masters
thesis▶ i was coaching
Tiger when he won
the 1997 Masters, his
first major as a pro,
by 12 shots. It was an
amazing display of
golf, and it confirmed
what I already knew:
Tiger was a cold-
blooded winner.
But soon after, he
started looking at
pictures from that
week and didn’t like
that his clubface was
shut at the top. He
thought that limited
the shots he could hit.
He wanted to fix it.
My first reaction was,
the change would take
serious time. I told
him 1998 could be a
struggle, but he was
focused on doing it.
So we set out to
improve the swing that
won the Masters in a
runaway. Tiger was
never satisfied, always
wanted to get better. In
1999, after the changes,
he won eight times. As
my father used to say,
patience is overrated.fairway
iron shot
clubface
Square
stance
Shoulder width
ball position
One ball inside
the front heel
weight
60-40 on
the front foot
posture
Head over the ball
shaft
Leaning slightly
forward
★ bonus tip for
solid contact
Set more weight
on your front side.
greenside
chip-and-run
clubface
Square to
slightly closed
stance
Very narrow
ball position
Off the back foot
weight
90-10 on
the front foot
posture
Head in front
of the ball
shaft
Leaning well forward
★ bonus tip for
better feel
Chip with your normal
putting grip.
sand
bunker shot
clubface
Open
stance
Shoulder width
ball position
Off the front instep
weight
60-40 on the front foot
posture
Head behind the ball
shaft
Leaning slightly back
★ bonus tip
for extra loft
Open the face and
grip with the thumb
of your glove hand on
top of the shaft.