Indholdsfortegnelse for August 2019 i Golf Digest

KEVIN TWAY’S development from a U.S. Junior Amateur champion to an All-American at Oklahoma State to a winner on the PGA Tour can be traced to lessons from his father, 1986 PGA Championship winner Bob Tway. But there have been plenty of other influences along the way, says coach E.J. Pfister. “He’s been hanging out at Oak Tree National forever, playing golf with pros like Scott Verplank, Willie Wood and Dr. Gil Morgan,” Pfister says. “They embraced him and pushed him. He’s a product of his environment.” Kevin won the PGA Tour’s Safeway Open in October largely because of a sharp short game, but he’s also spent a lot of time on driver technique. “My swing is shorter and faster compared to when I first came on tour,” he says.…

I’M GOING TO TEACH YOU a simple way to regulate distance with your sand shots around the greens. Before we get to that, let me ask you an important question (your answer might help explain things if you’re inconsistent from the bunker): When you address a ball in the sand, what are you looking at? It never ceases to amaze me how many students tell me they’re staring down at the ball when they swing. Remember, you’re trying to strike the sand behind the ball—not the ball. When you stare at the ball, there’s a good chance you’ll hit too closely to it, or even strike it, and it’s going to rocket out of the sand or slam into the lip. You’ve got to focus on a spot two or…

▶ every course has holes where you absolutely have to keep your ball to one side. The other side is dead—water, out-of-bounds, deep bunkers, trees. And on some of those holes, the good side is harder for you to get to, given your normal shot shape. That conflict causes anxiety and usually some kind of awkward, uncommitted swing. I’m going to give you a simple plan, depending on your tendencies, that will transform the way you drive the ball on those holes. Best of all, my advice is focused only on the setup. Get set properly, and you can just swing away. PICK OUT SOMETHING POSITIVE Remember this when you step up to a tee shot with trouble on the side you fear: Ignore the picture. A lot of golfers…

▶ if one of your prime complaints about modern tour players is that they’re cookie-cutter competitors, Kiradech Aphibarnrat should be your new favorite golfer. The 30-year-old from Bangkok, Thailand, is unmistakable from two fairways over, with his technicolor shirts, husky physique and ever-present cigarette. “Barn Rat,” as he’s called, has a persona as colorful as his look. He loves fast cars, expensive sneakers and cracking jokes with players on three continents. After conquering the Asian Tour and winning the Maybank Malaysian Open in 2013 (co-sponsored by the European Tour), he won three more European Tour events to go with four top 10s at World Golf Championship tournaments. Now, he’s taking on America full-time. Aphibarnrat moved to Orlando early this year to play the PGA Tour and, with the help of…

▶ Interest piqued in CBD? There’s a lot of research to be done to catch up with the influx of product on the market, but here are some things to look out for when shopping for CBD products. ▶ RESEARCH WHAT YOU’RE GETTING You can’t always trust claims that are made. Look for products that have been tested by a third-party laboratory and have the reports available, usually on the company website. These lab reports should tell you if the product’s claimed CBD content is accurate, that it contains less than .3 percent of THC (the legal limit), and if there are any other harmful contaminants like heavy metals or bacteria in the sample. These Certificates of Analysis (COA) should show that the testing was done within the past 10…

Mickelson’s naked, middle-age calves probably aren’t the bellwether of a new era in golf, but they make for a pretty good avatar. ▶ Mickelson, now 49, almost broke Twitter in February when he took advantage of the PGA Tour’s relaxed new rule allowing shorts during practice rounds. Flashing the sculpted calves he built with an ambitious home-gym routine, Mickelson fully embraced his unlikely new role as the poster boy for golfers as athletes. ▶ But beyond all the chuckles, tongue-in-cheek workout videos and memes, Mickelson’s late-career quest to hold onto his trademark power game is one more piece of evidence that seems to prove what looks like an unassailable truth. In sports, speed wins—and the business of getting more of it (or, like Mickelson, trying to keep it) is big…

If you’re complaining about Tony Romo, there’s a simple solution: Play better. I PLAYED THE PGA TOUR EVENT in the Dominican Republic this season. Down there, I met Tony Romo, who was in the field on a sponsor’s exemption. Earlier in the week in the locker room, I’d heard some pros talk about how good he was, how far he hit the ball. There was this feeling that the former Dallas Cowboys quarterback might actually make the cut. The Puntacana course is long and forgiving, so presumably the best setup for a physically strong amateur. Of course, Romo shot 79-80, last place, save the withdrawals and one unestablished pro who blew up. ▶ I didn’t get into the field at Dallas. I was surprised, considering it was the week before…

“Be like Dustin, and keep up your arm speed to the finish.” THE OLD IDEA of hitting a low draw to get the ball running down the fairway is, well, an old idea. Launch monitors have proven that carry distance is the key to overall distance. Here are some tips for maximizing carry. First, check your driver specs. A little more loft—for most players, at least 10.5 degrees—will help you launch the ball higher. A lighter, more-flexible shaft means you’ll get more out of the speed potential you have. Next comes the setup. Move your trail foot back a few inches to widen your stance. That’ll tilt your spine away from the target and put your head behind the ball. From there, you can swing into impact on a shallow,…

“I practice recovery shots because I know I’m going to be in the trees.” THE BAND UMPHREY’S MCGEE has a devoted fan base that routinely fills venues like Colorado’s 9,500-seat Red Rocks Ampitheatre, where they performed for three nights in June. Golf plays a big role in keeping band members happy when they’re on the road, says bassist Ryan Stasik. He was interviewed by Golf Digest’s Max Adler at the 2019 Masters. GREATEST MOMENT OF YOUR GOLF LIFE? Easy. Late October 2015. Kid Rock is playing a charity concert and, as the story goes, only wants a round at Augusta National as payment, as a key person involved is a member. They get two foursomes, and there’s an open spot. Within hours of getting the call, our dog dies. I…

LOOKS GOOD ▶ You’re paying for the vacation. ▶ You’re in a place with 20-plus hours of daylight, and you’re willing to give up sleeping. ▶ Your hotel just happens to have 18 holes right outside your window. ▶ Your boss “insisted” you play his favorite course. ▶ People actually prefer it when you aren’t around. PROBABLY NOT ▶ You’re going to a theme park, and at least one person in your group throws tantrums when forced to wait in lines. ▶ You’re visiting a destination with “cultural” or “remote” in its description. ▶ You’re going on a cruise. To the Arctic Circle. ▶ The kids came down with chickenpox.…

We’ve got to do a better job of addressing that we have a star. BACK IN MAY, a week before our CBS broadcast of the PGA Championship at Bethpage, our communications department put together a media conference call attended by about 30 writers. Sir Nick Faldo was on the call with me, along with Amanda Balionis; our executive producer, Harold Bryant; producer, Lance Barrow; and our chairman, Sean McManus. What transpired is illustrative of the hype-versus-reality battle that dominates the media universe like never before. Naturally there were questions about the PGA’s date change from August to May, as well as chatter about the difficulty of Bethpage Black. Then, for perhaps the next 40 minutes, the dominant topic of discussion was Tiger Woods and his chances of backing up his…

▶ the above photograph was taken at the 1962 U.S. Open, and the bottom is a snap from the 2018 FedEx Cup Playoffs. Across 56 years, it would appear the essential experience of attending a pro golf tournament hasn’t changed, only the size and functionality of the rectangles we members of the gallery hold to our faces. The periscopes of yesteryear—two mirrors set at 45-degree angles housed in cardboard—were inexpensive to make and often wound up as litter. Unsightly or unseemly, Augusta National banned their use at the Masters. That parallel with phones is obvious, but let’s consider an important difference. The periscope was to help short and late-arriving fans enjoy the action in the moment, none of whom was yet familiar with the phrase born from social media, “Pics,…

THANKS TO TIGER WOODS, we know what historic runs in major championships look like. And we’re seeing another one from Brooks Koepka, especially after he won the PGA Championship at Bethpage, his fourth major in eight tries. He’s often thought of as a muscle-bound bomber, but he’s actually a technician and strategist. And he has a complete game—physically and mentally. He’s long off the tee and a good iron player. He has an excellent short game and can putt. With his work in the gym, he has become physically intimidating to some other players. And his mental toughness is another kind of intimidation. Like I said, he’s the total package, and it’s so cool to see what he’s doing up close. If you want to know more about why he’s…

“It’s tough to make a confident swing if you’re worried about the result.” ONE CROOKED SHOT; one missed short putt; one bad hole. Sometimes that’s all it takes to get a round spinning out of control. Just look at Brooks Koepka at the PGA Championship. He was cruising but then hit a couple of bad shots on the back nine on Sunday and went on to make four straight bogeys. He nearly lost the tournament. Things can even turn ugly through no fault of your own. Maybe it starts raining or the wind picks up; or you come to a hole with an unsettling forced carry. I could go on, but the point is, dealing with stress is a part of playing golf. Here I’ll go through some on-course scenarios…

FROM BOBBY JONES to Tiger Woods, there have always been players who’ve stayed true to their putter out of faith rather than science. But just as the driver-selection process has become more about measurables through the use of launch monitors, finding the right putter for your stroke can be a numbers game, too. Modern putting technology uses high-tech motioncapture devices to offer answers almost as clear as Match.com. Odyssey has launched Odyssey Fits, a motion-detection tablet that grades putters on a 100-point scale by analyzing your stroke and roll across parameters that include face angle at impact, contact point and face rotation—all in just five putts. The closer to 100, the better a putter fits a particular player. GOLFTEC’s new putting module can analyze what’s wrong with your stroke and…

“I LIKE TO PLAY IN THE LOW 70S. IF IT GETS ANY HOTTER THAN THAT I’LL STAY IN THE BAR!BOB HOPE” Subject: Out of office I will be out of the office Aug. 24-31 in a remote location with limited access to my email, Slack or the GHIN app. Most of my time will be spent meditating in solitude. I will try to respond to your message upon my return, but let’s be realistic, I probably won’t. If it’s an emergency, please contact my assistant, or better yet, ask yourself if I’m the type of person you should be reaching out to in an emergency. Even in my new enlightened state, I think we both know the answer. P.S. If you need a fourth for golf, just text me. I…

Q During all of the years that I have been watching golf, I don’t believe I have ever seen a PGA Tour professional with his shirt untucked. I cannot go three holes without my shirt becoming untucked. How do the pros keep their shirts tucked? JIM MARN, PICKERINGTON, OHIO A It might seem counterintuitive, but try shoving less of your shirt below the belt. The tighter you tuck it in, the more likely your torso will pull it out of place, especially during more violent golf swings. The key is to find the sweet spot of room-to-move without the fabric overflowing into a muffin-top look. Look, too, for golf pants and shorts with “shirt grippers,” a silicone material around the waistband that will help keep your shirt in place. Let’s…

▶ IT USUALLY DOESN’T TAKE more than a hole or two during a pro-am for one of my amateur partners to ask me about the way I chip. You don’t see it very much on the PGA Tour. I play the ball back in my stance, hinge my wrists up quickly, and hit down on it with an open clubface. This creates a low trajectory and a lot of spin, so the ball quickly checks up. It’s a shot I learned growing up in Thailand to deal with the grainy grass around the greens there. I learned it from Thai pros Prayad Marksaeng and Thammanoon Sriroj, and I’m here to teach it to you. But with one warning: It’s hard to master. Ready to try it? “REMEMBER: YOU NEED TO…

▶ It’s one of the most popular trends on tour. And, some would argue, one of its riskiest. In 2018, the World Anti-Doping Agency removed CBD from its Prohibited List, allowing its use by PGA Tour players and Olympic athletes. (The tour, as a participant in the Games, takes its direction on drug enforcement from WADA and the United States Anti-Doping Agency.) Maggie Durand of WADA says a drug is placed on the list for meeting two of three criteria: It has the potential to enhance sport performance, it represents a health risk to the athletes, and it violates the spirit of sport. According to tour players, caddies and coaches interviewed by Golf Digest, perhaps 15 to 20 players, or more, routinely use a CBD product. BUBBA WATSON, Charley Hoffman,…