2019-06-01_Golf_Digest

Lyin’ Eyes?

Try my simple test

to see if you can spot

the line of the putt

by pat perez

22 golfdigest.com | june 2019

Play Your Best Tour Technique

I realized I needed to change
my head position to see the line
correctly every time. That setup
will be different for everyone,
so it’s trial and error. For me,
it involved rotating my head a
little toward the target. I just
kept moving it until my eyes
were matched with where the
ball had to start to go in the
hole. That head position might
be different for you. To find it,
pick out a medium-length putt
where the correct line is obvi-
ous. Then address the ball, and
let your head swivel slowly left
or right seeing if you can get
your eyes to match that line.
The nonstarters will be readily
apparent, but there will likely
be a few head positions that feel
like you’ve got it. You’re close,
but now it’s time to fine-tune it.
Pick out a two- or three-foot
putt. (Let’s face it, if you can’t
get on line from this close,
you’re not going to be able to do
it from 20 feet.) Keep adjusting
your head until you’re sure your
eye position matches the line.
It should be one of the positions
you noted from farther out.

▶ I’ve picked up almost

three-quarters of a stroke

on the greens since chang-

ing my eye line. That’s three

strokes over 72 holes.

strokes gained/putting

2016

-.421

strokes gained/putting

2017-19

.301

That’s the one you want for

every putt going forward.

At the first tournament af-

ter changing my eye position,

things felt awkward—like my

eyes were oriented way left of

where I wanted them to be.

But over a few weeks, that feel-

ing started to go away. Making

more putts sure helped with

that. Since then, I’ve won twice

and had my two best years on

tour. So check your eyes!

—with e. michael johnson

veryone putts poorly at times, including me.

Check this out: In 2016, I missed 32 of 70 attempts

from four to eight feet. That got my attention.

I wasn’t giving any thought to how I wanted to

approach my putting, and that had to change. ▶ I started by

putting down chalk lines on a green, and what I found was,

my eye line at address was way off. What my eyes saw as a

straight line to the hole turned out to be well right of it. For

a 15-foot putt, it was off by as much as a foot or more. That’s

a long way to be off for anyone, let alone a professional.

E