hand to clutch the left wrist and make a stroke. Here’s a diagram below of that.



Nor do I find grips and putting motions like ‘the claw’ or the ‘saw grip’ to be a ‘normal swing motion.’



So in that sense, I feel the pro-anchored putter people have a point.

Then we get down to the biggie ‘does the anchored putting style increase performance despite not increasing talent and skill?’

Here I can see both sides of the argument. For the anti-anchored putter side, my statistical research has shown that in general, the PGA Tour players who have gone to the long putter have improved their putting using the Putts Gained formula.

I can also see the point that part of the game is about the ability of the golfer to handle their nerves. If it weren’t, we wouldn’t hold somebody like Jack Nicklaus as all that special and the Ryder Cup would just be another pro event.

But in my opinion, putting is much much more about having a good speed/touch, good aim and the ability to read greens far more than it is about stroke mechanics. It’s not even that close of a contest, IMO.

One of the all-time great putters, Loren Roberts, utilizes a bit of a ‘cut-across’ stroke according to SAM Puttlab data. Yet, he’s the ‘Boss of the Moss.’ His great putting has to do more with getting the putter face square to the target at impact consistently, having a great touch on the greens and being able to read those greens.

When I think of the truly greatest putters on the PGA Tour over the years, I think of Luke Donald, Greg Chalmers, Aaron Baddeley, Tiger Woods and Brian Gay….all using standard putters with a standard putting style.

And for all of the talk of Adam Scott’s putting, he finished 144th in Putts Gained last year. This year he’s currently tied for 78th. However, what people do not realize is that Scott was ranked FIRST in putts gained back in 2004, when he had a standard style putter.

I also look at some of the best anchored putters on Tour and I think of Scott McCarron who went from an above average putter with the long stick to one of the best on Tour. But that didn’t happen until he and his caddy started to learn AimPoint’s system of reading greens. The same has happened for Bo Van Pelt, who now utilizes AimPoint and has went from a mediocre putter to a top-10 putter, while still using a ‘standard putter.’


FINAL CONCLUSION

Currently, I am considering a belly putter myself. Although I would like to wait and see what the governing bodies decide on the matter. My feeling is that if I can find a belly putter that I aim well like my current putter and I can automate the putting stroke to a degree, that may help in the end. However, I am looking for that possible infinitesimal improvement and I have no idea whether or not that will happen.

And that’s why I tend to lean towards keeping the anchored putting style. I think a lot of it is more of a psychosomatic deal than anything else. I don’t think it’s worth the hassle and possible uproar to ban something that we have no unearthly idea if it’s truly in the best interest of the game.





3JACK

3Jack Round 7.31.12 FSGA Amateur Qualifier

Course: Metrowest GC
Stimp: 10.5
Ball: Titleist Pro V1x

Driver: Wishon 919THI 10* loft, UST Mamiya ProForce VTS Silver 6x shaft
3-wood: Wishon 949MC 15* loft, UST Mamiya ProForce VTS Red 7x shaft
Hybrid: Wishon 775HS, 18* loft, Wishon Gold Tour Hybrid shaft (stiff)
4-iron: Wishon 555C, standard loft, Wishon Stepless Steel shaft (stiff)
5-AW: Wishon 555M, standard loft, Wishon Stepless Steel shaft (stiff)
SW: Cleveland Reg. 588, 55* loft, 16* bounce, Tour Concept Wedge shaft
LW: Edel Gold Digger Grind, 60* loft, 27* bounce, True Temper Dynamic Gold SL shaft

Going into the qualifier I thought that under part at Metrowest would probably qualify. I had played Metrowest about 8 different times and struggled on 7 of the rounds, but managed to keep the scores between 74-78. In the month leading to the qualifier I started to hit the irons superbly. I was flagging about 3-4 shots a round, coming very close to making a hole-in-one or jarring an eagle on multiple occasions.

What was killing me was the driver, but I was more inconsistent than anything. I would have a lot of times where the front 9 would be a disaster driving the ball, then I would start to 'get it' on the back nine and think I was cured, only to repeat the same sequence in the next round. Or I would go to the range thinking I had resolved the issue and sometimes I would hit the driver great and other rounds it would be a nightmare.

My putting really started to come around, in particular with the use of the AimPoint bubble which really helped diagnose where I make mistakes (reading too much break and too much slope). And the short game was getting really good in the last 2 weeks.

I knew going into the tournament my success was going to come down to how well I hit the driver and the long irons.

#10 - Nervous, I snap hook a driver so bad that it was easily my worst drive all year long. I then just hacked a 7-iron out of the deep rough about 100 yards or so. I then was thinking about trying to get the ball in range to make bogey. I tried hitting a hybrid around the oak tree, but it caught the tree and kicked out sideways.

Now, I figured I might as well get as close to the green as I could and I hit a 3-wood from a lie below my feet. This one cuts and goes into the bunker well away from the green. Now I have a terrible lie in the bunker and can only manage to hit the ball into the other bunker.

I then blast a bunker shot to 10-feet. I had the read at 3-inches and had the line, but left it 6-inches short and make triple (+3)


#11 - I hit a ugly low draw that finds the fairway bunker. I hit a good fairway bunker shot with a SW to 25 feet. I had the read at 14-inches right and I just burned the edge and tapped in for par (+3)


#12 - I tried to aim more down the right side to play for my left driver. Again, I hit a low pull-draw type of driver. I had a very difficult shot as the 8-iron was a tough lie and I would have to draw it around a tree. Instead, I decided to play for the right side of the green and I missed a little right and a little short. That was more of the line of thinking I should have had on #10.

Even though I had a lot of green in front of me, I hit a nice PW chip to about 3-feet and drained the par putt (+3)


#13 - New hole, same song. This time I find another left fairway bunker. I had a tough shot and a tough lie and hit a really good 5-iron out of there, but it found the greenside bunker. There was not much room to work with and the lie in the greenside bunker was crap, so I hit it pretty well but it rolled past the pin and 2-putted for bogey (+4)


#14 - Ugly driver that cut a little, but found the fairway. Decided to lay up since I couldn't get there and flushed a 5-iron to 110 yards. Hit a SW to about 30-feet on a difficult shot to the green. I then had the read at 0 and the read was true, I just missed by about 2-inches short and made par (+4)


#15 - When your +4 and you can't hit your driver, but hit your irons well, I started to think about going for flags on the par-3's, regardless of pin location. I flushed an 8-iron to 15-feet. This was a putt that was at 60* up and then flattened out. I over-read the 2nd part of the putt and missed high and made par (+4)


#16 - Another low pull draw into a left fairway bunker. I hit a very good 7-iron that drew just left of the green. I hit a Rule of 12 chip (9-iron) perfectly to 2-feet and tapped in for par (+4)


#17 - Again, I was thinking about going for the flag. I hit the 5-iron well, a little left, but it went long of the green anyway. I then hit a SW chip to about 4-feet and saved par (+4)


#18 - This was an ugly hook, but it found the fairway and was in good shape. Here I bailed on a PW and found the left greenside bunker. I hit a good blast to 6-feet and had the read, but left the putt short (bad stroke). And made a bogey (+5)


#1 - I knew at the turn I was not looking good. The real killer is that I couldn't hit the driver, so my odds of making birdie were really lowered. When you can hit the driver, you can start to put yourself in position to do some things. When you can't hit the driver, par-5's become almost impossible.

Here I snap-hooked a driver that found the fairway. However, I had 180 yards into a green that usually is meant for a wedge into it. I flushed a 7-iron onto the green. Even my playing partner mentioned how difficult it is to find the green from 100 yards, much less 180 yards. I then had a 30-footer that I think I would have made if I didn't hit it off the toe and I made par (+5)


#2 - Another snap hook driver. What was difficult was I was trying everything I could think of in order to not shut the face and I didn't have this issue with any irons. I then tried to see if the attack angle was too steep and that didn't work. Then I tried to prevent from swinging too far out to the right and that didn't work. I just couldn't stop snap hooking the driver.

I wound up with a bad lie and to work some trees. I hit the shot pretty well, but I wound up in the right greenside bunker. I blasted to 5-feet and I had the read at 1-inch and I think it broke about 4-inches. Must have mis-read the % of slope. (+6)


#3 - Flushed a 4-iron to 18-feet. Probably had a decent read, but hit it too softly and made par (+6)


#4 - didn't quite pull or low hook this one and found the fairway. But, now I'm deathly scared of the 3-wood which I don't hit well. Now I have a 6-iron into this green, which isn't good. I flush the 6-iron into the wall of the greenside bunker which plugged. Metrowest is notorious for their bunkers needing repair and since they have been taken over by the Hilton Resorts, they plan to make it the #1 priority to re-do the bunkers. Well, that doesn't work for me here.

I swing as hard as I can just to get it out. Then I chip on to 5-feet and save bogey (+7)


#5 - I finally said to myself 'lets hold the face off as much as you can with the driver.' And voila...I bomb a driver that just find the right rough, but a good driver nonetheless. I had the distance, but the tough lie put me pin high and just off the green. Metrowest didn't really have a 'fringe', so you wound up chipping on the fringe because the grass was too long. I just missed my 12-foot chip and tapped in for par (+7)


#6 - I thought about 'holding the face off' again and crushed this one about 310 yards. Both of the golfers I played with were former collegiate golfers and that was the first time we all hit pretty good or better drives and I just smoked it about 25 yards past them. I then have PW into the green and I'm about 1-yard from perfect....but, it hits the wall of the bunker and plugs again. This time it actually strained my groine a little just to blast it out of there. I only got it to move about a foot or so. I chipped on to 5-feet and to wound up in an old cup placement that wasn't filled very well and it just broke way left and I made double (+9)


#7 - This drive was hit well, but I pushed it and it over-cut too much into the right fairway bunker. I hit a good 9-iron out of there. Then I flushed a 7-iron, hitting it as high as I could at the flag. I then lipped out a 15-footer for birdie and made par (+9)


#8 - Flushed an 8-iron to 15-feet. I had the read at 3-inches. I lipped out, but it was a low-side lip out...meaning if I had hit it harder it would have gone in.


#9 - Smoked another driver down the middle. Too bad it took 14 holes to figure it out. I was gutless here and bailed out right to avoid the water. My first putt from 45 feet went about 8-feet short. But, I snuck in the 8-footer so I didn't 3-putt all day long.

40-41=81 (+9)
6/14 fairways
7/18 GIR
31 putts
10 impeded shots

THOUGHTS: Obviously, that was very disappointing as for the 2nd tournament in a row, my worst round of the year occurred. And I haven't hit the driver that bad since 2009.

I think therein lies part of the issue. My practice sessions have been consumed with looking and analyzing iron swings and ignoring the driver swing for too long. As far as I'm concerned, the driver is the only think on my game that I have zero reliance on.

I didn't think the course was overly difficult either, although the scores were high and to my surprise, 75 qualified. I think the difficulty was that the fairway grass was real long and caused a lot of fliers. I was expecting that though, but still difficult to get used to hitting your irons 1/2 club to a full club longer than normal. And I could see a golfer having a good round ruined by just missing an approach shot and it burying into the wall of the bunker. Hell, I almost injured myself from one of them.

I was happy with the fact that I putted well and my short game was pretty sharp despite the fact I don't practice them a lot. That shows to me that my thinking was right...I can get those up to snuff with less work in a shorter amount of time.

So for now, it's back to the drawing board and try to get ready for FSGA Mid-Am qualifying in September. And on a final note, I just want to thank the FSGA for once again running a classy tournament.










3JACK

Thoughts On Hitting Up On The Driver...

One of the concepts that often bandied about in golf instruction recently is hitting up versus hitting down with the driver.

For those who don’t understand ‘attack angle’, it’s actually measured from the caddy view as shown in the diagram below.



Many people confuse this with ‘coming in too steep’, which would be viewed from the Down The Line perspective, such as this player coming over the top.



A steep or shallow attack angle is not the same as a coming over the top or getting below plane concepts. Furthermore, they are not mutually exclusive either. There’s a tendency for them to go hand-in-hand. The extreme over the top player may have a tendency to have a steep attack angle as well. But, that’s not always the case.

WHY HIT UP WITH THE DRIVER?

This concept was popularized by Trackman when they discovered that not only could one hit upward with the driver, that all things being equal the ball would go further as the attack angle got shallower or went upward. The ball will carry further and will spin less, thus meaning a long carrying shot that rolled more.

However, ‘that is all’ that hitting up does. It will allow the golfer to hit the ball further provided everything else is the same.

Obviously, hitting the ball further has an advantage. My statistical research on Tour shows that the expected score values go down as the Tour player gets his approach shot 25 yards closer to the hole. Meaning, if a Tour player were to play 2 balls and hit his first drive to 175 yards to the flag and the 2nd drive to 150 yards to the flag, on average the expected score value starts to noticeably get better on the 2nd drive which is 25 yards closer to the flag. Using that example, the 1st drive (175 yards to flag) may mean that on average the expected score value for the golfer on that hole may be 4.1 strokes. But the 2nd drive (150 yards to flag) may have an expected score value of 3.8 strokes. And while 0.3 strokes may not seem like a big deal, do that around the course for an entire round, it certainly adds up.

All of that being said, hitting up with the driver does not equate to any benefit as far as accuracy or consistency.


POSSIBLE DANGERS WITH HITTING UPWARD

I asked a few of my sources who own either a Trackman or the FlightScope X2 model launch monitor to get their thoughts on hitting up. These sources included 4 current PGA Tour players and 4 current Nationwide Tour players. Along with 5 Trackman owner golf instructors, some of whom teach the Tour players and a few LPGA players (I didn't speak to the LPGA players).

A few of these sources were very much for hitting upward on the driver. But, the majority found some pitfalls with trying to hit up on the driver.

One of the common complaints was the fear of losing clubhead speed with the driver. Most of the sources claimed that they felt that there was a point of diminishing returns with trying to hit up and getting distance because they felt that any distance derived from hitting it more upward could be offset by distance lost thru lower clubhead speed.

Currently, there are 139 golfers on Tour who have driver clubhead speed measurements from Trackman in both 2012 and 2011. Two of the sources that I know have changed their attack angle in order to hit upward are in the top-10 largest drops in clubhead speed. And 2 of the sources who have stopped trying to hit up so much on the driver are in the top-10 in increased clubhead speed.

From talking to these sources and observing some clubhead speed data, I do believe that one can hit down too much and lose clubhead speed. However, I think those are situations where the golfer is just swinging poorly to begin with. So as far as hitting up and distance goes, there appears to be a situation where the golfer needs to understand that hitting up does not always equate to hitting it further if their clubhead and ball speed drops. Thus, they will need to determine if the distance gained from hitting upward can counter any possible distance lost from a lower clubhead speed.

Another common complaint was that hitting upward required a very different swing from hitting irons or even fairway woods. We know from the Geometry of the Circle that if you want to hit down and have a square path, the swing direction has to go left. But if you want a square path and hit up, the swing direction has to be pointing out to the right. Thus, the common complaint was making the switch from those different swing directions was often too difficult for the player to make.

There were other complaints as well as not feeling comfortable with the trajectory windows being hit on upward strikes versus their ‘normal’ downward or ‘flat’ strike (0.0° attack angle).

ADVANCED TOTAL DRIVING AND HITTING UPWARD

I utilize a metric called Advanced Total Driving that is a proprietary formula to help determine effectiveness off the tee for golfers on Tour. Advanced Total Driving consists of the following metrics:

Driving Distance
Fairway Percentage
Distance To Edge of Fairway (on shots that miss the fairway)

I have found that these metrics encompass the main attributes we look for in driving skill…distance, accuracy and precision.



From what I have observed, there is no real statistical correlation that can be draw with attack angle and Advanced Total Driving. Part of the problem is that there is a small sample size that I’m working with since I only have about 25 PGA Tour player’s attack angle recordings via Trackman.

However, the only correlation I tend to see is in golfers that hit more than -4.5° down with the driver. The correlation there is to perform poorly in Advanced Total Driving. But again, it appears that those are issues with the golfer just swinging poorly period. These golfers almost exclusively play poorly in each of the Zones (Birdie Zone, Safe Zone and Danger Zone) as well.

Boo Weekley ranked #1 in Advanced Total Driving in 2011 and is currently ranked #2 this year and he hits -3.5°. However, Bo Van Pelt is one of the better drivers on Tour year in and year out, ranked 10th in 2011 and currently ranked 26th and hits up about +2° to +5°.

CURRENT CONCLUSIONS

The end game in driving the ball is about being able to hit the ball as well as you can from the perspective of distance, accuracy and precision. We want to blend all of those together. Obviously, there can be situations where a golfer may increase power but lose some accuracy or precision off the tee. It then becomes the golfer’s duty to be able to gauge whether the trade-off will be more effective in lowering their scores.

I do not think there’s anything wrong with hitting up on the driver if the golfer can execute it well enough to where they are more effective off the tee in doing so. However, the same goes for hitting down with the driver.

I have concluded that a golfer needs to understand that hitting up on the driver is not mandatory in any way, shape or form as shown by golfers like Boo Weekley and Hunter Mahan. Furthermore, the golfer should understand the potential dangers of hitting up on the ball versus the potential dangers of hitting down on the ball.

I think that all serious Long Distance driving competitors MUST hit up on the driver in order to succeed. But, those golfers are far more worried about optimizing the parts of impact that optimize distance rather than worrying about accuracy and precision as they are given 6 shots to hit the ball as far as they can and still find a grid that is 40 yards wide.

But for the average golfer, I think there are many factors to consider and hitting up on the driver is nowhere near being mandatory. There are some people who believe that the driver is ‘designed to hit upward on’, but I actually think that the driver is more designed for a ‘flat’ attack angle (0.0°) and the average attack angle on Tour is about -1° downward (measured by Trackman).

I think that closer to a flat attack angle probably works better for most golfers in terms of generating clubhead speed, accuracy, consistency and being able to transition better to swinging the other clubs as well. Obviously, some exceptions apply.




3JACK