Golf Australia – August 2019

I alwayslearneda lotfromobserving

players.Whenwehadfinishedplayingforthe

day,MarkJamesandIwouldgooutandwatch

peoplelikeRobertoDeVicenzoandLeeTrevino.

Thecremedelacremeofthegolfingworld.We

sawwhattheydidandhowtheywentaboutit.

Tiger’ssetupis superb.Sois RickieFowler’s.

Theybothlooksonaturalovertheballandwhen

makingastroke.Somepeoplenaturallyhaveit

andothershavetoworkatit.WhenIwatched

FrancescoMolinariontheputtinggreenat

[Royal]Birkdalein2017,Icouldseehedidn’t

haveanyfeel.NowwhenIwatchhimIthink,my

goodness,whatatransformation.Itjustshows

withabitofhardworkandsuperdisciplineyou

cantrainyourselftobecomeagreatputter.

Youdon’tneedtospendhourspractising

yourputting.Somewherebetweenhalf-an-hour

toanhoureachtimeismorethanenoughandnot

veryphysical.Itshouldn’tbeacaseofhowmany,

buthowwell.Mydadusedtosaypracticeshould

beconstructivetobeproductive.

I learnednothingfroma holedputt,but

everythingfroma missedputt.

AholedputtdideverythingIexpected,butI

wouldanalyseeverymiss.You’vegottolearnfrom

yourmistakesratherthanyoursuccesses.

I spenta reasonableamountoftimeplaying

withSeveandtherewerea fewthingsI

gleanedfromhim.You’vegottohavethebasics

right,butyou’vealsogottofeelcomfortable.

There’snopointstandingovertheballlikea

chocolatesoldier,it’sgottofeelnatural.Theother

thingwhichreallystoodoutwashowlowhetook

theputterbackandthroughtheball.Itwaslikehe

wascombingthegrass,almostgrazingtheground.

I onceaskedSevehowfirmlyheheldthe

putter.Hejustsaid,“Very,verylight.”You

couldseehewasalmostcaressingit.As

ageneralrule,Ithinkif 10 istightandoneis

almostfallingoutofyourhand,youshouldgrip

somewherebelowfive.WhenI’mpractising,I

normallyaimfortwoorthreetobuildthatfeel.

Itmakessuchadi‘erence.Ifyourgriptensionis

anyhigherthanasix,itmakesitsohard.It’sgotto

belightsoyou’vegotrhythminyourstroke.

That’swhyhavingaworngripneverlendsitself

toputtingwell.You’lljustgriptootight.It’sthe

sameifyou’vegotsweatyorwethands.Always

carryatowel,it’samust.

Besurewhenyoupicka linetosayto

yourself,‘I’mgoingtohitthisfirm‘.Havean

absolutelypositivemindset.

Ithinksomegolferscanbetoodeliberate.Precise

decision-makingiskey.Ifyoustandoveritfor

asplitsecondtoolong,that’swhenyoustart

doubtingyourself.

Shortputtsaretheonlypartofthegame

whichis reallymasterable.

Youcan,fromfourfeetandin,holenearly

everything.Ifyoucandothat,you’llbeclosetoa

scratchgolfer.Butthosearetheonesamateurs

don’tpractise.Rarelydoyouseethemfinish

PAR 48 This two-putt drill covers everything

• both lag and short putting. Pick eight spots
  around the perimeter of the green, and drop
  three balls at each station. The par is 48 and the
  goal is to two-putt every one. I did this a lot as a
  young lad and used to set myself a challenge of
  breaking level par. It’s great for touch putting as
  well as practising those four-footers for par.

Try and vary the

distances so some

putts are only 20 feet

away and others are

40 or even 60 feet.

Thisisgreat

forbuilding

confidence,but

alsotouch.

FOUR OF

MY BEST

DRILLS

1

2

SPEED PUTTING From short range, use three

balls and knock them in at different paces, down

a slope. The key one is the slow one. The hardest

stroke to make is when you try and nudge it in

the hole. Whenever a Tour player asks for my

help, this is the drill I get them doing. They can

all bash them in or hit them at medium pace. But

it takes a little bit of fi nesse to drop it in the front

edge. The better you get, the further away you

can putt from.

BROWN ON...

the hickory-shafted

putter that won Ryder

Cups ... and that one a

rival tried to eat.

The putter I had was plucked straight from a

chuck-away bag at Redbourn Golf Club in 1974,

just before I turned pro. George Hamshaw, the

head pro there, just gave it to me. “No one will

buy it,” I think he said. It was probably made in

the 1900s, but I got a new grip on it, put some

lead tape on the bottom and off I went. I mean,

you would never use it now. The shaft twisted

and the sweetspot was minuscule, like a

pinhead. But it had a fantastic feel. From short

range, I loved it. I’ve still got it actually, and

you can still see Bert Yancey’s teeth marks on

the shaft. He joined me for a few holes at the

St Jude Memphis Classic on the Monday, and

when I got my putter out on the fi rst green,

he got hold of it. He put it under his nose like

a cigar and said “Oh, it smells good, doesn’t

it?” The next thing I knew it was in his mouth.

I could just hear this crunch in the shaft.

That’s why I call it Bert!

60 AUGUST 2019 | golf australia

A Z OF PUTTING