2018-06-01 Golf Digest, Own Your Short Game

t h i n k yo u n g | p l ay h a r d
US OPEN
SHINNECOCK
‘OWN
PREVIEW
+
STRAIGHT-DISTANCE
YOUR BY JORDAN SPIETH

HOW TO
MAKE
SHORT THE ONES

THAT
MATTER
GAME’ 3 SHOTS
TO SAVE
YOUR
SCORE
BY CURE
MICHAEL YOUR
SLICE
BREED WITH A
DRAW
DRIVER
ONE FACE TO R
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how to play. what to play. where to play.
Contents 06/18 ▶ One of Shinnecock’s fabulous par 3s—the dangerous but beautiful 11th.
Features Play Your Best The Golf Life

cover story u.s. open preview 10 3 Shots to Save Your Score 30 The Hamptons: An
50 Own Your Short Game 90 Don’t Mess This Up Hit recoveries that look Embarrassment of Riches
The skills you need It’s crucial that the USGA like tricks. Sure, Shinnecock is
to develop consistency gets it right at Shinnecock. BY WESLEY BRYAN wonderful, but it has
and touch. BY GUY YOCOM plenty of company.
BY MICHAEL BREED 14 Can’t Chip? Look Here BY JOHN PAUL NEWPORT
104 Why New York Loves Phil My simple setup tips will
56 How To Make the Ones Big Apple fans love eliminate chunks or skulls. 34 The Digest
That Matter Phil Mickelson. You got BY BUTCH HARMON We’re here to help:
Become a great putter a problem with that? 15 excuses for not
in the clutch. BY STEVE RUSHIN 18 How Tiger Cured the Yips having a good round.
BY PAULA CREAMER Top teachers explain BY SAM WEINMAN
108 Rewriting History how Tiger got his short AND ALEX MYERS
64 Jordan Spieth’s Now that the USGA has game back
Straight Distance gone from 18 holes to two 37 Git Guide: 14 Presents
Keys for hitting every for U.S. Open playoffs, swing sequence Dad Actually Wants
fairway—again and again we look back on what 20 Jon Rahm Light up Father’s Day
might have been. with these better ideas.
78 Big Hoss BY DAN JENKINS 22 Golf Made Easy BY BRITTANY ROMANO
Beau Hossler on tour life, Use your hips to power up.
the Beau Hossler Rule 112 Sotening the Stare BY DAVID LEADBETTER 42 Game Changers
and why watching the Raymond Floyd on What golf’s new rules
Dodgers in the World winning at Shinnecock, 24 Tour Technique will mean for you.
Series is more stressful the art of tipping, and Flush iron shots from BY RYAN HERRINGTON
than playing the U.S. Open. dealing with a cheater a downhill lie.
WITH RYAN HERRINGTON on the golf course BY SHANSHAN FENG, 44 Style
(plus Bernie Madoff). ROLEX WORLD NO. 1 Three looks that are
86 This Is Gonna Hurt WITH GUY YOCOM perfect for summer.
Sit down before you 25 Lob Shots Made Easy BY ASHLEY MAYO
read about the golfer BY MARIO GUERRA
who suffered a . . . 48 Ask Golf Digest
fractured testicle. 26 Cure Your Slice Is there scientific evidence
BY MICHAEL J. YOUNG, M.D. With a Draw Driver that putts actually break
Our testing shows toward water?
these clubs really work.
dom furore
BY MIKE STACHURA 120 Undercover Tour Pro

8 Editor’s Letter The battle of dumb
A New Way to Improve. 28 What’s In My Bag versus smart.
BY JERRY TARDE Austin Cook WITH MAX ADLER
6 golfdigest.com | june 2018 Cover photograph by Walter Iooss Jr.

AIR
NAVITIMER 1
LAND
SEA
NAVITIMER 1 B01 CHRONOGRAPH 46

MANUFACTURE CALIBER B01 BREITLING BOUTIQUE
CHRONOMETER-CERTIFIED NEW YORK • MIAMI • ORLANDO
SAN ANTONIO • LOS ANGELES
LAS VEGAS • WASHINGTON DC
DENVER
Editor’s Letter
Photographer Walter Iooss Jr. and

Chief Digital Instructor Michael
Breed work together on our cover
story. Breed starts a new lesson
series answering your questions
twice a week on Golf Digest Live!
“Personalities count. It’s why you had fa-

vorite teachers in school and others who put
A New Way you to sleep. All Access exposes you to great

instruction, and you get to pick what works
to Improve for you.”

So how’s this different from the free tips
on YouTube?
BY JERRY TARDE First, we present only the best PGA pro-
Chairman and Editor-in-Chief fessionals in the game. Golf Digest draws
our content from America’s 50 Best Teach-
ers, America’s Best Young Teachers, and
grew up on a public course in Philadelphia and took lessons
I from a Cadillac-driving PGA pro named Joe Hunsberger. He
the Best Teachers in Every State, ranked by
their peers.
was a good teacher and got me started with solid fundamentals. I was The video is shot with the highest quality
lucky that we clicked. Most golfers go to only two or three pros in their production values—led by Executive Pro-
ducer Christian Iooss and Senior Photogra-
lifetime. ▶ The first season I got a job at this magazine, I went to a Golf pher/Videographer Dom Furore, edited by
Digest School in Boca Raton, Fla. Jim Flick fixed my grip. Bob Toski Ben Walton and Mason Leverington. Once
got me out of the sand. Davis Love Jr. tried to teach me good posture. you see it, you’ll know the difference.
Peter Kostis showed me how to make a descending blow. Chuck Cook Conceiving the ideas, curating the con-
tent is all done by the same editors who have
kept me laughing. They were the best teachers in the game. brought you 68 years of Golf Digest—plus
Then I started working on stories with Paul Now, for the first time through streaming a new team of strategists, engineers, data
Runyan, who gave me a one-lever chipping technology and the guidance of our edito- experts and consumer marketers who con-
stroke. Sam Snead taught me how to throw a rial team, the same up-close, in-motion and stantly improve the user experience.
putter. I learned spot-aiming from Jack Nick- personal instruction is as far away as your Says Executive Editor Peter Morrice, who
laus. Tom Watson gave me forearm rotation. mobile phone. is in charge of content development: “We
Then I took one-on-one lessons with “We’re giving you dozens of teachers— wanted to create an instruction experience.
Shelby Futch, who found my backswing. I think of the Peloton model meets Netflix,” Not just quick tips or tons of videos, but
spent three days with Jimmy Ballard. Butch says Chris Reynolds, General Manager of curriculums, deep learning. It’s developing
Harmon got my belt buckle pointing to the Golf Digest. “Our new program allows you skills, but in the right order and with real ex-
target. At a staff clinic, I learned ball posi- to come back to the pros you like, try new pertise. That starts with great teachers, who
tion from Judy Rankin. Over breakfast one ones, all with no intimidation, and on your can explain, simplify, demonstrate, enter-
morning, David Leadbetter demonstrated schedule.” tain. A lesson with a great teacher is special,
The A Swing. Hank Haney cured my yips on Golf Digest Schools opens this month at and this mirrors the depth and lasting value
the practice tee. Dr. Bob Rotella played as my golfdigest.com/schools. With an All Access of that experience.”
photograph by kyle may • illustration by tim l ahan
partner in a four-ball tournament. subscription, you receive more than 200 Great teachers have a presence. Maybe
I’ve Stacked-&-Tilted, Swung-the-Handle- original video lessons and classics that you it’s the poise of self-assurance; it’s definite-
Not-the-Clubhead, and Squared-to-Square can view anywhere, anytime on your phone, ly salesmanship. Spend 30 minutes with
with Golf Digest for four decades. Heck, I’m laptop or TV screen. More content will be Butch, and you start thinking, I’d be an idiot
the one who named Tiger Woods’ low-slung added every week. not to do everything this guy is saying. Great
tee ball The Stinger, and now he thinks he did. Plus you get live, interactive clinics twice teachers inspire and make you excited to try
Forgive all the name-dropping, but the weekly with our Chief Digital Instructor, new things.
greatest benefit of being an editor of Golf Michael Breed. You get to ask questions and I’ve rarely used this space to pitch you on
Digest, hanging around our hallways, is that have your swing analyzed through an on- something, but this is the future, ours and
you get to take private lessons from the best line partnership with CoachNow. And you yours: a new way to improve—Golf Digest
of the best teachers in the world. receive print and digital subscriptions to All Access.
Golf Digest magazine for an All Access price
of $9.99 a month or $99.99 a year.
“It’s not always what’s being taught, it’s
how it’s being taught,” says Ron Kaspriske,
Senior Editor of Instruction and Fitness.
8 golfdigest.com | june 2018

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10 golfdigest.com | june 2018 Photograph by Dom Furore
Whatever Your Style
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It’s always about

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“A tight-lie flop requires commitment,
swing speed—and stones.”
’m guessing you’ve hit a miracle shot once or twice. Maybe you threaded it through the trees, or nipped
I a wedge off a cartpath. Before I joined the PGA Tour, I had a lot of fun making trick-shot videos with my
brother, George. I’d hit golf balls in midair with a driver, skip them across ponds to a target on the other
side, bank them off trampolines—you get the idea. Miracle shots are really hard to pull off, but when you’re playing
for a score, you need to improve your odds. I’ll show you three stroke-saving trick shots that will look miraculous
to your playing partners and opponents, but if you follow my advice, you’ll feel comfortable hitting anytime.
—W E S L E Y B R YA N , W I N N E R O F T H E 2 0 1 7 R B C H E R I TA G E AT H A R B O U R T O W N

Stroke Savers Play Your Best
THE TIGHT FLOP
When there’s no choice but

to hit one high from a very
tight lie, even a tour player like
me sweats a little. This shot can
lead to thoughts of blading it over
the green and into the subdivi-
sion behind it. But by keeping in
mind a couple of simple factors,
you can dramatically increase
your chance of success.
When you blade a pitch, most
of the time it’s because you
changed the distance between
your body and the ball during the
downswing. To prevent that from
happening, keep your lower body
very quiet and use an upright,
arm-dominated swing. Open the
face slightly at address, and then
let the clubhead release through
impact with some speed (let).
You want to feel the sole of the
club, not the leading edge,
sliding along the turf.
THE EMERGENCY HYBRID THE RESCUE PITCH
Hybrids are awesome for You have a pitch shot that

making longer shots easier doesn’t need to travel very
to hit than if you used a 3-iron or far, but the ball is way down in
4-iron. But you can run into the grass. This shot can really
problems using a hybrid when lock up a weekend player. How
the ball is sitting down in the do you swing with enough speed
rough. Unlike irons, the bigger to get the ball out of the rough,
head and wider sole can get but send it only 20 to 30 yards?
caught up in the grass, and the Here’s how: Set up like you
ball goes nowhere. would for a normal pitch shot,
The way I use a hybrid from but open the face of your wedge
deep grass is to set up and play as if you were about to play a
for a fade. To copy me, open your bunker shot from the same dis-
stance and the hybrid’s clubface tance. And just like a sand shot,
(let). Also, adjust your aim for you’re going to want to blast the
the fade and play the ball slightly club through the grass, keeping
back of center in your stance to the clubface pointing skyward
encourage a steeper downswing. throughout. Feel like your hands
You’re trying to make contact are swinging around your body
with as little grass as possible and moving toward your let
before your club strikes the ball. pocket through impact (above).
Keep in mind that it’s natural The speed created by making a
to think you’ll need more help bunker-type swing will help the
than these adjustments to get the club easily cut through the high
ball to the green. But resist the grass, and you’ll hit a shot where
urge to overswing or try to help the ball pops up and comes down
the ball in the air with a wristy, sot without much spin. When it
back-foot swipe. lands and stops by the flag, your
Depending on the depth of friends will say you couldn’t do
the rough, you can hit it close to that again if you hit a bucket of
normal fairway distance. You’ll balls. You’ll just smirk and say,
launch a flier that rolls and rolls. “Yup, it’s a miracle.”
Play Your Best Tee to Green by Butch Harmon
Can’t Chip?
Look Here
Forget the
swing. It’s
all about
the setup
y
join me in all access
▶ In my 20-plus years
working with Golf Digest,
I’ve written enough
articles to fill a bookcase.
But that’s old school.
Today, everybody wants
golf instruction on their
computers or their phones.
Golf Digest is making that
happen. With the launch
of a new digital-instruction
platform, Golf Digest All
hen I get students who from the ball, and get very close the grip a touch toward the tar- Access, you can get the
W complain about poor
chipping, here’s where
to it. That sets the ball position
back in your stance. Then, sole
get. Now you’re ready to make a
simple back-and-through stroke,
best coaching in the game,
all in video form. My first
I go first: How far are they stand- the clubhead behind the ball, hitting slightly down on the ball. two video series—one on
ing from the ball? If you’re more and aim the face on the line you The key is getting the shaft the full swing, one on the
than a foot away, you’re adding want the shot to start. Raise the more vertical at address. That short game—are available
variables that just aren’t neces- grip, so the shaft is more upright. keeps the clubface looking at now. Check them out, and
sary. The biggest issue is, the Finally, put your front foot in po- the target as you swing back and see all the benefits of this
club will tend to swing around sition—keeping the stance nar- through (above) and prevents the great new program at
your body, with the face fanning row—and lean your weight and club from veering to the inside. golfdigest.com/allaccess.
open (top photo). It’s hard to hit From this setup, it’s tough to hit
a good chip from that position. the ball off line, or chunk or skull butch harmon is a Golf Digest
Here’s a simpler way to go. it. Why not keep it simple? Teaching Professional.
Start with your back foot across —WITH PETER MORRICE
14 golfdigest.com | june 2018 Photographs by Dom Furore

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Tour Technique Play Your Best
Did a mechanical tweak help resuscitate

the tour’s best short game?
dragged the handle through the
shot. That created too much shaft
Tiger: Cured! lean—something he had been
trying to do in his full swing—and
Top teachers weigh in on how he it leaked into his short game. I
can’t think of another player who
overcame the chipping yips had that happen like that, but who
else has been as willing to change
INTERVIEWED BY MATTHEW RUDY swings? Now he’s setting the club
sooner, letting his right arm fold,
releasing it better and using the
stan utley hank haney bounce. Right-hand-only drills
helped him a lot. He once again is
▶ “When Tiger got in trouble with ▶ “Everybody wanted to see what an awesome wedge player.”
his chipping, he tended to let kind of swing speed Tiger was
the handle move too wide in the going to have when he came back dave stockton
backswing. When that happens, from the spinal-fusion surgery,
the head isn’t really swinging; but I really believed the obvious ▶ “Tiger has always used his right
you’re moving the whole stick short-game issues he had would hand a lot more on those shots
together. Then if you accelerate prevent him from coming back than I do, as opposed to letting
the grip to start the downswing, in any real way if he couldn’t the left hand control the action.
you bring the grip through impact figure them out. He’s obviously He uses his hands as a unit, but
first, which ruins the engineering found something in a technique when that right hand takes over,
of the club. In the swings I see change that’s been working—to a that’s when the club starts dig-
now, the club is setting earlier degree—and that’s great. You still ging. I was surprised to see that
and releasing earlier, and he’s see some of those strange shots become his problem because
using the bounce. When you use every once in a while. That’s his he was always so great at those
the bounce, the lies don’t become reality now. You can have some shots. When you struggle, it can
scary. You’re hitting the turf with good stretches, but when you get difficult fast because you
the back of the wedge and skid- have the yips, they’re in there. It’s start trying too hard to fix the
ding. You want to land the plane just a matter of how you try to problem and then you lose your
shallow and on the back wheels.” manage them.” feel. But now, he seems to be
swinging much more free. He’s
randy smith david leadbetter got it back in the groove. Maybe
what he needed was some time to
▶ “It’s absolutely amazing to me ▶ “Tiger didn’t have the chipping work on his game.”
what he’s done to recover—a total yips because of a mental issue.
transformation. You can call it It was physical. He had the shaft james sieckmann
release point, rust or whatever, leaning too far forward, and the
but there was something yippy leading edge was digging. You ▶ “Imagine if you’ve been amaz-
going on. He was literally playing can get away with that on certain ing at something your whole
away from his wedges. But as the types of grass, but many times life, and you never had to think
greatest player in the world might the grass would grab the club- about how to do it. Then all of a
do, he figured out something head and cause it to stub. If you sudden, when you tried to do it,
different—a different feel, a dif- don’t correct that, you could end it didn’t work. Tiger was thinking
ferent way to approach it, a slight up with a full-blown case of the the same things he always had,
grip change. Anything to feel mental chipping yips, but he cor- but he didn’t get the same result.
less action in his hands. That’s rected the issue. His right hand is He was confused. His setup had
fine in practice, but he’s now much more involved in the shot. gotten so different, with his head
doing great on the real stage. His The club releases and glides behind the ball and his shoulders
short game is back. He still has along the grass. It’s a much more closed. He was in a position
the yips. In the back of his head, effective way to chip. And with his where he couldn’t hit the ball
they’re still there. But for now, the hand-eye coordination, he can be first. A lot of people think he had
sam greenwood/getty images
change is a warm blanket.” as great as ever that way.” the yips. He didn’t. Tiger had a
bad motor pattern. And when he
mike adams found the right pattern again, it
came back quickly—and so did
▶ “Tiger had bad chipping funda- his confidence.”
mentals that exposed the leading
edge instead of the bounce—not
the yips. He took it back too
wide, which shut the face, and he
june 2018 | golfdigest.com 19

Play Your Best Swing Sequence
xamine the swings of But that’s not how Jon Rahm length. Not many can do that.” are so good, they look posed,”
E the game’s biggest hit-
ters and you’ll see the
cranks drives more than 320
yards. And he does that a lot.
Rahm’s clubhead speed (119
miles per hour) is a big reason
Smith says. “He uses his phy-
sique and strength to make a
vast majority have two similar- “He’s a big, strong man with he’s ranked in the top five of the simple swing. It’s like a bigger,
ities: (1) a big backswing with incredible athletic power,” says tour’s Strokes Gained/Off-the- harder version of Henrik Sten-
the left arm bending at the top; Golf Digest 50 Best Teacher Tee statistic. It’s also probably son’s swing. Jon hits it so simple
(2) the club travelling a long Randy Smith. “He keeps that no coincidence that he’s No. 3 and so square, it’s easy to see
way back to the ball to gather left arm straight and smashes in the World Golf Ranking. why his career is on the rise.”
more clubhead speed. the ball with swing width, not “The positions you see here — MATTHEW RUDY
POISED AT THE START SUPER SEQUENCING MAKING WAY

Jon Rahm
Jon’s swing is generic Jon’s chest and arms are Look at the distance
A driver swing so good, starting out, says moving together—a must between his hands and
Golf Digest 50 Best for a stronger player. “If sternum when his let
these photos look posed Teacher Randy Smith. his arms went quicker arm is parallel to the
(they’re not) “At address, the let
shoulder and hip are
around him, his chest
would have to sync up
ground in the backswing.
“Jon’s hands have moved
higher than the right later. That’s a recipe a little, but the shat
side, so he can hit it for a huge miss,” Smith has moved a lot,” Smith
high and hard,” Smith says. Instead, his chest says. The club will feel
says. “And for a big guy, supports the arms. Also, super light like this. If
he looks balanced and his lower body is quiet. the arms are too close to
comfortable, not feeling He’s winding against it, the body, it feels much
any stress.” Smith says. heavier.”

“For a guy swinging that fast, there’s no tension
in his body whatsoever.” —Randy Smith
DOUBLE WIDE TOTAL TRANSFER KEEPING IT REAL AMAZING GRACE PRO-FILE
“The let hip and knee As he swings into the Most players fake “I love the sot, folded jon rahm
are moving at the target ball, his let shoulder extension. They’re trying arms and supportive 23 / 6-2 / 220 pounds
Scottsdale
as his upper body is moves almost straight so hard to extend the feet as he finishes,”
finishing the backswing,” up, his let leg is pushing club toward the target in Smith says. “But what
driver
Smith says. “And his hard, and his hips the through-swing, they stands out is that Jon’s TaylorMade M4
head has moved off the are returning in sync forget to put a hit on the chest has turned at least (9.5 degrees)
ball minimally—which with the arms. “It’s a ball, Smith says. Jon 90 degrees relative to
is unbelievable, and total power release,” extended the club as a the target line. There ball
great for control. He’s so Smith says. “His head result of momentum doesn’t appear to be any TaylorMade TP5X
strong, he doesn’t need is actually moving from his fast swing. tension. And he finishes
a long backswing. It’s backward. It isn’t locked “This is a totally relaxed in balance despite
wide, and I’ll take wide or swaying forward. Both effort,” Smith says. “He’s swinging extremely fast.
over long any day.” can drain power.” not gripping tight at all.” That’s hard to do.”
Photographs by J.D. Cuban

Play Your Best Golf Made Easy by David Leadbetter
“Constantly borrowing tees?

You need a new downswing.”
Stand and
Deliver
Thrust with
your hips
to launch
the ball
f you’re regularly pop-
I ping up tee shots or the
ball isn’t rolling very far
once it lands in the fairway,
you’re hitting down on the ball
too much. That’s OK for an iron
shot off the turf, but not if
you’re swinging a driver. A tell-
tale sign your downswing is too
steep is if you’re constantly
breaking tees in half like you’re
splitting firewood.
If you want to maximize dis-
tance with your driver, you’ve
got to hit up on the ball, and a
simple fix is to literally stand
up during the downswing. Let’s
practice this move.
As your start the club down,
I want you to thrust your hips
forward like I’m doing here. I
recommend doing this without
a ball at first to get comfort-
able with this move, because
it will feel quite different than
your usually steep downswing.
But once you get the hang of it,
you can start hitting tee shots
this way. And I’m sure you’ll be
pleased with the results.
What this stand-up/hip-
thrust move does is shallow the
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club’s path into the ball and gets

it moving upward just before
impact. That, in turn, launches
the ball high—but not pop-up
high—and with far less back-
spin than if you hit down on it.
That’s really important to in- you’re one click away from great golf instruction
crease your carry distance and
get the ball to roll more. ▶ I’m excited to be a part of Golf Digest All Access, on All Access, it’s the type of comprehensive
How do you know you’ve a terrific new video-instruction hub where you’ll instruction you used to get only if you saw the
changed your angle of attack? find many of the game’s best teachers offering in- teachers in person. Not anymore. If you’re ready
Well, you might dislodge the tee depth advice on how to play better golf. My series, to play better, go to golfdigest.com/allaccess.
swinging this way, but it should “The David Leadbetter Essentials,” walks you
live to see another swing. through the most important aspects of swinging david leadbetter, a Golf Digest Teaching
—WITH RON KASPRISKE a golf club effectively. Like the other series found Professional, runs 32 academies worldwide.
22 golfdigest.com | june 2018 Photographs by J.D. Cuban at the Concession Golf Club
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Play Your Best Tour Technique
“The most important thing

is to keep your balance.”
that, I take some practice swings swing, make sure your club-
Chase Ater It feeling like my club is moving
along the slope—not against it.
head traces the ground. It’s like
the club is chasing after the ball
I suggest you do the same. On down the hill. You can see that’s
It’s how to flush iron shots this shot, my left shoulder at
address was a little lower than
what I did, because my right
shoulder is way lower than my
from a downhill lie my right to match the angle of
the hill. If my left shoulder was
left in the through-swing.
One way to get better from
level with my right, I’d probably these lies is with a drill that helps
BY SHANSHAN FENG hit the ground behind the ball improve contact. Next time
and chunk the shot. Even with you’re at the range, hit a shot
e all practice on ranges pens, here’s some advice to help my shoulders and spine angled and then step toward the target
W where our feet and ball
are on flat lies. But on
you make better contact.
When I’m on any uneven lie,
to match the slope, I know my
swing is going to bottom out a
with your trail foot (right for
right-handers). This will get you
the course, things aren’t always I usually select one club longer little earlier than it would from to shift your weight into your
so friendly. A lot of times you’ll than normal. It’s so easy to lose a flat lie. So when I set up, I play lead foot in the downswing, a
find your ball in a spot where your balance when the ground the ball slightly farther back necessary element of hitting the
you can’t stand and swing like beneath your feet isn’t flat, in my stance than I normally ball solidly. It also will make you
you do on the practice tee. A so the extra club allows me to would. Also, to help make solid more comfortable hitting shots
common lie I see amateurs really make an easier, more controlled contact, I favor my front foot a while not being completely in
hunter martin/getty images
struggle with is when the ball is swing, increasing the chance I little more. That last adjustment balance, and that’s a big part of
below your feet like I’m dealing hit it solid and get the ball to the steepens the angle of attack, success on any golf course.
with here. This shot is unnerving green. Next, I adjust my spine which helps ensure I hit the ball —WITH KEELY LEVINS
for amateurs, because they play angle to the slope. That means before the ground.
it like it’s on a flat lie. The result tilting my shoulders to match Remember those practice feng is No. 1 in the Rolex Women’s
is typically hitting it fat or thin. the slant of the lie. Once I do swings I recommended, feel- World Golf Ranking.
Ideally, you should spend some ing like you’re swinging along
time practicing shots from dif- the slope? Now’s the time to put
ferent lies, but until that hap- that feel into action. When you

Gimme One Thing Play Your Best
Escaping from
the Short Side
Lob shots look hard,
but they’re really
easy to execute
BY MARIO GUERRA
ou fired at the flag but missed. Now

Y your ball is in the rough, and you’ve
got about five feet of green between
you and the hole. Your best—and probably
only—option for getting up and down is a lob
shot. You need to hoist the ball way up in the
air, and drop it close to the hole like it has a
parachute strapped to it. How do you do it?
First, know that you should only attempt
a lob if you’ve got some cushion under the
ball. If it’s on hardpan or sitting down in the
rough, simply pitch onto the green and hope
you can two-putt to get out of there with min-
imal damage to your scorecard. But if your
ball is sitting up, you can easily execute a lob
shot if you do this.
Grab your club with the most loft, open
the face before you take your grip, and then
get into a significantly wider stance than
normal. Last setup adjustment: Lower the
handle. All of this gets you in position to
make a very shallow through-swing, letting
the wedge glide through the turf under the
ball and hit it with a lot of loft.
Now that you’re in the right setup, here’s
one thing to execute this shot. Create the let-
ter L with your clubshaft and lead arm (left
arm for righties) as you take the club back
(above). Then create a backward L with the
clubshaft and trail arm as the club passes
under the ball. Think L to L as you swing,
and this hinging and rehinging will speed
the club through the grass and pop the ball
up. Commit to it, and you just might save par.
mario guerra, a Golf Digest Best Young

gluekit
Teacher, is the head professional at Quaker Ridge

Golf Club in Scarsdale, N.Y.
Play Your Best Equipment
A Quick Way to Cure Your Slice

Draw drivers really work, our testing shows
BY MIKE STACHURA
clockwise from top:

ust about everybody hates a slice. This isn’t an opinion. It’s fact.
J Golftec, the instruction company that has given more than sev-
en million lessons at its nearly 200 locations, revealed two de-
1 p i n g g4 0 0 sf t
▶ Heel-side weight
gives your shots
tails about its customers: 96 percent want to hit anything but a slice, and more draw spin. A
only 8 percent come to Golftec hitting a draw. The slice, friends, is still lighter swingweight
makes the club
golf’s most confounding swing fault, or as Nick Clearwater, Golftec’s vice easier to square.
president of instruction calls it, “an epidemic.” The good news is that it’s $400
a very fixable problem. Yes, by all means, see a quality instructor. A slice
2 ca l l away
is caused by the most common of swing flaws: swinging the club down ro gu e d r aw
▶ Internal and
steeply on an out-to-in path with an open face to that path at impact.
external heel
This creates sidespin that sends the ball curving weakly to the right. weighting, combined
with a slightly
“It’s really just a misunder- Drivers that are designed to matter where you hit it, it pro- upright lie angle,
standing of how to make the ball fight a slice have been around duces more draw.” yield more draw
curve,” Clearwater says. “People for decades. Traditionally, they Draw-bias designs also en- to your flight. $500
keep swinging farther to the left had severely closed faces, but courage a straighter ball flight
hoping the ball will go the way the new models we tested look by featuring higher lofts, lighter 3 taylor m a d e
they want it to. It doesn’t work.” very much like a typical driver. shafts and more upright lie an- m 4 d - t yp e
The latest draw-bias drivers The technology might be nicely gles. There’s even evidence that ▶ With 41 grams of
cannot correct your out-to-in hidden, but the results are very with the CG closer to the heel, weight in the heel,
swing path, but they can help apparent. The key to these new draw drivers help average golf- this driver puts
negate the slice spin imparted drivers is internal weighting ers return the face to square at almost twice as
at impact. How can we say this that shifts the center of gravity impact because the CG is closer much mass toward
with such certainty? Well, we (CG) toward the heel. There are to the shaft. the draw side than
put the new draw-bias drivers adjustable drivers on the mar- The driver slice might be the the company’s
to the test and found they re- ket that allow golfers to load most discouraging shot in golf. movable weight M3.
ally do what they’re designed to the club’s movable weights to- Among other things, it leaves you $430
do. For our test, we had average ward the heel, but those tend with a longer second shot, and it
golfers hit the latest draw driv- to be less effective than the deals a blow to your confidence. 4 to u r e d g e
ers without telling them what fixed internal weighting on the In the absence of fundamentally h l 3 os
they were testing, and we mea- newest draw drivers. In some changing your golf swing, draw ▶ The large cupface
sured the results against their models, the amount of weight drivers can be a way to improve provides more hitting
own drivers using a Foresight is more than double what you your scores and attitude. area, and the offset
Sports GCQuad launch monitor. would typically find for an “It’s the simplest fix for so shape and upright
Seventy percent of the golfers adjustable driver in its most many people,” says Paul Wood, lie angle help fight
hit the draw drivers more to the extreme draw setting. vice president of engineering at those right misses.
left (13.3 yards farther on aver- The benefit of concentrat- Ping, who estimates that at least $190
age compared to their regular ing so much weight in the heel half the players could benefit
drivers). Interestingly, they also is that it creates a larger area from a draw driver. “It’s joyous 5 cob r a fm a x
hit the draw drivers farther—5.7 of the face that launches shots to watch when you put a draw- ▶ A deep, heel-
yards on average. It’s worth not- with draw spin. “This player has bias driver in someone’s hands, bias center of
ing that these results were im- the face open at impact, and ev- and the ball is going farther and gravity, plus offset
mediate—less than five swings erything we do with this club in straighter. Honestly, I think it’s and a lighter swing-
for each player. terms of CG bias is helping to the best-kept secret in golf.” weight, fight a slice
solve that problem,” says Todd and launch shots
Beach, chief technical officer high. Larger grips
of R&D for TaylorMade. “When provide more swing
you move the CG to the heel, no control. $300
26 golfdigest.com | june 2018 Photograph by Ivory Serra

Play Your Best What’s In My Bag
feel-good music travel buddies
I keep practice rounds My wife, Crys, travels
light. I just want to see with me. We enjoy
the course. I’ll listen to hanging with other
chill tunes like Chris tour couples. She’s
Stapleton (shown) on friends with wives of
my Bluetooth speaker. pros who came from
the Web.com Tour.
AUSTIN COOK
age 27 DRIVER me to shoot red numbers. My

alignment-rod cover is a nod
lives Jonesboro, specs Ping G400 LST, 8.5˚(adjusted to 9.2˚),
Ark. 45.25 inches, Fujikura Speeder Evolution 661
Tour shat, X-flex, tipped half an inch, D-3
story Won the swingweight
2017 RSM Classic
in his fourth start My ball flight is higher than others. The
as a rookie. G400 LST reduces spin for more carry. FAIRWAY WOOD
monday magic specs Ping G400 Stretch,

Ater I graduated 13˚, 43 inches, tipped one inch,
bag photos: shane mccauley • cook: robert l aberge/getty images • stapleton: chris polk/acma2017/getty images for acm •the cooks: courtesy of austin cook
HYBRIDS
from Arkansas, Fujikura Motore VC 7.0 shat
I wasn’t sure
specs Ping G400, 19˚and 22˚,
whether to pursue I hit it high to begin with,
Matrix Ozik Altus Tour, X-flex
medical school or so I don’t need help launch-
golf. I tried Monday- ing it. My 3-wood goes
Halfway through last
qualifying, and I plenty far, but it’s still easy
season, I realized I needed
had six top-25s in to stop on the green.
a better solution from
10 starts as a non-
200 to 220 yards. This
member. That told
22-degree hybrid lets me
me I could do it.
hit it higher and softer
than I could with a 4-iron.
family ties IRONS
My grandpa, John
Cook, was a club specs Ping S55 (5-iron through pitching
pro and played in wedge), KBS Tour 100 shats, S-flex, Golf
nearly 100 PGA Tour Pride Tour Velvet 58 round grips
events. He played
WEDGES
the final round of Iron play has always been one of my
the 1965 Memphis strengths. When I won at Sea Island, specs Ping Glide
Open with Jack I missed only 12 greens all week. 2.0 Stealth wedges
Nicklaus. I know
(50˚, 56˚ and
he’d be proud of me
60˚), Dynamic
making it on tour.
Gold Tour Issue
—with stephen
S400 shats
hennessey
The extra groove
club yards* lower on the
face helps create
driver 285 spin, even if you
hit it thin.
3-wood 250
19 o hybrid 235
22 o hybrid 210
5-iron 195
6-iron 185
7-iron 175 PUTTER
8-iron 165 specs Ping Sigma

G Tyne, 33 inches,
9-iron 150 bent 2 degrees
upright, SuperStroke
pw 135 2.0 red grip
50˚ 125 I’ve always pre-

ferred the heavier, special marker
56˚ 110 solid feel of a I got this the week
mallet. It helps I won. It says:
60˚ 90 me on longer “gratitude” on one
putts especially. side, “dependence”
* Carry distance on the other.

1963.
The first Nelson Fine Autos.
Today, there are 13 more.
Across 3 states. Divided by
4 Nelson children. Good
thing we started doing
the math long before
2018.
As difficult as it is to build a successful business, ensuring its continued success can prove even more complex. From growth
and investment strategies to planning for succession and retirement, a Raymond James financial advisor can partner
with you through it all. Which all adds up to a carefully considered plan for the long term. L I F E W E L L P L A N N E D.
W E A LT H M A N A G E M E N T | BANKING | C A P I TA L M A R K E TS
LI FEWELLP LANNED. COM
©2018 Raymond James & Associates, Inc., member New York Stock Exchange/SIPC. | Raymond James Financial Services, Inc., member FINRA/SIPC. Raymond James Bank, member FDIC.
Raymond James ® and LIFE WELL PLANNED ® are registered trademarks of Raymond James Financial, Inc. Investment products are: not deposits, not FDIC/NCUA insured, not insured by
any government agency, not bank guaranteed, subject to risk and may lose value.
edited by peter finch
An Embarrassment of Riches
Sure, Shinnecock is wonderful,
but it has plenty of company
BY JOHN PAUL NEWPORT
lc l ambrecht
genuine links: Maidstone’s 13th green hugs the Atlantic Ocean.

For those with access, golf is the antidote,
not the apotheosis, of the fevered Hamptons vibe.
ith the possible exception of Califor-

W nia’s Monterey Peninsula, home to
Pebble Beach, Cypress Point, Spy-
glass and others, there isn’t a denser concen-
tration of great golf in the world than on the
eastern end of New York’s Long Island.
Shinnecock Hills, host of this summer’s
U.S. Open, is fourth on Golf Digest’s rank-
ing of America’s 100 Greatest Courses. Four
other top 100 courses lie within 20 miles:
National Golf Links (No. 8) and Sebonack
(No. 41), which are right next door to Shin-
necock, plus Friar’s Head (No. 19) and Maid-
stone (No. 72). Add in Southampton, a fine
1925 Seth Raynor design that also borders
Shinnecock, and a handful of superb more
recent arrivals, and you’ve got a lifetime’s
worth of fabulous courses to play.
Except, of course, that you probably can’t,
because you’ll almost certainly never get on.
Most golf in the Hamptons, as the tiny,
oceanfront tip of Long Island is known, is
private. Not just ordinary private, but Big
Time, Blue Blood, Big Money private. Ex-
travagant wealth, fame and power are such
distorting factors in the Hamptons—where
renting a house for the summer can cost
$1 million and Kardashians hobnob with
senators and tycoons—that it requires
extreme effort to wall off golf from the glitz.
The ideal of golf in the Hamptons is not
Trumpian excess (no fountains, please), but
the Shinnecock model of rugged, understat-
ed perfection. For those with access, golf
is the antidote, not the apotheosis, of the
fevered Hamptons vibe.
This takes money. There’s no way around it
in the Hamptons. But that money, for the most
part, doesn’t buy stuffiness or pretension;
it buys ease, seclusion and majestic views.
The Bridge, which opened in 2002 and
is one of the newest clubs in the Hamptons,
has an initiation fee of about $1 million. Yet
it is anything but a hidebound, traditional
club. Wearing jeans, cargo shorts or a cap
turned backward is not only OK, it’s en-
couraged, if that’s how you want to express
yourself. The glass-walled, modernistic club-
house looks like a turbine engine spun out of
control. The most spectacular views of the
Rees Jones course and Peconic Bay are not
from the dining room but from the expansive
locker rooms, because that’s where members
hang out most.

The Golf Life The Hamptons
banas on the beach that, like memberships

in the club, pass down like heirlooms from
generation to generation.
After super Big Money hit the Hamp-
tons in the 1980s, newcomers started build-
ing expensive, top-shelf clubs of their own:
Atlantic (1992, course by Rees Jones), East
Hampton (2000, Coore and Crenshaw),
and Sebonack (2006, Tom Doak and Jack
Nicklaus). The sublime Friar’s Head (2002,
Coore and Crenshaw), with holes extend-
ing out to the bluff overlooking Long Island
Sound, isn’t technically in the Hamptons,
but it’s nearby. Its old-school ethos—range
finders forbidden, hole yardages not print-
ed on the scorecard—carries the purist
Hamptons golf worldview to its extreme.
Sebonack is another $1-million club to
join, but the multitude of on-site, four-bed-
Even at Shinnecock, the oldest (1891)

and most alpha of the Hamptons golf clubs,
the atmosphere is laid back and modest.
The Stanford White-designed clubhouse,
Golf in the Hamptons isn’t
perched above the ninth green with pan-
oramic views of the course, Peconic Bay and
the Atlantic, is beautifully maintained, but
just private. It’s Big Time,
first-time visitors are often surprised that it’s
not more . . . fancy. The wood floors, small-
ish club rooms and wraparound porches are
Blue Blood, Big Money private.
remnants of another era that no one at the
club has any desire to gussy up. Ben Crenshaw masterfully restored the shot room cottages help out-of-town members
Women’s golf is very active at Shin- values and rugged aesthetics of the original defray costs; they don’t absolutely have
necock, and in recent years the club has in- 1924 design by Willie Park Jr. and his brother to have a $30 million Hamptons home of
vited more locals to join. The main criterion? Jack. Located 17 miles from Shinnecock and their own.
A love of golf. Members include Raymond directly on the beach, Maidstone has some of It should be noted that the older clubs,
Floyd, who won the 1986 U.S. Open there the few genuine links holes in North Ameri- with land and clubhouses mostly paid off,
and recently put his Southampton house on ca. “If I had to choose one course to play and have only recently approached or breached
the market for $17.5 million, and Pink Floyd walk every day for the rest of my life, it would the six-figure milestone for initiation fees;
co-founder Roger Waters, who is said to play be either National or Maidstone,” says Rod getting in is the hard part, not coming up
twice weekly. Aboff, a single-digit handicapper who grew with the cash.
If Shinnecock, by dint of its course and up and still lives on Long Island and has For those still waiting to join a Hamp-
championship history, is the alpha Hamp- played courses around the world, “but I’d tons golf club, or just passing through,
tons club, National and Maidstone are close probably go with Maidstone. The holes along there’s Poxabogue, the always-busy prac-
betas. “The National,” as members call it, the ocean are amazing, but so are the other tice range on the main spinal highway
opened for play in 1911 with holes designed holes that run along the inland waterways.” with a nine-hole par-30 course tucked be-
by Charles B. Macdonald in homage to the Maidstone is known as the most blueblood hind. Summer traffic in the Hamptons is
most distinctive holes in Great Britain. of the Hamptons courses, but that blueness is so congested that you can sometimes find
Many if not most of the copies now surpass judged primarily on the long-standing-ness members of the heralded private clubs
the originals in playability and strategic nu- of connection to the East Hampton commu- hitting balls here, to avoid the intermina-
ance; the delight of a round at National is the nity rather than on strict, social-register pedi- ble drive to their clubs.
never-ending variety of challenge. Member- gree. (Chevy Chase is a member, so go figure.) By far the best public option is Montauk
ship at National, which now includes (a few) Unlike Shinnecock and National, Maidstone Downs at the far tip of the South Fork. Re-
women, is a bit more nationally oriented is a full-service family club, with a grand designed in 1968 by Robert Trent Jones
than Shinnecock’s. The course is seldom swimming pool and dozens of private ca- Sr., with help and subsequent updates
crowded, but play by unaccompanied guests from son Rees, the windswept course is a
is allowed and financial firms with member- worthy challenge with splendid bunker-
ship ties to the club sometimes bring out ing. Plus, if you’re a member of New York
groups of four or five foursomes. State (that is, a resident), you qualify for
Maidstone as a golf course doesn’t get half-price green fees and other advantages
the respect that Shinnecock and National when booking. Who said you don’t belong
do, but a 2012 renovation by Bill Coore and in the Hamptons?
32 golfdigest.com | june 2018 Illustration by Harry Malt

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The Golf Life The Digest
“
YOU DON’T HAVE THE GAME
YOU PLAYED LAST YEAR OR LAST
WEEK. YOU ONLY HAVE TODAY’S
GAME. . . . HARDEN YOUR HEART the grass is
AND MAKE THE BEST OF IT. always greener
—walter hagen ▶ FIVE BLENDS of weed
”
that certain staff members
would like to sample.
kikuyu kush
this thick-rooted cross-
strain keeps you moti-
vated during mundane
tasks, like practicing
bump-and-run chips.
myrtle haze
a member of the sativa
family, it opens a balloon
of creativity inside your
head. rescue shots once
hagen: augusta national/getty images • mickelson: michael cohen/getty images • marijuana: roxana gonzalez/eyeem/getty images
15 excuses for regarded as impossible
will feel destined.
not having royal stinger

a good round the genomes of this
purple-haired prince can
not playing well. be traced to merry eng-
land. great relief for
playing too well; seizures, muscle spasms
it’s bound to end. and swing changes.
hungry. had too
much fiber for stimpanzee
breakfast. course brimming with thc, this
hybrid offers blissful
doesn’t fit your and uplifting effects.
eye. shoes don’t fit it’s known to compro-
your feet. new set mise coordination, so
don’t be shocked when
of irons. need new you putt like a monkey.
set of irons. didn’t
sleep well. had a
vivid dream about
cypress joint
this highly palatable
developing the yips. indica is famous for
don’t play well buds that resemble the
namesake tree. reduces
when there’s no
acing the family greenside celebration money on the line.
anxiety in unfamiliar
foursomes.
▶ You’re about to win the men’s club championship. But can you don’t play well
pull off a tour-pro-quality hugfest? Follow this checklist. when there’s
money on the line.
▶ kids: In matching she’ll still love you if then head pro,
clothes (or at least you three-putt and guys in the shop,
problems at home.
clothes); hopefully lose; candy for bartender from night problems at work.
not staring at their bribing kids not to before, Uber driver playing partner is
phones or causing make a scene. from the night before, having problems at
a scene. locker-room guy who
▶ you: Remembering gave you Tylenol to
home and/or work,
▶ wife: Wearing hug order—caddie, take the edge off the and he’s dominating
expression that says then wife and kids, night before. the conversation.
by sam weinman + alex myers
the 7 types of golf dad

the enabler dad
▶ Guy who lets his kid run
wild without any discipline.
the ‘don’t do that’ dad

▶ He barks out every breach
of etiquette, ends up yelling
the whole time.
the delusional dad

▶ RIDE, DON’T WALK: when you’re going to play all day ▶ He thinks his son is
destined for the PGA Tour
swimmer: westend61/getty image • sleeper: allsport concepts/getty images • dad: paul windle • woods and father: robert beck/icon sportswire/getty images
Hoof it only if golf is because he can occasionally

▶ Take it from someone who has played 108 holes of golf in a make contact.
your only form of single day: Golf and marathon golf might as well be two different
sports. Keep these guidelines in mind if you’re thinking about the tiger dad
exercise. ▶ SHORTS trying any more than 36 holes in one day this summer. ▶ The guy who yells at his kid
ONLY: Lugging extra when he misses a green or
makes bogey.
weight has made your wasting time on those pesky
calves into rock-hard

1 after every 18 holes,
rotate pairs of shoes,
and pull on a fresh pair
“tweener” shots. If you play
more than two rounds and
the philosopher dad
▶ He tries to turn every golf
grapefruits. Flaunt of socks. You want to trick carry your bag, try just five moment into an opportunity for
your feet into thinking it’s clubs—driver, hybrid, 7 iron, dispensing spiritual advice.
’em even in cold the first round of the day. sand wedge, putter.
temps. ▶ GO HAWAIIAN: Also, based on what my guy the old dad
friends say, Gold Bond ▶ He plays with his grown-up
An untucked shirt powder is essential for 4 think about nutrition.
You want water nearby, kid, and now he’s the one
being watched over.
leaves just the surviving a long day of golf. along with snacks that offer
quick energy (bananas and
right amount to play fast. Getting in as all-natural bars) and foods
the miserable dad
the imagination. 2 many holes as possible

before sunset means there’s no
that offer long-lasting
endurance (PB&Js and trail
▶ He desperately needs a break
from his kids, but no. He’s stuck
▶ NO H20: Sugary with them for the day.
time to fuss over shots. Walk mix). Eat and drink every three
sports drinks are quickly, play ready golf and holes so you never feel hungry
eliminate practice swings. or thirsty.
good, beer is better.
▶ GERONIMO! Show
off your golf tan with
3 use an abbreviated set.
Taking out every other iron
in your bag will make it lighter,
5 cancel your plans
if it rains. Seriously.
A rainy golf marathon sounds
a post-round swim. and it’ll also help you avoid miserable. —A S H L E Y M AYO
great moments in fatherly advice “why don’t

you try it
left-handed?”
—phil mickelson sr.
“i’d go with
the red shirt.”
—earl woods
“i wouldn’t
change
a thing.”
—mike furyk
“turn off the tv

and go hit some
“what you need

is a nickname.”
—frank zoeller

14 Presents Dad Actually Wants
Light up Father’s Day with these better git ideas
BY BRITTANY ROMANO
j.lindeberg jimmy jacket

▶ Highlight Dad’s game in any weather with this
ultra-lightweight jacket. $209

The Golf Life Git Guide
your range time by setting your brain into a state of hyperlearning.

This supposedly creates a stronger connection with your muscles
lacoste “the first all over print polo” ▶ This cotton jersey
to enhance strength, explosiveness and muscle memory. $749
golf shirt is a nod to the colorful, offbeat 1990s style—part
of the company’s 85th anniversary throwback collection in which
an iconic shirt has been reissued for each decade. $145
stance kauri crew socks and puma suede g golf shoes

▶ Keep Dad’s feet comfortable and on-trend with ventilated socks and
classic suede shoes made for the course. Socks, $16. Shoes, $120
eir pitted deodorant ▶ This hip brand’s natural products actually crab & cleek shoe bag ▶ Made from actual golf flags,
work, like this arrowroot- and coconut-oil-based deodorant. $22 this unique shoe bag is lightweight and durable. $50

“World’s Best Dad” mug.
▶ Easy to apply, all-natural cologne that

has a great smell in a dynamite package.
Available at kinnucans.com. $32
persol special edition steve mcqueen sunglasses ▶ Inspired by the King of Cool,
these glasses will up Dad’s style while keeping his vision clear and protected. $400
bushnell phantom gps range finder malbon golf ribbon dopp kit ▶ Lift
▶ Simple and portable yardages. $100 Dad’s cool-factor with this hip catchall. $55
jones utility weekender ▶ It opens like david norma n

a suitcase, but nifty hideaway straps allow it design go lf b e d
to be carried as a backpack, too. $130 ▶ Rest easy on this
mahogany bed made
with real persimmon
woods and hickory shafts.
$15,000-$30,000
vineyard vines jim nantz forget-me-

knot-tie ▶ Silk smoother than Nantz’s voice,
and a portion of proceeds go to charity. $85

Rules The Golf Life
moving forward on a final

Game Changers version. Golfers obliged, pro-
viding 30,000-plus responses
worldwide. Many comments
What golf’s new rules will mean for you affirmed the direction they
were going, but others got
them to rethink their positions,
here was no puff of white smoke billowing from the United States Pagel says.
T Golf Association or Royal & Ancient headquarters, but for some golf
For instance, the USGA and
R&A had proposed letting play-
officials, the announcement might have been as momentous as the selec- ers drop a ball for relief from as
little as two inches above the
tion of a new pope. ▶ Six-plus years in the making and 12 months after ground. Some argued that this
circulating a first draft for public comment, in March, golf’s rules-makers was too low, and they reached
a compromise. Under the new
arrived at a final, modernized version of The Rules of Golf. ▶ The new rules rules, you can release the ball
go into effect Jan. 1, 2019, though some—including Seminole Golf Club from knee height.
president Jimmy Dunne—have said they’ll start using them this season. The 2017 proposal also
called for replacing the one-
It’s not hard to see why casual fans with a negative mend players take no more than and two-club-length measure-
people would want to get a view of the sport. 40 seconds to play a stroke. ments used when taking drops.
head start. The new rules are These included Tiger Woods Stuck in a bunker you know Instead, you’d be allowed 20
easier to understand and apply, at the 2013 Masters (an illegal you’ll never escape? You’ll be inches when dropping a ball
and they include changes that drop that was spotted by a able to take a drop outside the in all cases except when tak-
stand to make the game faster viewer), Dustin Johnson at the bunker (in line with the hole) ing relief from penalty areas or
and more fair. You can read the 2016 U.S. Open (a video review for a two-stroke penalty. You’ll unplayable lies; in those cases
new rules at usga.org/rules. showed his ball moved by a also be able to putt without you’d get 80 inches. Reason
Here are some of the most im- couple of dimples on the green), having the flagstick attended prevailed, however, and the fa-
portant differences: and Lexi Thompson at the 2017 or removed. miliar one- and two-club-length
ANA Inspiration (a viewer no- One notable change is a local measurements will remain.
common-sense stuff ticed she had marked her ball rule that permits an alterna- Golfers’ comments even got
incorrectly). tive to the stroke-and-distance rules-makers to get rid of a pen-
Your ball accidentally moved Not coincidentally, the gov- penalty for balls that are lost or alty for a double hit, a change
on the putting green? That used erning bodies said last year hit out-of-bounds. Instead of they hadn’t initially proposed.
to be a one-stroke penalty. Last that tournament officials on hitting a provisional ball—or Some were disappointed
year, the USGA and R&A elimi- the leading golf tours would marching back to the tee to hit the proposed rules didn’t in-
nated the penalty with a new stop taking calls from television another once you’ve realized clude relief when a ball comes
local rule, and with the new viewers. Soon after the Thomp- the first is lost or O.B.—the local to rest in a fairway divot hole.
rules, they’ll expand that to son rules flap, the governing rule will let you take a drop in But the USGA or R&A wouldn’t
include a ball that moves when bodies made some changes to the fairway with a two-stroke budge here. “One of the pri-
you’re searching for it. protect players who used their penalty. You simply estimate mary objectives for the overall
Players will also be able to “reasonable judgment” to mark where it’s out-of-bounds, or initiative is to make the rules
ground their clubs in penalty balls or measure an area where where your ball is likely to be easier to understand and ap-
areas and remove loose im- they were taking a drop, even if lost. Then you may go two ply, but to also make sure we
pediments such as rocks and video evidence later showed it club-lengths into the fairway maintained the traditions and
debris from penalty areas and to be wrong. These carry over and drop anywhere behind that principles behind the game,”
bunkers. They’ll be allowed into the new Rules of Golf. spot. “The primary objective is Pagel says. “And the principles
to repair spike marks or other Still, the rules rely on golfers to keep the player moving for- are to play the ball as it lies and
damage on the green at any to be honest and willing to call ward,” Pagel says, “and we think the course as you find it. So to
time, and they can touch the infractions on themselves when that’s the real benefit.” write a rule that allows a player
line of their putt as long as appropriate, says Thomas Pa- This isn’t meant for pro or to sort of deviate from that was
they don’t improve it. No longer gel, the USGA’s senior director elite-level competition, but not something we were want-
will they have to worry about of Rules & Amateur Status. tournament committees will be ing to do.”
a ball mistakenly hitting them able to apply it to most events The USGA and R&A will wait
(or their caddie) and costing pick up the pace enjoyed by everyday golfers. till this fall to make a big edu-
them a stroke. cational push on the new rules.
The USGA and R&A made Because slow play continues to player feedback Meanwhile, they’re producing
a conscious effort to make be a problem, the new rules will supporting materials, including
the rules feel more like com- cut the time allowed looking After unveiling their proposed an abridged “Player’s Edition,”
tim l ahan
mon sense. This was partly in for a lost ball to three minutes, changes in March 2017, the a digital version and an easy-to-
response to a series of recent from five. The rules also encour- governing bodies made a point search app.
rules controversies that left age “ready golf” and recom- of asking for feedback before — RYA N H E R R I N GT O N
Photograph by Mark Hooper june 2018 | golfdigest.com 43

The Golf Life Style
Three looks based on one pair

of out-there shorts.
Busy Summer!
The easy way to blend
prints, solids
BUSY PRINTS CAN SEEM intimidating,
but they ’re actually versatile and
surprisingly malleable. If you choose
a piece with an all-over pattern, keep
everything else solid. It’s a foolproof way
to build a perfect outfit. Colors can range
from mild to bright. To prove it, here are
three entirely different summertime looks
featuring one pair of out-there shorts.
—A S H L E Y M AYO
1 shorts Bonobos, $98 sweater Peter Millar,

$135 button-down Rag & Bone, $225 shoes
Peter Millar, $225 sunglasses Oakley, $153.
2 hat G/FORE, $45 polo Under Armour, $70
belt Beltology, $65 shoes Puma, $120.
3 hat G/FORE, $50 hoodie Dunning, $65
shoes Adidas, $120.
44 golfdigest.com | Photographs by James Stone

The Golf Life Ask Golf Digest
matches would still need to be played out.

It would spell the end of strategic match-
ordering and tactics such as “front-loading.”
No more gladiator-like entrances on the
first tee, Bruce Buffer-like introductions,
and pressure-induced duck-hooks. For now,
we favor the status quo.
▶▶▶
Cleaning out my golf bag to get ready for
the upcoming season, I came across a
liquor flask that had some bourbon left
over (for a snakebite or to celebrate
small victories on the course). How
often does the flask need to be cleaned,
and what is the best way to do it?
JOHN LAPSLEY, SALINE, MICH.
You’re sharing a flask among a group, and

you found leftover bourbon? That hurts.
But we’ll set aside your wasting of perfectly
good whiskey and answer your question.
We clean our flasks once a month, to keep
residue from building up. Here’s how to do
it: First, fill the flask about two-thirds with
white vinegar. Then you want to add some
kind of abrasive—rice, baking soda, Au-
gusta sand, etc. Close the lid, shake the
flask vigorously for about 30 seconds,
I’ve oten heard that putts will break toward empty the contents, and rinse with hot
Q
water. You’re good to go. Just remember,
any body of water near the green. Is there any bourbon has feelings, too.
scientific evidence to support this? ▶▶▶
BRENT LEDFOR D, BOISE, IDA HO I love the standard metal ball markers
that clip to one’s hat. One of my friends
insists it is unprofessional to use
Putts often do break toward the Bad luck. The hole, even if it’s unmarked, anything but the plastic markers with
A water, but it’s not the H²0 they’re
reacting to. As short-game guru
counts as ground under repair. But because
your ball was not in or touching the hole—
the spike in the bottom. The other
day, my ball was outside of his line by
Stan Utley explains, “Putts break because of it sounds as if the area around the hole at least two feet. He walked up, threw
gravity.” If there’s a mountain to your right was not marked as ground under repair— my favorite marker aside with a curse,
and a lake to your left, the land will typically you have to play this one as it lies. You and replaced it with his plastic marker.
slope from right to left—and that’s the way a would get free relief if the hole affected your Who’s in the wrong here?
putt will tend to break. The era of the golf normal stance or swing. JOHN KAMIN, ENCINO, CALIF.
course you’re playing has a lot to do with this ▶▶▶
general rule. Older courses were primarily Why doesn’t the Ryder Cup use a Your friend is so very wrong. Those hat-clip
built along existing terrain, making it easier shotgun start for singles? This would ball markers are a little goofy, and it’s true
to spot these breaks. Modern architects can put everyone in play versus having the that pros don’t use them much, but they’re
move more dirt, tricking players with coun- last matches rendered meaningless if certainly convenient. And they’re allowed
terintuitive topography. Your best move: the winner has already been decided. under the Rules of Golf, which call for using
Look for the drainage area on each green PHIL HILL, PHILADELPHIA “a ball marker, a small coin or other similar
Putts will tend to break in that direction un- object” when picking up a ball on the green.
less there’s some obvious contour interrupt- This is lively thinking, but it wouldn’t really As for his replacement of your marker,
ing the path. solve the lame-duck matches issue. Once that’s rude—and might incur him a penalty
▶▶▶ the deciding match concluded—possibly stroke. Only you or an authorized person
My ball landed right next to a dug-up on a remote part of the course—the other (e.g., a caddie) can mark your ball,
sprinkler head, which was being according to the rules. There’s a one-stroke
repaired. Because there was a large penalty for moving another player’s ball
hole, the maintenance crew couldn’t or mark in match play. In stroke play, there
mow the grass around the hole, so my is no penalty.
ball was in four-inch rough. Could I
have taken a free drop? submit your burning questions here:
JAMISON RILEY, CHICO, CALIF. ask@golfdigest.com or on Twitter @GolfDigest
48 golfdigest.com | june 2018 Illustration by Chris Gash

©2018 Taylor Made Golf Company, Inc.
THIS BEAUTY IS A BEAST
A FORGED IRON IN MEETS BREAKTHROUGH

A P L A Y E R S’ S H A P E DISTANCE WITH
GAME!
Photographs by Walter Iooss Jr.
4 steps to developing consistency
and touch around the greens
BY M IC H A E L BR E E D
with peter morrice
M Y FIRST YEAR AS A HEAD PRO,

I gave a clinic one afternoon
on chipping. After we finished,
a student came up to me and
said, “I didn’t like that. You
never told us what club to hit
on those shots.” Even though
I was a novice teacher, I got it right that day. I could’ve told her
what I would do in those spots, but she would’ve tried to memorize
that and not discover it for herself. The right way depends on
the golfer—the shots you like, your comfort level in different
situations, the clubs you have confidence in. It’s not one-size-
fits-all. ▶ In this article, I’m going to give you a few mechanical
keys for playing around the greens, but then encourage you to try
different variables that affect the shots you hit—variables that alter
trajectory, distance, spin and roll. So it’s part mechanics and part
feel. If I gave you only mechanics, you’d be a robot and not very
good at reacting to situations on the course. If I said it’s all feel,
you’d have no starting point—no structure. My goal is to get you
started, then set you on a path to self-discovery. A great short game
is not given; it’s learned. Learned by practicing a few musts, yes,
but mostly through experimentation. ▶ Let me put a bow on my
story. Months later, the woman came back and said she understood
what I was doing. She had developed a system for picking clubs
and playing shots. She owned her short game—and so will you.
i call this move
“holstering the handle.”
l e a r n t o d o i t, a n d
yo u ’ v e g ot t h e f i r st
pa rt o f t h e s h o rt g a m e .
‘SWING THE GRIP AROUND

TO YOUR FRONT HIP. DON’T PUSH IT
TOWARD THE TARGET.’
‘HOW CLOSE YOU STAND TO THE BALL HAS
A HUGE IMPACT ON THE SHOT YOU HIT: MOVE IN CLOSE FOR
A LOW SHOT; STAND BACK FOR A HIGH ONE.’
1
swing the handle
2
pre-set tra jectory
set the handle high
( l e f t ) f o r a l o w e r s h o t,
s ta n d a r d ( c e n t e r ) f o r
a medium-tra jectory
s h o t, a n d l o w ( r i g h t )
to the hip in the setup f o r a h i g h e r s h o t.
the first skill to learn in So how do you do it? Get in the next piece of the short The more you raise the handle,
the short game is swinging the your normal chipping setup, game is how high you set the the closer you have to get to
grip end of the club to the left and practice swinging the handle at address. This allows the ball and the more you grip
through impact. This might handle through so it finishes you to vary trajectory. Put down. The more you lower the
seem oddly simple, but it’s very close to your front hip. simply, when the handle is handle, the farther you stand
absolutely critical. Swinging I call this “holstering the high, you hit a lower shot; when back and the longer you hold
directly toward the target, handle,” as if you were sticking the handle is low, you hit the club. I teach three positions:
which so many amateurs do, the grip in a holster on your a higher shot. Let’s discuss. standard (above, center),
causes poor contact because the front hip (opposite page). Wherever you set the handle, handle high (left) and handle
low point of the swing comes Another way to think about it the clubface will find its natural low (right). Try them—they
behind the ball. It also causes is that the heel pad of your right loft. Unless you manipulate it, produce very different shots.
deceleration, because the club hand leads the knuckles at the the face will open or close so Final point: Handle position
runs out of room going straight. top of the hand as you swing the sole of the club sits flush also helps you from different
Poor contact and deceleration through. (You can focus on the to the ground. If you raise the lies. If the ball is down in the
are killers around the green. left hand the same way—heel handle, the heel comes up so grass, you need more dig. You
Swinging the handle to the leads knuckles.) If swinging you have to close the face to get get that from a closed face
left moves the low point of the through this way feels strange, the sole to sit flush. If you lower or a high handle. If the ball
swing forward, so you hit the it’s because you’re used to the handle, the toe comes up so is sitting well, you can drop
ball and then the ground. It pushing the handle toward the you have to open the face to get back and use more loft with an
also helps you make contact target, which seems logical for the sole flush. Closing the face open face or a low handle. Now
with the center of the face. And a lot of golfers. But you have to produces a low shot; opening you’re building sophistication
then there’s acceleration. You’re get the handle going left. it produces a high shot. That’s into your short game.
creating more space for the club how handle height affects loft.
to travel. Swinging left is the These variations cause
master move of the short game. changes to the stance as well.

3
handle going left. Then you Think of a highway with three
have to know how the setup consecutive left-hand exits.
affects the shot—that’s handle If you swing the handle down
height and the angle of the the first exit, it moves quickly
face. The next step is picking to the left and gets very close
have a pl an before the right club for the job. to your left hip. That produces
yo u pick a club When I miss a green, I take a higher shot. If you take the
four or five clubs to my ball. high, handle low—to hit at least second exit, that’s the standard
now we need to add the I then look at the lie, how far three different shots per club. shot. If you take the third—still
most obvious variable for I need to fly the ball and the There’s another piece that going left the same amount,
hitting different shots: club ideal rollout. Different clubs alters trajectory, and for just on a longer arc—that
selection. Why didn’t we start give me different flights and that we go back to Lesson 1: produces a lower shot. Put
with this? Because to be a good rolls. But that’s not where it swinging the handle left. You these exits into the mix, and
short-game player, you first ends. I can use any of my clubs always want to swing it left, the number of shots you can
have to understand how to in any of the three setups we but how sharply you go left hit multiplies. The fun part is
hit the ball solid—that’s the discussed—standard, handle affects how high the ball flies. playing around with them.
‘DIFFERENT CLUBS CAN PRODUCE DIFFERENT

SHOTS—OR THE SAME SHOTS. YOU DECIDE BY HOW
gutter credit tk
YOU SET UP AND SWING.’

4
For me, that’s my 50-50 shot
(see my ratios, right). Now here’s
the question: To hit a higher
shot, do you grab the lob wedge flight roll
or do you lower the handle or go
cre ate a frame work
u sing flight-to -roll
left faster? It’s self-discovery.
For consistency, use one type
58 -degree 60% 40%
on the course, you want
of ball—the ball you play
with—when experimenting.
54 -degree 50% 50%
to play with clarity. Develop
a club-selection system with
And after you have flight-to-roll
ratios, be willing to adjust them
46 -degree 40% 60%
the standard positions. For
example, with your sand wedge
for course conditions, like fast
greens, or the situation, like an
9 -iron 30% 70%
at the middle handle height and
taking the middle left exit, how
uphill lie. You’ll get there, and
remember, there’s no substitute 8 -iron 20% 80%
far does the ball fly and roll? for doing it yourself.
michael breed,
golf digest’s
c h i e f d i g i ta l
instructor,
i s b a s e d at t r u m p
g o l f l i n k s at
f e r r y p o i n t,
n e w yo r k c i t y.
a golf school without the box lunch
somebody asked recently if I can teach people to play golf without having them in
front of me. My answer: absolutely. I did an instruction show on TV for nine years, and
I know people were learning to play by watching that show. Now we’re doing something
at Golf Digest to take that concept a step further. It’s called the Golf Digest Schools,
a collection of how-to-play curriculums in video form. The idea is to learn remotely but
f l i g h t - t o - r o l l r at i o to simulate being on the lesson tee with your favorite instructor. It’s learning the skills
is a good basis for you need, in the order you need them, without the commitment of going for lessons
club selection, but (or the constraints of TV time). It’s part of the new Golf Digest All Access program. I just
w h at y o u d o w i t h t h e did my first curriculum, called “The Facts of Impact,” and I know these long-form videos
c l u b m at t e r s m o r e . will help you understand how to hit better shots with every club in the bag. Check out the
new Golf Digest Schools—better yet, learn about All Access at golfdigest.com/allaccess.

MAKE
THE ONES
THAT
MATTER
Draining the big putt is
one part attitude, one part routine
BY PAU L A CR E A M E R
w i t h k e e ly l e v i n s
A
LOT OF AMATEURS, and even some pros, treat must-
make putts like they’re standing over a six-footer to win
the U.S. Open. You can see the anxiety building in their
pre-putt routine. The feeling can be so overwhelming
that by the time they address the ball, it turns into an
out-of-body experience. Not me. I won a U.S. Open, and it wasn’t because I
let the gravity of the week override what I normally do. When I walk up to a
putt I have to make, I’m taking even breaths and staying calm. I stick with
the routine I have for every other putt, because focusing on that actually
reduces stress. That’s why you have a routine—so that no matter the situa-
tion, every putt feels the same. That’s the basis of my first piece of advice to
help you make the ones that matter: Do your best to treat them no different-
ly than any other putts. Here are some other tips to help you on the green. ▶

‘ i f yo u l e t t h e p r e ss u r e
o f t h e s i t u at i o n a lt e r yo u r r o u t i n e ,
y o u ’ r e p r o b a b ly t o a s t. ’
Photographs by Dom Furore at The Golden Bear Club at Keene’s Pointe

the hole. I’ve seen golfers get so wrapped last time. You might notice that my grip
make your routine anything but up in reading the break, they forget that is conventional (below). I’ve tried others,
the read doesn’t matter if the ball is and you should, too. Find the grip where
there’s no prototype for a pre-putt moving too fast or too slow. When we play you feel like you’re not going to hold on
routine. Just make sure you get the most in pro-ams, I always tell my partners to too tight and make a handsy stroke (more
out of whatever you’re doing. For me, it switch to speed after they get the line. One on that in a minute).
starts with being confident with my read. drill I do every day to improve my feel is The last thing I do before I take the club
I quickly walk around my ball and the picking spots on the fringe and hitting back is make sure I’m not pushing down
hole looking at the line from every angle. putts that die right at the edge of the green. on the putterhead. It’s a bad tendency
Notice I said quickly. A lot of amateurs Back to my pre-putt routine: Once I’ve that can make the clubhead twist open
spend too much time looking at the line. got the speed, I set the ball down with my or closed when I take it back. To avoid
If you overanalyze how the putt will break, Pink Panther logo pointing down the line that, I think about having soft hands and
you might second-guess yourself and lose I’ve chosen. Having something familiar keeping the pressure of the putterhead
confidence. Remember, your first look is to look at can calm your nerves and light against the ground. This also is a
usually the right one. remind you that it’s just another putt. I great feeling to have, because it relieves
The next thing I do is get behind the ball then take two practice strokes behind the tension that might be building as a result
and visualize the speed I need to get it to ball and look at the line I’ve chosen one of the magnitude of the putt you’re facing.
c h o o s e w h at e v e r g r i p a l l o w s y o u t o h o l d t h e c l u b l i g h t ly, s o i t c a n r e l e a s e t h r o u g h t h e b a l l .
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‘DON’T BE TOO ANXIOUS
TO SEE THE OUTCOME OR
YOU’LL MISS. HIT THE PUTT,
WAIT A BEAT, THEN IT’S OK
TO LOOK AT THE BALL.’
to have when hitting these putts is one
I use myself: Keep the putterhead low
throughout the stroke (below). This helps
keep your mind on the process of making
a good, controlled stroke and prevents you
from trying to steer the putt or looking up
too soon to see if it’s going in. No matter
how important the putt is, this swing
thought makes you feel like you’re just
rolling the ball on the practice green. And
when the ball rattles around the bottom
of the cup, it makes one of the sweetest
sounds a golfer can ever hear.
about
paula creamer has 10 wins on the LPGA

Tour, including the 2010 U.S. Open.
t h e m o s t i m p o r ta n t t h i n g
t o m a k i n g a p u t t i s h av i n g
t h e fac e s q ua r e to t h e
l i n e at i m p a c t. m y g at e d r i l l
h e l p s t r a i n t h at ( a b o v e ) .
a g r e at s w i n g t h o u g h t
t o s tay c o m m i t t e d i s k e e p
the putterhead low (right).
control the stroke
i mentioned avoiding a handsy stroke.

Trust me, it isn’t reliable. You should be
using the bigger muscles in the shoulders
to move the putter back and forth. Those
muscles are going to hold you steady on
those must-make putts. My putting style is
straight back and straight through. It’s the
easiest way for me to keep the face square
at impact, which will get the ball rolling on
the line I chose. I like to do a drill where I
put one tee on either side of the putterhead
at address—like a gate—and hit putts
trying to get the club to pass through the
gate. If I strike a tee, I know the clubface
wasn’t square at impact.
I began this article by telling you how
important it is to treat these crucial putts
like they were no different than any
other. This last piece of advice brings us
full circle. The final thought I want you

ADVER TI SEMENT
SUMMER
GOLF
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Bandon Dunes No. 16
Par 4, 363 yards
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How to drive it in the fairway again and again
BY JOR DA N SPI ET H
with ma x adler
Y OU’RE DRIVING IT GREAT, scoring well,

then somewhere in the middle of the back
nine you spray a couple tee shots. That’s
all it takes to ruin a round. Were they men-
tal errors from getting tight or nervous?
Only you know the answer. More likely
your body just got a little tired. That’s
when every golfer’s undesirable tendencies come out, mine included.
Knowing this, I perform nearly all of my physical-training exercises
from a golf stance. Having the strength in your legs and core to main-
tain posture throughout the swing is important with every club, but
absolutely critical with the driver. It has the longest shaft, and you
swing it the fastest, so even small misses can travel 30 yards off
line. ▶ In this article, I’ll explain my bad tendencies and the swing
thoughts I use to avoid them. Additionally, to be a great driver, it’s
important to swing within yourself. It’s easy for players on tour to
know when they’re getting jumpy, because there are more and more
launch monitors on tournament tee boxes nowadays—and you can’t
help but look. My driver swing speed is 115 miles per hour, which gets
me 293 yards of carry. I can swing harder, but then I can lose control.
Carrying the ball 300, but into trouble, isn’t worth much. I don’t of-
fer this to brag—there are plenty of guys on tour who bomb it way
past me—but I think all golfers, especially amateurs, suffer now and
then from chasing those extra couple miles per hour of swing speed.
▶ And, as any success I’ve had has demonstrated, consistently driv-
ing the ball in play is a weapon all it’s own. Here’s how to do it. ▶

Photographs by Walter Iooss Jr.
‘HOW DO YOU KNOW
I MADE A FULL TURN?
YOU CAN’T SEE
MY RIGHT ARM
IN THIS PHOTO.’
lead with the hip tilt the shoulders
if i get a little tired, my right from this perspective (left), you can
hip slides away from the target on the see how my right hip really turns behind
takeaway, then buckles. The ideal position and away. As I emphasized, this move
is above. My right hip is pivoting—not with the lower body is the trigger to my
swaying—so my backswing feels like my backswing. But another point worth
upper body turns over my lower body. You mentioning is that you can see my left
can tell I’ve made a deep shoulder turn, shoulder is lower than my right. An image
because you can’t see my right arm. That’s that sometimes pops into my head for the
the directive from my coach, Cameron top of the swing is, if my shoulders were
McCormick: “Hide the right arm, Jordan.” the wings of an airplane, the left wing
But I don’t think about that arm or my would be angled down and the right wing
upper body during the backswing. Instead, up. And with my chest turned completely
if I can feel my right hip and glutes away from the target, I’ve created a lot of
activated (you’ve probably heard Tiger space to swing down and attack the ball
talk about this; it’s truly a useful concept), from inside the target line and hit up on it.
I know my upper body will follow and find This path will produce the high, drawing
the right position at the top of the swing. ball flight I prefer.

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if you’re watching a tournament remember when i said it’s all about

and see me miss a tee shot way right, keeping your posture? The finish position
it’s likely my right shoulder lifted in the is the big reveal. If I don’t hold my finish—
downswing. When that happens, the club poised and still like a figurine atop a
comes down steep and to the left, which is trophy—I know it was a sloppy swing.
the classic over-the-top move that makes The slightest wobble means I got lazy or
the ball peel off to the right. Returning to swung too hard. I love the image below.
the airplane-wing metaphor I used for the My right shoulder and belt buckle are
top of the backswing, a great thought for pointing at the target, which indicates
the transition is an early change in wing a full and committed follow-through.
positions. To start the downswing, let that And you can tell from my eyes that I’m
right airplane wing (your back shoulder) following the shot. A great habit is to
angle down toward the ball as the left hold your finish until the ball lands. If it’s
shoulder moves up. As you see (right), my difficult to stay in balance for these few
right shoulder is way lower than my left, seconds, you’ve got work to do on your
which promotes the clubhead to travel on core strength. But if your ball is tracking
a shallow, inside path. Again, that’s the center cut, admire it for a moment. OK,
recipe for a draw. that’s long enough. Now pick up your tee.
‘HOLD YOUR FINISH UNTIL

THE BALL LANDS. IF IT’S
DIFFICULT TO KEEP YOUR
BALANCE FOR THESE FEW
SECONDS, YOU SWUNG
TOO HARD OR GOT LAZY.’

ONLY ONE WILL STAND
WITH MR. NICKLAUS
WHO WILL BE NEXT?

MAY 31  JUN 3
MUIRFIELD VILLAGE GOLF CLUB | DUBLIN, OH
theMemorialTournament.com
© 2018 PGA TOUR, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. PLAYER APPEARANCE SUBJECT TO CHANGE.
beau hossler
ON TOUR LIFE, THE BEAU HOSSLER RULE & WHY WATCHING THE DODGERS IN THE WORLD SERIES IS
Photographs by Keena june 2018 | golfdigest.com 79
most golf fans first heard straight weeks on the Web.com
of you at the 2012 u.s. open, Tour last year. The challenge
when you were 17, still in then is time management and
high school, and made the
leader board at the olym-
‘IF YOU’RE how you prioritize things when
you’re home. You’re there really
pic club. how often do
people bring that up? NOT CONFIDENT for very short periods of time,
so you don’t have enough time
[ON TOUR],
There are plenty of people who to accomplish what you need
still recognize my name from to. There’s a fine line between
that. I’m very fortunate to have being home and getting away
had that experience, and it’s
helped me with exposure for
sure. But the biggest challenge
YOU’VE GOT from golf, and being home and
accomplishing things to be
ready for the next tournament.
has been to make sure that
doesn’t become the defining
NO CHANCE.’ ●●●
you decided to have a
BEAU HOSSLER knows the moment of my golf career. childhood friend, jordan
drill. When he was a junior ●●● full time? Just how much guilford, be your full-time
golfer growing up in South- you needed one year after each week takes out of you, caddie rather than hire
ern California, he had turning pro to earn a pga not physically but mentally. a veteran. why? It’s about
talent, but it took some tour card and join a lot of There’s a lot going on at the being comfortable out there,
time for him to find his other twentysomethings tournament outside of the golf. and I think having someone
way. Eventually, he put in in making the quick jump It’s kind of a traveling circus you have a really good relation-
the work to become a Rolex from college. why has that keeps you busy all the ship with is very important.
Junior All-American. this become so common? time. I played six weeks in a Particularly when you’re
A little later, he went off We’re all friends and have had row earlier this year, and that playing and it’s new, you want
to the University of Texas, success at the amateur and was a lot. That last week, it was to be able to look and see a
where he struggled as a college level, so once you see Riviera, my favorite course, familiar face on your bag. He’s
freshman. But he adapted one of them break through in and the tournament I was most gone from a very good friend
to campus life and went on the pros, it becomes something looking forward to. Well, I was and a good caddie to obviously
to earn national player- we all feel like we can do. Jor- exhausted and played terrible. still a very good friend and
of-the-year honors. dan Spieth kind of opened the From that point on, I vowed an extraordinary caddie.
Hossler prepared to be floodgates for our generation. I was going to do my best not to ●●●
humbled once more after The guy won his Masters when play more than three in a row. at the 2016 ncaa champion-
settling in Dallas (where he he was 21 and has three majors ●●● ship, you tore the labrum
plays out of Trinity Forest) at 24. Well, we all played against do you have to be a little in your left shoulder in
and embarking on his pro him as juniors and amateurs, cocky to be a pro golfer? the middle of the semifinal
career in February 2017, and we all held our own. Inwardly, yes. Obviously you match. you’re one day away
seven months later than he ●●● don’t want to act that way from the finals, two days
expected because of a freak is there something, on the outside, but if you’re away from turning pro.
injury. Only this time, the though, about your devel- not confident, you’ve got no how difficult was that?
learning curve has turned opment that explains your chance. Yeah, I had everything pretty
out to be even shorter. collective success? ●●● planned out in terms of that
In just 11 Web.com Tour In my generation, there are so are you a little cocky? summer with tournaments
starts, Hossler earned more amateurs who played in Certainly at times when I’m and sponsors. It was a very
enough money to secure professional tournaments be- playing well. At all times you’re emotional high just getting to
his PGA Tour card for 2018. fore they turned pro. When you trying to play your best golf. that point, and then when I got
And since then, he has have experience at that level— And when you’re in that killer hurt it was a bummer. I tried to
made a habit of finding his when you’re not playing for any mind-set to win a tournament, keep a good attitude, but I had
name on leader boards, money but you’re learning and that’s where you want to get to never had a major injury before.
contending in Las Vegas, you’re seeing how the courses when you tee off on Thursday. Fortunately, everything worked
Phoenix and Pebble Beach are—that’s invaluable. I played ●●● out. But when you have your
in the early days of his in three U.S. Opens by the time what was the toughest career really in jeopardy over
rookie season on tour. I was 21. I knew exactly what part of the transition something like that, because
A playoff loss to Ian I was getting into when I got to the pros? It’s going to you don’t know how bad it is
Poulter at the Houston out here. Now, did I learn things sound strange, because you until [the doctors] get in there,
Open cost him a spot in since I’ve gotten out here? don’t have classes to deal with and it was bad. But you have to
the Masters but was the Of course, but the reality is, anymore, but finding time to keep a long-term approach and
latest sign that the 23-year- I wasn’t shell-shocked when practice. You turn pro, and you realize the No. 1 priority is just
old is posed to join fellow I showed up as a pro. go from being an All-American getting healthy.
Longhorn Jordan Spieth ●●● basically back to ground zero. ●●●
and contemporaries Justin what has been the biggest You’re starting at nothing. You you had surgery and a
Thomas, Daniel Berger, surprise playing on tour have your résumé, but that’s layoff before you finally
Bryson DeChambeau and it. So then you run around try-
Xander Schauffele in being to play wherever you can
coming a mainstay on tour. to earn status. I played nine

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started your pro career. can basically claim anything than play in a u.s. open? what’s the first website
you had no web.com status, to be an injury and swap out a Oh, for sure. Way more. Put it you check out each morn-
but you had sponsors’ ex- player who’s not playing well. this way: I was playing in the ing? I go on Twitter for pretty
emptions lined up. was your I think that’s crap. It needs to final group in Las Vegas that much all of my news.
game ready? Not really. I was be a situation where we can same week, tied for the lead in ●●●
basically in a spot where I had all agree that this guy is actu- my third PGA Tour start as a facebook, twitter or
six months to get healthy, but ally hurt. If they can make it member, and I was way more instagram: what’s your
there’s a difference in getting work where it’s really used for nervous watching them play favorite? I definitely post
healthy and getting tourna- the right reasons, I think it’s a in Game 7 than I was playing. the most stuff on Instagram,
ment ready. Healthy means great rule. But I’m just saying ●●● whether it’s photos or videos.
I go play golf and my shoulder it’s kind of hard to monitor if you could have a And then I would say I consume
doesn’t hurt. Tournament ready that, isn’t it? mulligan for anything in Twitter the most. It’s where
is, I’m going to play golf, and I’m ●●● your career so far, what you can learn more, whether
totally dialed in. And I was not what would you say is would it be? That’s tough. it’s links to articles or direct
near that. I was literally, Let’s your perfect nongolf day? You change one shot and you feedback from people.
just physically get ready to go Going to Game 7 and watch- totally change the experience ●●●
play 72 holes. I was just a shell ing the Dodgers win the World from what you learned, and other apps to kill time?
of myself for most of the year. Series. I’m not sure I’d want to do that. I use the realtor.com app a lot.
I didn’t have the ball speed ●●● I guess it would be getting in- I like to keep up with stuff.
I normally have. But once I got what was it like to watch jured in the final of the NCAA I’ve always been very entrepre-
some status, I wasn’t going to the world series last year? Championship rather than the neurial and business-minded.
stop playing. I wanted to do (the dodgers lost to the day before [in the semifinal], With my sponsors, I’ll do photo
whatever I could to earn a PGA astros in game 7.) so I could have played in the shoots with them and try to
Tour card. It was one of the most frustrat- championship and we maybe dive into the business model
●●● ing experiences of my life. You could have won. I wouldn’t of what they do and try to see
when did you feel like know how difficult it was to get even need to avoid the injury— what makes them click. I think
ok, i’m back? It’s going to to that point. It’s one of those just wait one day. it’s fun. The thing we’re really
sound crazy, but not until the things, you’re rooting so hard ●●● lucky about in golf, whether it’s
Sony in January. Even though that you don’t even really enjoy is there a hobby you’d like pro-ams or sponsors with tour-
I missed the cut that week, watching the games. You just to try? I don’t think there’s naments or your own sponsors,
I was absolutely bombing it want it to be over, and you want anything I’d do all that seri- we really have access to a re-
off the tee. And I was like, them to win, because it’s so ously until I was actually done ally wide variety of industries,
This is where I should be. And stressful to watch. I was so fo- playing golf. If I’m going to do which is cool.
that whole stretch on the West cused on the result, I didn’t even something, I want to be all in ●●●
Coast swing, I played some re- get to really appreciate them on it. But I think it would be who has been your
ally, really good rounds, and playing in the World Series. really cool to take a golf course most interesting pro-am
I played some poor ones, too, ●●● that’s struggling and create partner? Man, I play a lot and
but for the most part I felt more stressful to watch your own golf club. Where all probably will forget some really
I had my game back. them in the world series you have is the locker room and big ones. I played with this guy
●●● a lounge area; you don’t have Jesse Biter in Hawaii. He lives
in hindsight, was there a a pool or tennis courts or any- in Sarasota. He got started in
benefit at all to the delay
rather than jumping into a
pro career right away?
‘YOU’RE thing like that. And you have
a limited membership where
you don’t make tee times. They
tech. He’s a pretty young guy,
and now he’s investing in that
whole Sarasota area in different
No doubt about it. I’m a bet-
ter person because of it. I have ROOTING SO keep the golf course in a play-
ers’ condition with a little bit of
things, real estate and whatnot.
He’s done some really good
more realistic expectations. I
certainly appreciated golf a lot
more than I ever had in my life
HARD THAT rough and the greens are firm.
Where you can have really good
players look forward to going
things for the community. And
he tries to give back a lot.
●●●
when I came back.
●●●
YOU DON’T out there and being challenged
on a daily basis.
what aspect of your game
still needs the most work?
there is now a rule in col-
lege golf, dubbed the beau
hossler rule, that allows
EVEN REALLY ●●●
is there a place you’re
thinking you’d model it
My patience level, for sure.
I’m not trying to be perfect,
but it’s tough to swallow some-
teams to substitute for
an injured player in match
ENJOY after? There’s a club near
Palm Springs called Planta-
times the fact that you’re play-
ing 30 weeks and you want to
play at the ncaa champion-
ship. do you get a kick out
of having a connection to
WATCHING tion Golf Club. They just have
a small, regular clubhouse and
keep the course in exquisite
see the results right now. The
reality is, sometimes it’s just
not always going to be there.
that? Honestly, I’m not really
a big advocate for the rule,
THE GAMES.’ condition. And they have cool
practice areas and a really good
But you’ve got to put the work
in, and if you stick to a quality
and I’ll tell you why. I think playing membership. I think process, it will happen.
a substitution makes sense, stuff like that is pretty cool,
but there’s a slippery slope where you can go out and have
with how it’s set up. A coach a game with anybody.

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book excerpt
THIS
sit down before you read about the golfer who suffered a . . . fractured testicle
june 2018 86 golf digest

by michael j. young, m.d. the victim had
been hitting
golf balls at
I
EDITOR’S NOTE: Excerpted with permission
from The Illness of Medicine: Experiences of
Clinical Practice, copyright © 2018 by Michael
the range when
J. Young, M.D., GM Books, 263 pages, $30. he was hurt.
then he finished
’VE BEEN A PHYSICIAN for three decades, and the bucket.
handling Friday-night call duty was always a slice gone horribly bad
particularly stressful for me. Often it followed ’m an avid golfer. I love the game—the
a busy week and involved trying to avoid
problems over the ensuing 72 hours while covering my
practice and my partners.’ If Friday night was bad, the
I history, the architecture of courses,
the physics of how a ball flies. I often
find myself daydreaming about play-
ing a good round and how satisfying it feels
to hit a golf ball solidly. So how on earth did
weekend would almost certainly be difficult. Problems this golfer, hitting balls at a range, get here?
I knew the range quite well; I’d hit balls
came in multiples—and tended to go from bad to worse. there hundreds of times. It was double-
One such weekend began on a beautiful ably significant, causes one to bend over tiered, curved to allow balls to be aimed
Chicago summer night. As usual for a call and drop to one’s knees, barely able to utter toward the middle. There were numerous
night, I went to bed around 10 p.m., hoping a sound through the suffering. Embryologi- light poles, for those of us who just can’t get
to get a reasonably good night’s sleep. Often, cally, the testicle takes its origin in the vicin- in enough practice during daylight. Appar-
that was difficult, not because of any specific ity of the kidneys, and throughout gestation ently, the man practicing next to the patient
call but because of the anticipation of the (pregnancy) it gradually moves into the hit a nasty slice with his driver. The man
call. This particular weekend, my practice scrotum during normal fetal development. hit his ball so badly, with such force, that it
group was on emergency-room call, which The nerves and blood supply to the testicle ricocheted off a light pole and hit my patient
meant that we were responsible for any have their origin up high in the posterior smack in the scrotum.
“unassigned” patients, meaning those who aspect of the abdomen. An injury to the tes- The thought of the event—the sound of
presented to the ER without any previous ticle, from a sudden kick or blow, can conse- the impact, the pain involved—was dizzy-
patient-doctor relationship with a physician quently cause the pain to be experienced by ing. As I interviewed the patient before sur-
on staff. Many such patients had no insur- the poor victim where the nerves originate. gery, my heart sank that a fellow golf addict
ance and limited if any previous medical So with this type of injury, not only is there had suffered such injury while attempting to
care, and could therefore be the most chal- the local pain from the scrotum and testicle improve his swing.
lenging. There was no reference point for being struck but also the excruciating ab- But wait. According to my patient’s story
the treating physician, and the patients were dominal pain. of woe, he’d been injured in the middle of the
often suspicious of us and of “the system.” I walked into the ER around midnight day, and it was now nearly midnight. I asked
Usually they were brought in by ambulance and discovered, among other things, that why it had taken him so long to go to the ER.
to the closest emergency room. the patient with the testicular fracture, who “I had to finish my bucket of balls,” he
On this night, I was awakened around was lying on a gurney, was also articulate, replied.
11:30 p.m. for a consultation. I could predict educated and insured. I had reviewed his I was unclear if I’d heard him properly.
a long night ahead of me, along with a stress- scrotal ultrasound before examining him. Had he really just said he pulled himself off
ful remaining weekend, within 10 seconds of The blow to the testicle had been so severe the ground after suffering a testicular frac-
hearing the reason for the interruption of my and sudden that the actual covering—the ture and continued to hit balls? If so, I had
REM sleep: A 43-year-old man had suffered fibrous shell around the testicular compo- a new hero!
a fracture of the testicle. nents (responsible for sperm production He informed me that he’d limped back
nutcracker courtesy of eureka golf products inc.
The testicle is surprisingly resistant to and testosterone)—was split open, causing to his car after finishing his bucket, driven
injury, despite its exposed location, front the contents to be expelled from inside the home, and stretched out on the couch. Not
and center, and despite being shielded by shell. It was sort of like a cracked-open egg. until later, after doing a Google search, had
very little. (Scrotal skin is quite thin, and You can only imagine the type of discomfort he learned that a “significant injury” might
there’s no significant layer of muscle or fat this would have caused at impact. have occurred. He figured this must have ex-
for protection.) With a predilection for just I examined the patient, confirming the plained the swelling and pain.
hanging, the testicle would appear ripe for diagnosis, and discussed with him the need After hearing this, I wasn’t so sure he was
injury. But it is the very lack of resistance, for surgical exploration to salvage the testi- my hero anymore. If I had a scrotum that was
the ability to be pushed aside in a compliant cle, if possible. In some cases, the damage to starting to look like a pomegranate, and get-
scrotal sac, that allows the testicle to avoid a a ruptured testicle is so severe that, without ting larger, I don’t think I’d be at home decid-
significant injury when struck. viable tissue to repair, the testicle needs to ing whether to seek treatment.
Most males who have gone through pu- be removed. I took him to surgery and was able to sal-
berty have at one time or another felt the Our conversation led to the man reveal- vage the majority of the testicle. He did well,
nauseating ache that comes with being hit ing how the injury had occurred: He was hit- and went home the next day. My weekend
firmly in the testicle. The pain, indescrib- ting golf balls at a local driving range. was still in its infancy. Another day on call.

++ +
DON’T MESS THIS UP

B Y G U Y YO C O M
US
OP
EN
u.s. open 2018 | golf digest 91
R
RAYMOND FLOYD, who won the
U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills in
1986 and is a longtime member
there, placed a phone call to
Mike Davis, the USGA’s executive
director, shortly after last year’s
Open at Erin Hills. Facing Erin’s
7,800-plus yards but massively
wide fairways—60 yards in some
cases—players whaled away with
impunity when typical winds failed
to blow. In the final round, winner
Brooks Koepka hit his tee shot on
the 18th hole 379 yards—with a
3-wood. Floyd, a close observer of
a Shinnecock Hills that in recent
years had become considerably
wider than in Opens played in ’86,
’95 and 2004—and planned that
way for 2018—was aghast. ▶ “I said,
‘Mike, we need to have a chat,’ ”
recalls Floyd, at age 75 retired but
still an influential voice.“I asked
him, ‘Were you happy with the
[fairway widths] at Erin Hills?
I don’t think you were.’ Mike told
me he absolutely was not. I said,
‘Well, it’s going to be on steroids
at Shinnecock, because it doesn’t
move and flow as much. You’ve ++ +
got it dead wide, and we’ve had t h e p a r - 4 1 0 t h , n o w s l i g h t ly l o n g e r
at 4 1 5 ya r d s , w a s t h e h a r d e s t h o l e i n
three really good U.S. Opens here the final round of the 2004 open,
with it tight and narrow.’ ” ▶ ▶ ▶ w h e n t h e f i e l d av e r a g e d 5 . 0 3 s t r o k e s .
Photographs by Dom Furore

The alert from Floyd, combined with
conversations Davis had with smart people
in golf, must have set off internal alarms.
His reaction, expressed in action more than
words, was almost immediate. Within weeks,
the USGA undertook dramatic alterations to
Shinnecock Hills. It was highly unusual, be-
cause the changes were performed so close
to the championship and not long after a
three-year Bill Coore-Ben Crenshaw restora-
tion had concluded with the USGA and Shin-
necock feeling more than satisfied.
The tale of what happened, and why, is
illustrative of the USGA’s willingness to act
in response to the changing character of the
modern game. It also points up the need for
the USGA to get this U.S. Open right. Stung
by a long roll call of controversies and mis-
steps in U.S. Opens, its leadership on the
equipment front constantly under fire, and
with critical eyes riveted on a modernized
Rules of Golf rolling out in 2019, it’s impera-
tive that USGA officials deliver a national
championship we’ll remember for the right
reasons. To put it bluntly, it’s important that
they not mess this up.
The return to Shinnecock Hills intensi-
fies the urgency. This U.S. Open is no bold,
happy experiment, as was the case when the
U.S. Open went to Bethpage, a public course,
in 2002. It’s not an effort to prove that a his-
toric but short course could hold a U.S. Open,
a key subtext when it was played at Merion
in 2013. Nor is it a populist effort to take a
U.S. Open to newish courses and locales, as
was the case with Chambers Bay in 2015 and
Erin Hills last year. Shinnecock Hills is the
real deal, hallowed ground not only to the
USGA but students of the game and entities
the USGA needs to have in its corner. Not
unimportant are the commercial interests,
including Fox Sports, now in its fourth year
of televising the U.S. Open. The events of a
mini-disaster at Shinnecock during its last
hosting in 2004 notwithstanding, this is the
last place where a serious misstep should
elicit from the USGA the light-sounding
phrase, “We deserve a bogey on that one.”
a gloried past, but a stumble in 2004

nsurpassed as a U.S. Open
U test, Shinnecock is one of

five founding-member clubs
of the USGA. It opened in
1891, and in 1896, the sec-
ond U.S. Open ever was played there. Its
early design iterations were completely re-
done by William Flynn in 1931. After many
carefree decades as a hidden but respected
gem—the club is seasonal, teeming with
wealth and not particularly ambitious
about being in the spotlight—Shinnecock
burst to prominence in the 1986 U.S. Open,
when Floyd triumphed before a thrilled lo-
cal and national audience. The champion-
94 golf digest | u.s. open 2018

++ +
t h e g r e e n at t h e 1 5 9 -ya r d
1 1 t h h o l e , w i t h t h e t e e s t o t h e 4 6 9 -ya r d
1 2 t h h o l e t o t h e l e f t.
‘DID ERIN HILLS
INFLUENCE US?
ABSOLUTELY. . . .
THERE WASN’T
ENOUGH OF
A PREMIUM
ON ACCURACY.’
ship returned in 1995 with Corey Pavin the
winner, then again in 2004 when Retief
Goosen prevailed over Phil Mickelson. The
2004 tournament was tainted because of
dreadful, rock-hard conditions in the final
round, a USGA-perpetrated error that Pavin
calls “a mini-disaster, maybe a major one.”
But Shinnecock emerged intact. The 2017-’18
edition of Golf Digest’s 100 Greatest Courses
in America ranking has it behind only Pine
Valley, Augusta National and Cypress Point.
Shinnecock is unique. Playing to a par
of 70, the course at its best is stark, mostly
exposed and a bit wild, in mid-summer a
gold and pale-green throwback to seaside
golf at its most original. Its fairways, no two
of which run parallel, are a mix of flattish,
bending runs and subtle roller coasters. Its
many bunkers, some there for beauty but
most strategically positioned, are a little
evil. The course is sand-based and bouncy,
naturally fast and firm, and almost always
wind-swept. Its four par 3s are staggeringly
diverse. As a U.S. Open test it is insanely hard
but fair. Looking down from the incredible
Stanford White clubhouse, which summons
images from a P.G. Wodehouse golf story, you
see a course that is rough around the edges
but pure within. Everything about it con-
veys a sort of frugal opulence, much like the
old-world legacy individuals you might en-
counter on New York’s eastern Long Island.
The design, timeless and fiendishly creative,
defies attempts by the player to overwhelm
it. Get out of line, and Shinnecock, like an
1890s parochial-school headmaster, will take
a ruler to your knuckles.
Pavin, his language as inventive as his
shot-making, calls the look, “Shinnecockian.
. . . It’s distinctive in the way it looks and
plays. In 1995, there was just enough mois-
++ + ture to hold a slightly green color. I’d played
t h e pa r - 5 1 6 t h wa s t h e e a s i e st h o l e i n t h e a lot of courses by that point and had seen
f i n a l r o u n d o f t h e 2 0 0 4 u . s . o p e n ( 4 . 8 0 3 s t r o k e av e r a g e ) , courses that were somewhat Shinnecockian,
b u t i t ’ s 6 1 6 ya r d s t o d ay v e r s u s 5 4 0 ya r d s t h e n . but there was nothing like Shinnecock.” ▶

‘THE NEW TEES ARE
SO FAR BACK, I DIDN’T
KNOW IMMEDIATELY
WHICH HOLES THEY
WERE INTENDED FOR.’
changes add 449 yards
ike all courses its age, Shin-
L necock has required upkeep

and some updating. The most
dramatic work occurred be-
ginning in 2012, when Coore
and Crenshaw were called in to perform a
restoration the club felt was necessary to
keep the course faithful to Flynn’s design.
With the USGA and board members at Shin-
necock monitoring closely, Coore restored
lines and angles to the fairways from 10
new tees, chosen by Mike Davis. Bunkers
and other Flynn features that had become
obsolete in the face of driving-distance in-
creases were back in play. The tees, on holes
2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9, 10, 14, 16 and 18, stretched the
championship yardage to 7,445 yards, well
up from 6,996 yards in 2004. Trees and un-
derbrush were removed, making the open
terrain even airier. Every green was expand-
ed, the original contours left intact, but the
shapes more closely duplicating Flynn’s
greens as seen in aerial photos from 1938.
“I wouldn’t call it a restoration,” Coore
says. “We made very minor alterations,
not nearly on the order as what we did at
Pinehurst, Maidstone and Old Town. We
mainly polished, tried to ensure that align-
ments worked well from the tees. We did
do significant work on the right side of the
[par-4] sixth hole. It’s at a low point, and
the vegetation there had become prohibi-
tively thick. We restored it to a more sandy
character. But to be honest, I don’t think
we’re even a footnote to the story there.”
Coore’s low-key summation is under-
standable, in view of what came next. After
Davis spoke with Floyd and other golf-savvy
individuals he chooses not to name, a sub-
stantial narrowing of the fairways occurred,
in golf terms, almost overnight. Under the
supervision of Shinnecock’s superintendent,
Jon Jennings, a crew of 75 workers, toiling
15 hours per day from Sept. 17-25, removed
an estimated 200,000 square feet of turf—
almost five acres—from the sides of fairways
and replaced it with strips of fescue sod ++ +
sheared from Shinnecock’s nine-hole par-3 in this view looking north,
course and unused areas on the main course. yo u c a n s e e t h e f r o n t n i n e o n t h e l e f t
It also was seeded with a fescue strain as a n d t h e b a c k n i n e o n t h e r i g h t.

close to Shinnecock’s as they could find. The felt if we didn’t narrow it some, the one ele- in 2004 was 30 yards wide. After the Coore-
target areas for narrowing primarily were the ment the course wouldn’t have was accuracy. Crenshaw restoration, it ballooned to 52.
anticipated landing areas for pros, 275 to 325 I’d just point out that it will be the widest of Today, it’s 42. Says Davis: “A learned person
yards from the tees on the longer holes. For the Shinnecock U.S. Opens.” could make the argument that there’s still
the U.S. Open June 14-17, the fairways transi- Coore says Davis’ narrowing wasn’t a re- too much width at Shinnecock. Time will tell
tion to a band of fine fescue, followed by the buke of his previous work. “I don’t view it in on that, but given what we know about the
wild stuff—the knee-high fescue and blue- a negative light at all,” he says. “I don’t think weather and our experiences there over the
stem grass. there’s any question that the last couple of years, it should be an incredible test of golf.”
It was quite an adjustment, and Davis U.S. Opens showed Mike some things that The narrowing is only one of several
acknowledges that what he’d seen in Wis- made them feel further alterations were steps the USGA and the club have taken that
consin last June played no small role in the necessary. The game is a learning curve that seem to have made Shinnecock immune
decision. “Did Erin Hills influence us? Ab- never stops.” from setup errors. The additional 449 yards,
solutely,” he says. “We went into Erin Hills The par-4 18th hole, where Pavin combined with its narrowness, are potent
anticipating wind, and with the firmness clinched his title in 1995 with a 4-wood shot weapons that will prevent longer hitters
there, felt we had to present more width so to the final green, might be the best example from hammering the course into submis-
players could keep balls in the fairway. Look- of how Shinnecock’s width has evolved. In sion—Floyd’s fear.
ing back, there wasn’t enough of a premium a walking tour of the course last fall, Jeff “I played Shinnecock with a member two
on accuracy.” Hall, the USGA’s managing director of rules years ago, and the new tees are so far back,
Davis points out that the narrowing is and championships, said that the fairway I didn’t know immediately which holes they
not especially draconian. “The average fair- were intended for,” says David Eger, who
way width [at Shinnecock] in 2004 was 26.6 ++ + was the USGA’s senior director of rules and
yards, the narrowest 25 yards, the widest s h i n n e c o c k i s 7 , 4 4 5 ya r d s , competitions for the 1995 U.S. Open. “Trust
30 yards,” he says. “The average now is 41.6 up from 6,996 in 2004, me, the course is plenty long.” The rough,
yards. That’s 15 yards wider, a full 50 percent. but after l ast year’s u.s. open, according to Davis, will be four inches long,
On the other hand, it’s substantially narrow- t h e f a i r w ay s w e r e p i n c h e d “I have no concern about that,” he says.
er than what Bill Coore and the club had. We even tighter. Then there are the green complexes, the

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source of the nightmare in 2004. Despite the 2001 (also won by Goosen). “Trouble his- But Shinnecock is not Augusta National,
course already being on the edge that year, torically almost always can be traced to hole which has far more intimate knowledge and
the greens were rolled on Saturday night, de- locations,” Fay says. “Given a choice, it’s control of its course than the USGA does as a
prived of water and, with a dry wind erupting probably best to go with the location that visitor. Davis at one point in our conversation
Sunday from the northwest—the prevailing is more benign. Nobody will ever go down noted, “We don’t own the golf course, and
winds are off the Atlantic Ocean from the in infamy for setting a ho-hum spot. . . . It’s certainly we’re not architects.” But science,
southeast—several greens went over the a strange threshold, but you want to avoid in concert with experience and a solid work-
edge. “I remember hitting a short pitch to cutting a hole that can wind up on a video. ing relationship with Shinnecock in place
the first hole that year,” Pavin says. “I struck Social media is not always kind that way.” since the 2018 U.S. Open was announced in
it cleanly, yet the ball took one huge bounce, It’s not lost on Eger that some people ac- 2011, should ensure a safe passage.
then went off the back of the green. It was tually root for a setup feature to go over the Could anything else go wrong? Of course.
shocking.” edge. “Three factions expect mistakes,” he Rules administration must be swift and ac-
The 189-yard seventh green was the most says. “The players, who aren’t familiar with curate, in the event of a quirky episode such
notorious. Less than one tee shot in five the rules officials, volunteers and staff, have as Dustin Johnson’s ball moving on the
held the green. The first two players to come a sensitive eye for things not done just right. green as he stood near it preparing to putt
through, J.J. Henry and Kevin Stadler, both They’ll always be mad about something; it’s at Oakmont in 2016. Johnson was deemed to
made triple bogeys. Billy Mayfair, in the sec- just a matter of the noise level. There’s the have caused the ball to move and received a
ond pairing, putted into a bunker. The USGA media, which actually roots for something one-stroke penalty that, under rules now in
hand-watered greens between groups, the to go wrong so they have something to write effect, wouldn’t result in a penalty at all. It
first time it had ever done so to allow play to wasn’t just the apparent subjectivity of the
continue. This was viewed as unfair to the rule that was at issue, but the USGA officials’
early groups that had suffered the worst of it. uncertainty and delay in enforcing it. Would
Syringing during play has been done for the
health of the greens (former USGA executive ‘WE LEARNED THE they administer more efficiently now? The
USGA and Shinnecock also need to be wary
director David Fay points to Southern Hills in
2001). But to simply allow the competition to
continue, no.
HARD WAY [2004 of areas that could loom as hot spots, such
as an ancient, waste-like bunker short and
to the left of the green at the par-5 fifth hole.
“That was at the height of the USGA’s in-
fatuation with firm and fast,” says Fay, who
AT SHINNECOCK], AND A photo of it indicates it being neither fish
nor fowl, bunker-wise. Dustin Johnson again
in 2004 had the job Davis holds now. “We
learned that there were limits to firm and IT WASN’T PRETTY. . . . comes to mind, with that awful instance on
the final hole at Whistling Straits in the 2010
fast. We learned the hard way, and it wasn’t
pretty. There was a lot of finger-pointing, our
version of the Grassy Knoll.”
OUR VERSION OF PGA Championship. How to handle weather
warnings if a nasty summer thunderstorm
rumbles in? Still there as a reminder is the
Not that there wasn’t room for some dark
humor. On the seventh tee, Fred Funk and
THE GRASSY KNOLL.’ 1991 U.S. Open at Hazeltine, when a specta-
tor was killed by a lightning strike.
his caddie, Mark Long, watched Mickelson All of these issues don’t seem to have got-
deliberately hit into a greenside bunker, ten the better of Davis, who has been with
which, incredibly, seemed to provide the about. Then there’s the public. They in gen- the USGA in different hands-on capacities
best chance at making par. “I said to Fred, eral like to see players struggle, to be kicked since 1990. He seems exhilarated by the
‘That’s definitely the play,’ ” Long recalls. around like they are at their home course.” return to Shinnecock. “I feel no tenseness
Funk nodded, but as he got ready to play, But other safeguards already are in place. about everything coming off perfectly,” he
he walked back to the bag. “Fred whispered, Although most of Shinnecock’s greens will says. “I’m completely honest on that. These
‘I just can’t make myself aim at sand on a have roll-off areas suggestive of Pinehurst, great golf courses are like children. I love
par 3,’ ” Long says. Funk wound up playing the seventh green and three others (3, 8 and them all, but I confess to being especially
the hole conventionally and made a double 12) will feature collars of moderate length to fond of this one. I love Shinnecock’s history
bogey. Mickelson, after playing the simplest prevent balls from rolling into bunkers and and architecture, and I’m praying that what-
of bunker shots, made par. other crazy instances where punishments ever is left over from 2004 can be put to rest.”
It wasn’t only the greens. Shots that came outweigh the crime. When presented with the idea that a lapse
up short on the par-4 10th hole rolled ab- Perhaps most important, agronomy and of some kind at Shinnecock could cost the
surdly back down the fairway, a bad carica- maintenance practices have advanced expo- USGA on the other areas it oversees—rules
ture of the ninth at Augusta. A caddie for one nentially since 2004. The advent of the Tru- and equipment being the most high-profile—
of the contenders that year recalls the player Firm device that measures firmness, another Davis said, “If we perform really well here, it
trying to tee a ball on the practice range, only instrument that measures soil moisture and can have a positive effect on how well we do
to have the tee snap in half. “He said, ‘You yet another that monitors evaporation, are in other areas. Conversely, if we err in an area
know you’re in trouble when they lose con- remarkable tools. These, in combination of governance, it detracts from what we do at
trol of the range,’ ” the caddie laughs. with improved weather forecasting, will our championships. Our mission—our North
It’s all but impossible for a course-setup allow superintendent Jennings, already re- Star—is to make the game better.”
disaster like that one to occur today. The sev- garded as a wizard, and Darin Bevard, the In a perfect world, we see an unforgetta-
enth green, like all at Shinnecock, is larger USGA’s director of championship agronomy, ble conclusion to the U.S. Open at grand old
now, allowing for challenging hole loca- to control conditions with precision. Shinnecock Hills, capped perhaps by Davis
tions but few apocalypse-inducing ones, putting in a call to Raymond Floyd on Sun-
such as occurred there 2004, as well as at day evening with the greeting, “So how’d we
the 18th greens at Olympic in 1998 and the do?” Knowing in advance that the reply will
poor choice at No. 18 at Southern Hills in be a hearty, “Well done.”

Patience.
Repetition.
Dedication.
Time.
That’s what it
takes to become a
professional golfer.
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++ +
BIG APPLE FANS LOVE

PHIL MICKELSON.
YOU GOT A PROBLEM WITH THAT?
BY STEVE RUSHIN

“T
OUGH CROWD,” Rodney Dangerfield liked to say
of his native New York, where the spectators are
often the spectacle.“New York is the place where
everyone will stop a championship fight to look at an
usher giving a drunk the bum’s rush,” Damon Runyon said
80 years ago, but it’s still true of every New York crowd, in every
era, as when Greg Norman invited a heckler at Shinnecock Hills
during the 1986 U.S. Open to meet him in the parking lot. ▶ Last
summer, a meathead at Citi Field provoked the perma-smiling
mascot of the New York Metropolitans into flipping him the bird,
for even Mr. Met, beneath his thick horsehide, can only take so
much. Rangers fans once serenaded head coach Phil Esposito
by exhorting him—in the familiar cadence of “Here we go,
Rangers, here we go”—to “Kill yourself, Espo, kill yourself.”
And though golf calls its crowds “galleries,” implying culture and
sophistication, it isn’t always the case at New York-area majors. ▶
NY u.s. open 2018 | golf digest 105

When Sergio Garcia had the temer- into the middle distance. “Monty! I’m
ity to challenge Tiger Woods for the a fan! I’m a fan!” When Montgomerie,
lead at the 2002 U.S. Open at Bethpage against his better judgment, let down
Black, then milked his grip for an eter- his guard and turned toward his ad-
nity before every shot, fans helpfully mirer, the guy screamed a vulgar fat
shouted at him, “Hit the f------ ball!” joke at him.
When that didn’t speed the Spaniard And yet there’s one golfer that New
along, fans counted his re-grips out York fans love unconditionally. Phil
loud. “I love New York,” Sergio said on Mickelson made his off-Broadway de-
returning to Bethpage Black for the but at the U.S. Open at Shinnecock in
2009 Open. “I love the people around 1995. He was practically a kid, having
here.” But it sounded more like a pre- turned 25 on the second day of that
emptive plea to the verbally abusive, tournament, but already showing the
the way New Yorkers of the ’80s and fortitude and creativity that crowds
’90s wrote “No Radio—Thank You” on appreciated. He was just one shot off
signs in their windshields, politely ask- the lead after 54 holes and earnestly ac-
ing thieves not to break into their cars. knowledged that the U.S. Open trophy
Brutalized by stateside galleries, was his dream. “It’s still a dream,” he
Colin Montgomerie once announced a said after a final-round 74 left him tied
previous pages: philippe lopez/afp/getty images

very brief boycott of American tourna- for fourth, though he signed every au-
ments, but he relented before that ’02 tograph, acknowledged every compli-
Open at Bethpage. Concerned for the ment and generally emulated Arnie all
psychological well-being of the zaftig week, endearing himself to the masses.
Scotsman, Golf Digest distributed Twenty-three years later, Mick-
buttons to Open attendees that read elson has won everything but the
Be Nice to Monty. Fans seemed to be U.S. Open, and that final quest has
doing just that. “Excuse me, Mr. Mont- deepened New Yorkers’ ardor. They
gomerie?” yelled one, as Monty gazed still love him for his swashbuckling,
sympathize with his six second-place
++ + finishes at the Open, and now pine
p h i l ' s fa n s t e a m u p d u r i n g for him to complete his career Grand
the final round of the 2009 Slam at Shinnecock Hills, where in
u . s . o p e n at b e t h pa g e b l a c k . 2004 the grandstand gallery on the
A POLL OF 97 SPORTSWRITERS IN 1980
FOUND NEW YORK TO HAVE THE MOST UNRULY
AND ABUSIVE FANS IN ALL OF SPORTS.
seventh green chanted “Water! Water! the bullpen because when they spit
Water!” at the grounds crew when on you it just drips off the awnings.”
Mickelson came to the tee, badgering And that was 1956, a more genteel era,
the guys with the hoses to soften the when men still wore fedoras to the
green so Phil—and only Phil—might Polo Grounds.
stick his tee shot. A poll of 97 sportswriters in 1980
“I love playing in the New York found New York to have the most
andy altenburger/icon smi/corbis via getty images
area,” he told Golf Digest’s Bob Verdi unruly and abusive fans in all sports,
in 2009, before the Open at Bethpage followed closely by Philadelphia.
Black. “People from around there are Naturally, this was offensive to fans—
incredible sports fans.” in Philadelphia, who fancy themselves
Of course, these fans—and their second to none. “They say New York
forefathers—haven’t endeared them- fans are the worst and we’re second-
selves to every athlete in quite the worst,” one told the Philadelphia
same way. It’s safe to say that Mick- Inquirer in 1989, after a brawl between
elson, among left-handed-swinging Phillie and Met fans at Veterans Stadi-
San Diego natives, has fared better um. “So when they get together, they
among New Yorkers than Ted Wil- have to fight.”
liams ever did. “The New York fans are The only other thing that comes
the worst,” St. Louis Cardinals catcher between New York and Philadelphia
Joe Garagiola said. “It’s a little better is, of course, New Jersey. Payne Stew-
now that they’ve put up awnings over art, who competed in NFL-licensed
plus fours and golf shirts, wisely re-
frained from wearing Giants or Jets
gear at the U.S. Open at Baltusrol in
1993, so as not to alienate any fans—
and then was heckled for wearing
Bills gear. New Jersey can be confron-
tational. This year, “Saturday Night
Live” suggested it change its license-
plate slogan from “The Garden State”
to “Da Fuh You Lookin’ At?”
All the more remarkable then that
golf fans in New York and New Jersey
put Mickelson in the pantheon of
lefties they love: Babe Ruth, Bobby
De Niro, Willis Reed. Mickelson was
first embraced at the same course—
Shinnecock—where that fan called Nor-
man a choker on the 14th hole of the ’86
Open, after a double bogey in the third
round had dropped The Shark into a tie
for the lead of a tournament that would
slip away from him. “I haven’t experi-
enced this sort of stuff anywhere else
in the world playing golf,” Norman said
at the time. “If this was Augusta, they’d
have handcuffed those people and
thrown them off the course.”
That bum’s rush, as Runyon knew,
would have had its own audience in
New York—jeering, booing, blowing
raspberries, an act so synonymous
with the city that it has its own name:
Bronx cheer.
++ +
bobby jones won the 1929 u.s. open
p l ay o f f b y 2 3 s t r o k e s , b u t u n d e r t h e
n e w f o r m at, h e c o u l d h av e l o s t.
REWRITING
HISTORY
NOW THAT THE USGA HAS GONE FROM 18 HOLES TO TWO FOR U.S. OPEN PLAYOFFS,
WE LOOK BACK ON WHAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN. BY DAN JENKINS ▶ On the sixth hole of sudden
death, Harry Vardon beats
▶ When the USGA announced this year that it was going to switch to a two- Francis Ouimet at Brookline
in 1913, killing one of the great
hole playoff and sudden death thereafter to determine future winners of the
golf stories of all time. Ouimet
U.S. Open in case of a tie after 72 holes, those who usually follow the cham- lives the rest of his life as a
pionship on TV had a perfect excuse to go happily singing and dancing into bartender.
the night. No longer would they be forced to call in sick at work to watch the ▶ Instead of Bobby Jones
18-hole playoff on Monday. Unless of course it involved Al Watrous versus beating Al Espinosa by 23
strokes in their 36-hole playoff
Aubrey Boomer. Who would care? ▶ I, however, slumped over in regret when
at Winged Foot in 1929,
the news hit that after 123 years of 18-hole playoffs, five playoffs of 36 holes, Espinosa wins the first two
and one of 72 holes, the winner of the grand old Open title has suddenly been holes to hoist the Open trophy.
reduced to what might as well be a coin flip no matter who’s involved. And A year later, Espinosa wins
obviously for television. ▶ It sent me staggering back into the past to see how the Grand Slam. Jones retires
to practice law. The Masters is
the two-hole playoff and sudden death might have changed history. Imme-
never created.
diate finding: In a shocking 15 of the U.S. Open’s 33 playoffs—hold still—a dif- ▶ The golf world is saved the
ferent winner emerges. ▶ Pardon me for suggesting that these results would agony of enduring its only 72-
have had a profound effect on the game’s illustrious history. But consider: hole playoff when George Von

UNDER THIS NEW PLAYOFF FORMAT, SAM SNEAD 1962 Jack Nicklaus over Arnold Palmer,
71-74. New format: Nicklaus wins
in two holes.
WOULD'VE WON A U.S. OPEN AND A CAREER SLAM. 1957 Dick Mayer over Cary Middlecoff,
72-79. New format: Mayer wins in
five holes.
1955 Jack Fleck over Ben Hogan, 69-72.
New format: Fleck wins in five holes.
1994 1950* Ben Hogan (69) over Lloyd Mangrum
(73) and George Fazio (75).
New format: Mangrum wins in two holes.
1947* Lew Worsham over Sam Snead, 69-70.
New format: Snead wins in two holes.
1946* Lloyd Mangrum (72-72) over Vic
Ghezzi (72-73) and Byron Nelson (72-73)
in a 36-hole playoff.
New format: Ghezzi wins in two holes.
1940 Lawson Little over Gene Sarazen,
70-73. New format: Little wins in two holes.
1939* Byron Nelson (68-70) over Craig Wood
Elm defeats Billy Burke on (68-73) and Denny Shute (eliminated ater a
the first two holes in 1931 76 in the first 18-hole playoff).
at Inverness. Celebrations New format: Wood wins in five holes.
break out all over Toledo. 1931* Billy Burke (77-71) over George Von
▶ After so many heartbreaks, Elm (76-73) in a second 36-hole playoff ater
Sam Snead finally wins the the two had tied in the first 36-hole playoff
Open in the two-hole playoff ▶ A list of the results of all 33 U.S. Open (Burke 73-76 to Von Elm’s 75-74).
over Lew Worsham at St. Louis playoffs, and how the new two-hole New format: Von Elm wins in two holes.
Country Club in 1947. The aggregate-score format could have 1929* Bobby Jones (72-69) over Al Espinosa
world rejoices. The Slammer affected the outcomes (asterisks show (84-80) in a scheduled 36-hole playoff.
is no longer a four-time Open years where the new format would New format: Espinosa wins in two holes.
runner-up. have produced a different winner): 1928* Johnny Farrell (70-73) over Bobby
▶ Lloyd Mangrum becomes Jones (73-71) in a scheduled 36-hole playoff.
No. 1 on the FBI’s Public Enemy New format: Jones wins in two holes.
list when he ruins Ben Hogan’s 2008 Tiger Woods over Rocco Mediate 1927 Tommy Armour over Harry Cooper, 76-
comeback at Merion in 1950 on the 19th hole ater both shot 71 in 79. New format: Armour wins in two holes.
by winning after two holes of the playoff. New format: Woods wins 1925* Willie Macfarlane over Bobby Jones
jones (previous pages) george rinhart/corbis via getty images • els: david cannon/getty images
the playoff. Hy Peskin’s famous in two holes. in a second 18-hole playoff, 72-73, ater they
photo of Hogan’s shot to the 2001* Retief Goosen over Mark Brooks, 70- shot 75 in the first 18-hole playoff.
72nd hole never makes print. 72. New format: Brooks wins in three holes. New format: Jones wins in two holes.
Mangrum escapes capture. 1994* Ernie Els (above) over Loren Roberts 1923* Bobby Jones over Bobby Cruickshank,
Last heard of living somewhere in 20 holes ater both shot 74 (Colin 76-78. New format: Cruickshank wins in
near Auckland, New Zealand. Montgomerie eliminated ater 78). three holes.
▶ After blowing a seven-stroke New format: Roberts wins in two holes. 1919 Walter Hagen over Mike Brady,
lead in the final nine holes 1991 Payne Stewart over Scott Simpson, 75- 77-78. New format: Hagen wins in
of regulation, Arnold Palmer 77. New format: Stewart wins in two holes. two holes.
outlasts Billy Casper on the 1990 Hale Irwin over Mike Donald in 1913* Francis Ouimet (72) over Harry Vardon
fourth hole of the playoff 19 holes ater both shot 74. (77) and Ted Ray (78). New format: Vardon
at Olympic in 1966 to claim New format: Irwin wins in four holes. beats Ouimet on the sixth hole.
his second Open. The world 1988 Curtis Strange over Nick Faldo, 71-75. 1911 John McDermott (80) over Mike
rejoices again. National holiday New format: Strange wins in three holes. Brady (82) and George Simpson (86).
declared. 1984 Fuzzy Zoeller over Greg Norman, 67-75. New format: McDermott beats Brady
▶ The USGA calls an urgent New format: Zoeller wins in two holes. on the fith hole.
meeting to discuss the shocking 1975 Lou Graham over John Mahaffey, 71- 1910 Alex Smith (71) over John McDermott
new winners of the Open, a 73. New format: Graham wins in two holes. (75) and Macdonald Smith (77).
list that now includes Bobby 1971 Lee Trevino over Jack Nicklaus, 68-71. New format: Alex Smith beats Macdonald
Cruickshank, Jacky Cupit, New format: Trevino wins in three holes. Smith on the third hole.
Loren Roberts and Mark 1966* Billy Casper over Arnold Palmer, 1908 Fred McLeod over Willie Smith, 77-83.
Brooks. Name change of 69-73. New format: Palmer wins New format: McLeod wins in three holes.
tournament suggested. in four holes. 1903 Willie Anderson over David Brown,
Under further review, Jack 1965 Gary Player over Kel Nagle, 71-74. 82-84. New format: Anderson wins
Fleck still beats Hogan New format: Player wins in two holes. in three holes.
at Olympic in ’55, so that 1963* Julius Boros (70) over Jacky Cupit (73) 1901* Willie Anderson over Alex Smith,
nightmare continues, largely and Arnold Palmer (76). 85-86. New format: Smith wins in
at my expense. New format: Cupit wins in two holes. four holes.

WHISTLING STRAITS ®
THE STRAITS ® COURSE
HOLE 7, SHIPWRECK
PLAY WHERE CHAMPIONS PLAY
Arguably the greatest championship course in the United States,
located only 2.5 hours north of Chicago. Whistling Straits has been
the site of the 2004, 2010 and the 2015 PGA Championships.
It is the future site of the 2020 Ryder Cup.
RESORT – SPA – GOLF | 844-899-1709

DESTINATIONKOHLER.COM
Photograph by Walter Iooss Jr.
m y s h ot • 7 5 • pa l m b e a c h g a r d e n s • f l o r i d a ++ +
W
HAT COMES TO MIND when I think of the 1986 U.S. Open at
Shinnecock? For one thing, the car ride over on the Sunday
before the tournament started. Earlier that day, I’d lost at
Westchester after sharing the 54-hole lead. All my career I was a good
closer, but this time I played lousy and lost. It was a 2½-hour drive
out to the end of Long Island, and it started out quiet. Then my wife,
Maria, who until her passing in 2012 was my partner, my teammate,
the love of my life and my everything, starts asking questions.
“So what happened today?” she said.“It was just one of those
things,” I said. “I blew it. It happens.” “Why did you blow it?”
she said. I said, “Can we just forget about it and move on?” Maria
said, “We’re not going to forget it. We’ve got the U.S. Open this
week. What if you’re leading there? What are you going to do?
I want to know why you just blew that tournament.” I don’t
have a good answer. I’m fuming. It’s silent for a while. But just as
I start to cool off, Maria pours it on. “You never play well in the
U.S. Open. What’s the problem?” That did it. I stopped the car in
the emergency lane of the Long Island Expressway, and we went at it.
As cars screamed past, Maria and I screamed at each other. Our three
children and nanny were in the back seat, crying. It was awful. After
we got underway again, I spent the rest of the drive doing some serious
soul-searching. Which was what Maria had in mind to begin with. ▶ ▶ ▶
SOFTENING
THE STARE
RAYMOND FLOYD ON WINNING THE 1986 OPEN AT SHINNECOCK,
THE ART OF TIPPING, AND DEALING WITH A CHEATER ON THE GOLF COURSE
(PLUS BERNIE MADOFF). WITH GUY YOCOM
my u.s. open “problem” was what the Here’s why. When I was 14 and growing I passed—I was better at golf than baseball—
USGA did to the courses. The setups always up on the Army base at Fort Bragg, N.C., we’d but I loved keeping my hand in. In 1969,
seemed to take certain types of players out of play every day on the two courses there. My when I was still single and living in Chicago,
the game. Oakmont in 1973, if you took one dad, L.B. Floyd, was head golf pro. Waiting I hung around the Cubs a lot and sometimes
step off the green you were in rough above to tee off, I looked over at the practice green even threw batting practice. Ernie Banks,
your ankles. That took good short-game and saw Dow Finsterwald, a playing pro Billy Williams, Ron Santo, Fergie Jenkins,
players—players like me—out of the game. who was serving his time in the military. that was a hell of a team. Randy Hundley, the
Pebble Beach in 1982, same thing and more, Dow, who went on to win 11 tournaments, catcher, asked me to throw to him once so
fairways choked off and other nonsense so including the 1958 PGA Championship, was he could work out an issue with his timing.
it was no longer a links course. Winged Foot chipping from a big pile of shiny new Dunlop My fastball had a lot of movement, which
in 1974, forget it—it was impossible every- balls. When we made the turn, I noticed Dow annoyed Randy. “Throw it straight or I’ll
where. Every year it was something, the was still there practicing his short game. get somebody else,” he said. “I can’t help it,”
USGA taking these magnificent courses and And when we came off 18, he was still there I said. So he got somebody else.
turning them into horrible versions of what chipping. It made a huge impression on me. ●●●
they were meant to be. Going into 1986, my From then on, I devoted 50 percent of my during a western open one year, a buddy
best in 21 tries was a tie for sixth. Bad setups practice time to the short game, and it saved of mine from Cincinnati showed up. He was
and a bad attitude equals bad play. me countless times, most notably that first a huge horse bettor and had a lot of con-
●●● round at Shinnecock. nections. “Come to the track with me this
nobody seemed to know anything about ●●● afternoon,” he said. “There’s a race that’s as
Shinnecock. It hadn’t hosted a U.S. Open in i hung around and got closer to the lead. On good as over. I know who’s going to win.” So
90 years. The morning after our adventure Sunday, as I walked to the 10th tee, I looked I went with him to Hawthorne Race Course.
on the Long Island Expressway, I played a in the gallery and saw Maria. She said later He handed me a program and said, “Look for
practice round with our kids tagging along. that when she saw the look on my face, she Tangohoochie. That’s who we’re betting on.”
When we got back to the rental house, Ma- knew I was going to win. She called it The I looked and told him I didn’t see a horse by
ria asked, a little apprehensively, “So how Stare, a focused expression that told her that name. He said, “Tangohoochie isn’t the
do you like the course?” I said, “It’s the best I was in the zone. It was an odd sensation. name of the horse, it’s the name of the jock-
course I’ve ever seen in my life. It’s so good, Everything was vivid. My step felt lighter. ey.” We found the horse with Tangohoochie
they couldn’t mess it up.” It was brutally dif- Watching myself on a USGA film recently, aboard, waited at the betting window until
ficult—the fairways narrow and the rough it looked like I was strutting. Every shot I the last minute, then put down a bundle at
tall. But there wasn’t a single gimmick. It faced felt like a foregone conclusion, like it 20-1. Our horse won by eight lengths. The
didn’t favor short hitters or long ones, high- had already happened and all I had to do was owners didn’t show up to claim him. When
swing. It’s such a wonderful feeling. When they did the mandatory urine testing, they
I birdied the 11th hole, I was briefly in a nine- found the horse loaded to the ears with
way tie for the lead. Anything could have drugs. As for Tangohoochie, he got sat down
‘FOR PLACES THAT happened, but I felt like I was in control.

●●●
for using an electrical shocking device.
●●●
HAVE A NO-TIPPING the fellow from the usga who showed me

that film kept pointing out that I missed a
lot of very makable birdie putts. It’s true. It
guys like my cincinnati buddy were hang-
out people more than close friends. In Las
Vegas, I had great relationships with Moe
POLICY, DO YOUR reminded me how little stress I felt. When

putts aren’t falling, the tendency is to get a
Dalitz, Lou Rosanova, Ash Resnick and men
like them. They knew what I did for a living,
BEST TO IGNORE IT.’ little exasperated. But it was like someone

was patting me on the shoulder and saying,
“Don’t worry, you’ll make some putts.” And
but I didn’t need or want to know everything
they did. Most of the important people in the
old Las Vegas were reputed to have mob ties.
I did. On the day, I shot 66. I made no bogeys. I knew they weren’t exactly Emily Post. But
ball hitters or low, draw-type players or fad- That’s hard to do. one-on-one, they were smart, decent, well-
ers. You could hit any club you wanted off ●●● mannered and fun to be with.
the tees; an iron wasn’t forced into your at fort bragg , there weren’t always kids ●●●
hands. At that U.S. Open, Greg Norman and around to play with, so I’d play with the here’s the lee trevino gambling story
Lee Trevino contended, and their playing enlisted men. There was a Sgt. Smith, a left- again, with a little more detail. In 1965, I was
styles were completely different. Shinnecock hander everyone called Smitty. As I grew up, coming off a win at the St. Paul Open and
favors one type of player: a good one who’s it got to where Smitty couldn’t beat me, so I had gone down to Tenison Park in Dallas
on his game. And I was playing well. started playing him left-handed with a rental for a little action. As I played, I noticed this
●●● set out of the shop. Pretty soon I was beating old man watching in the background. It was
the first round was the meanest weather him that way, too. Poor Smitty. I took a lot of Titanic Thompson, the legendary gambler.
I’d seen at a U.S. Open. When I teed off just dimes and quarters from him. He introduced himself and said, “You ought
after 8 a.m., it was cold, raining and the wind ●●● to quit the tour and come with me. You can
was blowing 40 miles per hour. Umbrellas golf wasn’t my only love. I was a baseball make a lot more money in the games I’ll set
were turning inside out. I hit five greens pitcher. My dad had pitched some, and he up than you’ll ever make in those tourna-
in regulation and shot a 75 that could have brought me along. He’d catch me. I’d hit a ments.” I told him I was honored but that
been 85. Bob Tway led with an even-par 70, spot low and away, and he’d say, “No good” playing the PGA Tour was all I’d wanted to do
which was phenomenal. You know how your and move his glove two inches. When I grad- my whole life. Then he said, “Have you heard
mind wanders to unusual things in your life? uated from high school in 1960, the Cleve- of a guy from around here named Lee Trevi-
When I look back at that round, I sometimes land Indians offered me a $25,000 signing no?” I said I hadn’t. Titanic said, “Pretty good
think of Dow Finsterwald. bonus, which back then was substantial. player. He used to work on the driving range

here. He’s over in El Paso now. How would can’t put money with this guy. You never do i’m at the houston open, early 1960s. On
you like to play him for a lot of money?” I told that if you don’t even know what he does.” the first day, first hole, first shot, the guy I
him I’d play anybody I’d never heard of for I invested anyway. Madoff lived seven was playing with ricocheted his ball off a
money, anywhere. or eight houses down from me. The returns tree and into a swamp. Lost ball. Except that
Two days later, I’m in El Paso. The stakes were excellent. Not insane, but steady. More- when we get up there, the guy, who shall re-
were arranged. I’d put up $1,000 of my mon- over, he was like a bank. You could withdraw main nameless because it was more than 50
ey. Titanic and the guy who drove me out at any time. For six or seven years, I did very years ago and you wouldn’t remember him
there put up $1,000 apiece, so all together well with him. Eventually I met Bernie. anyway, says, “Got it! Here it is!” and points
there’s $3,000 at stake. It would be a single Had lunch with him on my boat with some down to a ball in the rough. I said, “There’s
18-hole bet, medal play walk-in. No presses, other people. He seemed like a sweetheart, no way that’s your ball. I watched it go into
just a straight bet, low score wins. Trevino and his wife was incredible. Then it ended. the swamp.” Even the marshal standing
didn’t put up anything. He had backers and Overnight, everything I had with him was there agreed with me, but the guy said, “No,
would get a percentage if he won. gone. I took a huge hit, but I also was very this is my ball. See the markings?” The ball
The first day, I shot 65, and he shot 63. fortunate. The returns I made with him over in the rough had his unique markings, but I
I was down $1,000. The course, Horizon the years mostly compensated for the one wasn’t buying it. I then asked him a very sim-
Hills, was hard as a rock with a greenside big loss, so that on balance I wound up close ple question: “If that’s your ball and it’s your
bunker maybe every other hole and no to even. Many people not only lost what they first shot of the day, where are the other two
fairway bunkers at all. Lee really knew that had invested but had to provide restitution
course. I wanted to play him again. The next for what they’d made in the past. That’s
day I shot 64, and he shot 63. Now I’m down where the most serious tragedies were. If I
$2,000. I said, “I want him again.” The guy
who took me out there pleaded, “Let’s go
saw Madoff today, I’m not sure what I’d do.
Punch him in the face, maybe. What else ‘IF I SAW MADOFF
over to El Paso Country Club. That’s a better
course for you.” I said, “No, I’ve never been
there before. I’m getting to know this course.
could I do? He was a thief and a criminal.
●●●
take a small-town kid from North Caro-
TODAY, I’M NOT
I know I can take him.”
The third day, we play for $2,000, double
lina, drop him overnight onto the PGA Tour
and glamorous places like Los Angeles and SURE WHAT I’D DO.
or nothing. We’re tied coming to 18. I can
see it like it was yesterday. It was a par 5,
and we’re both on in two. He’s 20 feet away,
Las Vegas, and he’s going to want to live a
little. I was single, moderately successful and
eager to soak it all in. Racetracks, nightclubs,
PUNCH HIM IN
and I’m 18 feet. When he hit his putt, it’s not
halfway to the hole when I thought, It’s in.
sporting events—I wanted to experience
it all. I ran with Joe Namath and Paul Hor-
THE FACE, MAYBE.’
It just had that look. It hits the hole, spins nung. The Rat Pack guys, like Dean Martin,
more than 300 degrees and sits on the edge. who was a good friend and great guy. Clint
If you know common Bermuda greens, you Eastwood and I ended up playing together in from the sleeve?” The guy turned bright red
know balls never stay on the edge. Invari- 23 Pebble Beach Pro-Ams. You learn a lot be- and started stammering, guilt everywhere.
ably they fall in. Trevino went up to the hole ing around people like that. How to dress, get He was caught. But he stuck to his story.
and waited a little longer than the stipulated a good restaurant table, who to tip, and how When I called in a tour official to try to pro-
time. He put his shadow over the putt to much. How to earn and maintain friend- tect the rest of the field, the official said, “I’m
make the grass lie down so the ball would ships. And most of all, how to enjoy life. sorry, but we have to side with the player.”
drop. The whole time I’m reading my putt, ●●● ●●●
knowing his ball would fall. But somehow it here’s what i learned about tipping. my hero was arnold palmer. When I came
stayed on the edge. First, there’s no such thing as overtipping. on tour, any question I had on an important
Now I’ve got an 18-footer to win. I hit That’s a myth. Tip at the limit of what you matter, personal or professional, I’d take it
that putt and drilled it dead center. It would can afford, keeping in mind that valets and to Arnold, and he’d advise me like an older
have gone in a thimble. I was back to even maître d’ will sense immediately if you’re brother. At the 1965 Masters, I showed up in
for the three days. After I picked my ball out sincere about trying to take care of them, a pair of madras pants. They were the “in”
of the hole, I spoke Spanish for the first time. which is the most important thing. Second, thing, and I thought they looked sharp as
“Adios,” I said. prepare your tips in advance. Fold a few bills could be, but Arnold came over to me in the
With that, when Lee came on tour, I hon- neatly so they can be pressed into a palm on locker room and said, “That just isn’t the
estly didn’t think he’d make it. He couldn’t short notice. Learn to do it during a hand- right look for here.” I thanked him and then
hit the ball high enough to clear a one-story shake; it’s not hard. Never show off, and nev- changed. I loved that guy.
clubhouse. He could move the ball incred- er put the person on the spot. Next, if you’re ●●●
ibly well, but I saw problems in store with at a golf club, always tip the caddiemaster, only maria knew this about me, and I’ve
elevated greens and deep bunkers. Needless because he’s the one who makes things hap- kept it quiet until now, but the truth is, I
to say, he adapted. I was wrong. pen. Before Augusta National permitted us never enjoyed the crowds. And I didn’t like
●●● to bring our caddies, I made a point of tak- interacting with the media, which I felt were
when i began investing with Bernie ing care of the caddiemaster, the late Freddie dishonest. One thing I didn’t mind was pro-
Madoff, some close friends around Palm Bennett. Magical things happened as a re- ams. I really liked helping amateurs and
Beach, hedge fund and finance people, sult. For places that have a no-tipping policy, always followed up with letters, because it
warned me to be careful. “Nobody knows do your best to ignore it, though you didn’t was vital to the tour. But the other stuff ir-
what this guy does or how he does it,” they hear it from me. Finally, for the people who ritated me, and after 50 years of doing the
said. “If you decide to go with him, don’t in- don’t customarily receive tips, drop them a same dance every week, I was glad when it
vest a lot.” My son Raymond Jr. is an equities card at the end of the year with something ended. I like being alone. I’m one of those
trader in Connecticut. He told me, “Dad, you inside they’ll appreciate. people who can be alone but not lonely. To-

day I fish, hunt quail and bow-hunt deer personal feats we’re secretly proud of,
with a very small circle of friends. Every trivia we might tell our friends over a
two weeks, I take my boat down to the drink. My favorite happened that year
Bahamas, where it’s just me, my girl- during the first round, when I shot 63.
friend, Jennifer, and the fish. The soli- Starting at the sixth hole, I made nine
tude and private life are what I worked consecutive 3s. I don’t think anyone else
for all those years. has done that in a major. Some of the big
●●● accomplishments, people have to wring
my first major victory was the 1969 out of me. But that one, I brag about.
PGA Championship. All week, protesters ●●●
had been using Gary Player as a spring- going into the 1976 masters, my re-
board to demonstrate against apartheid cord there was mostly lousy. The prob-
in South Africa. On Saturday, as Gary lem was the par 5s. I couldn’t hold the
and Jack Nicklaus were preparing to greens with my 3-wood or 1-iron when
putt on the 10th green, a guy burst from I went for them in two. Not many play-
behind the ropes and charged across the ers could, because this was before the
green. Unfortunately for him, Jack was distance explosion. The greens were
standing between him and Gary. From sand-based Bermuda, harder than your
the 10th fairway, I watched Jack raise head, and hard to hold. At the 15th, the
his putter with both hands, like he was big danger wasn’t the water short, it was
ready to cold-cock the guy. The sight the water long. The ball would hit the
of Jack apparently gave the guy second green, take a huge bounce and go into
thoughts, because he went to the ground the pond at 16. I made a ridiculous num-
with a second-base slide. Security was ber of double bogeys that way. I needed
on him within seconds. The amazing a club that would hit the ball higher. I
thing was Gary’s play that week. Amid went to a clubmaker named Bert Dargie
all the chaos—people had thrown ice and asked if he had any 5-wood club-
in his face and heckled him unmerci- heads. “Nobody makes 5-woods for
fully—he finished one shot behind me. men,” he said. “I have some we make for
●●● women.” I took five of them back to Flor-
i didn’t believe in destiny until Ken ida and worked on them. Two of them
Venturi won the 1964 U.S. Open. I was broke when I hit them. But I finally got
paired with him for the final 36 holes, one just right, and it became an amaz-
and how he finished, I’ll never know. It ing weapon at Augusta. I just tore up the
was the hottest day I’ve ever seen. Even par 5s, played them in 14 under. I shot 17
people sitting down in the gallery were under and tied Nicklaus’ record of 271.
passing out. By the end of the morning ●●●
round, Ken was in bad shape. In the af- the last round I played was at Shin-
ternoon, toward the end, he didn’t know necock Hills last September. I’m a mem-
where he was. Part of the miracle was ber, and we played the member tees. It
how he kept hitting the ball flush and was not exactly a replay of 1986, and
pretty long, too. When he holed the fi- there were a lot of reminders that I’m 75
nal putt and I picked the ball out of the years old. I’d miss a shot short, leaving
hole for him—he was too dazed and ex- myself the easiest pitch-and-run you’ve
hausted to do it—I had tears in my eyes. ever seen. I’d chunk that one, then giggle
Some things are just meant to be. and move along, enjoying the day with
●●● friends. Nothing about my game is the
my second pga championship came at same. But I did shoot 72 that day. I might
Southern Hills in 1982. We all have little even have won a few bets.
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Closeout
how these people make it through the day.

Of course, we all commit the little blun-
ders that come with being road-bleary. I’ve
flown home to the wrong airport and had to
get an Uber to pick up my car. Almost every
week someone forgets their golf shoes. I
know players who’ve shown up at tourna-
ments only to find they forgot to enter.
I think most of the “dumb” players are
smart enough to have linked up with a
caddie who really knows the game. In a way,
they’re brilliant for having turned their
golf into a reactive, instinctual process.
But if they didn’t have someone telling them
where to hit it and how hard, they wouldn’t
survive out here.
Overall, the tour is filled with more
golfers who aced their SATs or came close.
Lots of guys are just as clever as Bryson
DeChambeau, or more so. They know ev-
erything there is to know about golf and
will pore through stats to break down any
course and devise a game plan. As every-
one knows, Phil Mickelson is extremely
bright. He just tends to express his ideas in
unnecessarily complicated ways, so some-
times, it can feel forced. But if you’re not
wired like Mickelson or DeChambeau,
and you try to imitate their cerebral
approach to golf without truly possessing
the bandwidth, it can be disastrous. You
start overthinking every shot, and pretty
Undercover Tour Pro soon you’ve lost what got you to the tour.
It’s sad how many guys have calculated
their card away.
The battle of dumb versus smart The tour isn’t exactly overflowing
with them, but there are players who
are more than happy to get into a deep
n agent—not mine—once told me player “How far to carry that bunker?” conversation—about the stock market,
A his secret for success was to recruit
golfers who were “really smart or
caddie “310.”
player “But we’re up a tee box from
politics, philosophy—right in the middle
of a tournament. Though when in doubt,
really stupid.” Average intelligence, he be- yesterday.” I don’t stray from the classics: football,
photograph by mirrorpix/getty images • illustration by tim l ahan

lieved, had a strong correlation with aver- caddie “Oh, yeah . . . 340. No way to beer and how many good-looking women
age careers. Implicit in his confiding this carry it.” happen to be in the gallery that day.
was that he held me in the former category. Now, my caddie and I make small arith- I think the diverse cross-section of
Sometimes I wish I were in the latter. metic errors almost every week. It’s a mat- minds on tour speaks to what a beautiful
I don’t believe there’s a sport where more ter of the sheer volume of calculations we game it is.
information is thrown at the athlete than do. But come on. This duo eventually fig- The agent I mentioned earlier,
golf. To have an unthinking nature can be a ured it out, but for pretty close to a minute who targets only the ends of the intelli-
huge blessing. You can just disregard all the they were 60 yards off. gence spectrum, has a sound theory.
TrackMan and ShotLink data and go play. Some guys don’t understand their nick- Most players are wary of not being in the
Of the top-125 players in the world, maybe names. One golfer, a really good player, middle. But if I were an agent, I’d scout
30 operate in this state of blissful igno- had a last name that translated simply to talent differently. I’d go to college or
rance, and there are at least four or five another word in a major world language. mini-tour events and watch how players
in the current top 20. The following is a tee- Years transpired before he pulled some- held up on the last nine holes of a tourna-
box interaction I overheard between one one aside and asked why people on tour ment. That’s what really matters, and
such player and his caddie, who’s no Mensa called him that. I knew another player who I’ve seen no link between brains and guts.
candidate, either. carried two phones. He used one for his — WITH MAX ADLER
American email address and the other for
his European email because he believed
it was impossible to access both accounts
from one device. Sometimes you wonder

Lower carbs. Lower calories.
Higher expectations.
2.6 g C A R B S
90 C A LO R I E S
TM
Drink responsibly. Corona Premier® Beer. Imported by Crown Imports, Chicago, IL. Per 12 fl. oz. serving average analysis: Calories 90, Carbs 2.6 grams,
Protein 0.7 grams, Fat 0.0 grams. Compared to 12 fl. oz. serving Corona Extra Calories: 149, Carbs: 14.0 grams, Protein: 1.2 grams, Fat: 0.0 grams.

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t h i n k yo u n g | p l ay h a r d

YOUR BY JORDAN SPIETH

SHORT THE ONES

FOR STRAIGHT DISTANCE, THERE IS ONLY ONE CHOICE.

Features Play Your Best The Golf Life

BY MIKE STACHURA 120 Undercover Tour Pro

6 golfdigest.com | june 2018 Cover photograph by Walter Iooss Jr.

NAVITIMER 1 B01 CHRONOGRAPH 46

Photographer Walter Iooss Jr. and

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Hybrids are awesome for You have a pitch shot that

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Did a mechanical tweak help resuscitate

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THIS IS THE FUTURE OF IRON PERFORMANCE..

not having royal stinger

the 7 types of golf dad

the ‘don’t do that’ dad

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