Indholdsfortegnelse for Masters 2016 i Golf Digest

Chairman and Editor-in-Chief This will be my 38th Masters, which means I’ve spent about nine months on the grounds of the Augusta National, although some of the ones I remember best came on TV as a kid. I watched from my dorm at Northwestern when Jack Nicklaus holed that monster putt at 16 to devastate Tom Weiskopf and Johnny Miller in 1975. In the tower, Henry Longhurst intoned, “I never saw such a putt in my life.” Jim Nantz of CBS is now one of the traditions of the Masters (see his My Shot with Senior Writer Guy Yocom on page 106), and so is his oft-repeated line: “a tradition unlike any other.” The fact is, there are many traditions at the Masters, and that’s what makes the first full…

Which of these clubs is most reliable for you? ▶ 7-iron ▶ Putter ▶ Driver ▶ Hybrid SOURCE: GOLF DIGEST READERS The movement of the hips is important for generating clubhead speed at impact. But most golf instruction focuses on how the hips unwind as the club swings into the ball. Not to be ignored is how they should rotate on the backswing. The hands, arms and shoulders start the swing, which in turn gets the hips to rotate. Notice I said “rotate.” You don’t want the hips to slide. Brace on the inside of your right foot, and turn your right butt cheek behind you. Remember these keys: The right hip turns back, and the left knee moves toward the ball (below). That combination lets you fully wind the…

If your ball settles in a fairway divot, should you be allowed to move it? ▶ Yes: 57% ▶ No: 30% ▶ I already do: 13% SOURCE: GOLF DIGEST READERS Divots are part of golf, especially out on tour. Pros swing with more speed, and they’re usually hitting shorter clubs into the greens from really tight fairways, so it’s always raining clumps of turf. But not all divots are created equal. If you’re at your course trying to copy what Patrick Reed is doing here but hit an inch behind the ball, you’re not producing backspin, like Reed is. You’re just slowing down your swing. To make better divots, remember that they should be something you’re thinking about only with a short iron in your hand . That’s when you…

They might not be served with couscous or haricot verts, but the low-price menu items available to patrons at the Masters each year are a hit for celebrity chef and avid golfer Ming Tsai. “I eat it all,” says the host of “Simply Ming” on PBS. What’s his go-to grub when he’s at the tournament? He combines the friedchicken and pimento-cheese sandwiches to create a monster hybrid. “It’s heaven!” says the owner of Blue Ginger in Wellesley, Mass., an awardwinning restaurant. Ming’s sandwich on steroids—which sounds like a college foodtruck staple—is great if you’re fortunate enough to attend the Masters. But if you’re watching the tournament from home, your taste buds are in luck. We asked Tsai to take two of the most popular items on the Masters menu and…

How much would you pay to play the par-3 12th at Augusta once? ▶ $250 (41%) ▶ $500 (17%) ▶ $1,000 (19%) ▶ Spouse’s wedding ring (23%) SOURCE: @GOLFDIGEST FOLLOWERS Q Why does Jordan Spieth let his left index finger stick out when he takes his grip, then overlap it on his right hand? LARRY GORDON, BEAUFORT, S.C. A He does it because, at press time, he is the No. 1 golfer in the world, and letting it protrude is a subtle reminder that he’s No. 1. OK, we made that up. Spieth was doing this long before he was No. 1 in the world, or even No. 1 in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. “He’s been doing it his whole life,” says his swing coach, Cameron McCormick. “He keeps it…

TO JORDAN SPIETH, the Masters is the ultimate tournament, the one he played in his imagination during solitary twilight putting sessions as a boy in Texas. ▶ His victory last year at 21 was almost perfect: wire-to-wire, tying Tiger Woods’ tournament record, three generations of family embracing him in victory, the game’s new hero. It was the springboard to threatening the calendar Grand Slam, rising to No. 1 in the world, capping his season by winning the Tour Championship and the FedEx Cup, and starting a new year by winning the Hyundai Tournament of Champions by eight shots. ▶ The lasting glow of all that blurs the uneasy struggle Spieth endured after failing to hold a two-stroke Sunday lead at Augusta the year before, followed by another lost lead less…

CHAMPS, AND ALWAYS A THREAT Phil Mickelson Jordan Spieth Bubba Watson CHAMPS YOU CAN’T DISCOUNT Zach Johnson Adam Scott Charl Schwartzel THE RUNNERS-UP Jason Day, Ernie Els, Davis Love III, Louis Oosthuizen, Justin Rose, Lee Westwood SEEMS LIKE ONLY A MATTER OF TIME Rory McIlroy (4) OTHER TOP-FIVE FINISHERS Rickie Fowler (5), Sergio Garcia (4), Matt Kuchar (3), Marc Leishman (4), Hideki Matsuyama (5), Brandt Snedeker (3) OTHER TOP-10 FINISHERS Paul Casey (6) Darren Clarke (8) Charley Hoffman (9) Dustin Johnson (6) Hunter Mahan (8) Ian Poulter (6) Vaughn Taylor (10) Jimmy Walker (8) OTHER TOP-20 FINISHERS Jamie Donaldson (14), Jason Dufner (20), Branden Grace (18), Bill Haas (12), Chris Kirk (20), Graeme McDowell (12), Ryan Moore (12), Kevin Na (12), Henrik Stenson (14), Kevin Streelman (12) OTHER MAJOR WINNERS…

I WORK AT GOLF DIGEST, a detail that tends to elicit questions about how I got started in the game. Unlike most of my colleagues, mine was not really a golf family. My dad played when he was younger, but he quit when he developed a debilitating case of the shanks. My older brother played a little. The most avid golfer was my grandfather, and he had the misfortune of being awful. After he died, my mother, as mourners are prone to do, reflected glowingly on her father’s golf. “Your grandfather was a wonderful golfer,” she said to me. ▶ My dad, who had played the most with Grandpa, remembered differently. “He was terrible,” he whispered. “He could never get the ball in the air.” Frank Williams, Norman’s agent at…

I’ve always loved playing from bunkers, and bunkers have usually loved me back. Sometimes I get frustrated by the shots that put me in the sand, but once I’m there, I embrace the opportunity. Your goal on any bunker shot should be to have a comfortable blend of technique and attitude. If your technique is sound, you’ll get good results, which in turn will lift your confidence. I’m going to show you how I play three common shots: the greenside splash shot, the iron from a fairway bunker and the toughest shot of all—the 50-yarder from the sand. How will you know when they’re working? When, like me, you find yourself smiling when you walk into the bunker. —with Guy Yocom Hold your chin up at address, and don’t rush…

Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson have figured into the story at the Masters just about every year for the past 20. They’ve won more titles—Tiger with four, Phil with three—than any other active players, and each has 11 top-fives since 1995. Why have these guys been so effective at Augusta? Their games fit the course perfectly, and they know nothing sets up a great year like grabbing the first major. On the technique side, they’re high-ball hitters who create tons of spin, which gives them distance control, allowing them to hit—and hold—the correct part of the green. That’s big at Augusta. When they do miss shots, they show the skill and bravado to recover, even shine. And then we get to the greens. If I had to choose one player…

It’s natural to be concerned about what’s happening down at the clubhead, but your connection with the club is at the handle. That’s where you control what happens in the swing. A lot of players struggle against their instincts—or use well-meaning but misleading advice—to produce power or control. They end up moving the handle the wrong way or at the wrong time for the shot they’re trying to hit, and they actually swing slower and less accurately. I’ll show you how to use the handle to increase your speed on long shots and your consistency on short ones. —WITH MATTHEW RUDY 1 DON’T BE AFRAID TO CAST IT The term “cast” has a negative connotation in golf, but it shouldn’t. One of the best ways to train a great hand…

HOW TO BE A BETTER PUTTER FROM ANY DISTANCE. Let me start by asking you two questions. How many times have you stood over a putt and felt like something wasn’t quite right? And at those times, how often did you hit the putt anyway? That’s lesson No. 1: Good putting starts with being comfortable over the ball. Sure, the stroke is important, but so is getting a good read of the green and being precise and confident in your setup. If you’re over the ball and things feel a little off, back away and start over. My putting has improved greatly by doing simple things like that, and you can do the same. Here are some more tips to focus on. —WITH RON KASPRISKE PERCENT MADE 15-20 FT. 9TH…

My theory on putting has always been that it involves two skills: direction and distance control. The closer to the hole, direction is the key, and distance control matters very little. As one moves away from the hole, distance control becomes more important. The great putters make more long putts and three-putt less often because of their distance-control skill. ▶ Like the other key parts of the game, the frequency and severity of putting errors have a dramatic influence on scoring. I consider missing a putt inside three feet an error—PGA Tour players made 99.4 percent of their three-footers in 2015. And I have determined that a distance-control error for a tour player is the failure to lag a putt to within 10 percent of the start distance, or within…

“Augusta has six shots you can’t take off.” In most courses, there are only five or six shots where you need to really pay attention and play conservative. In these volatile little spots a certain mistake will result in a big number. Add to this maybe three or four treacherous pin locations each day. So, over 18 holes, you might need to protect yourself only about 10 times. This is pretty clean golf, of course. On wild days we all encounter a few more of these “special moments.” But the truth is, not many more. Strong, fair golf courses have only so many highly penal areas. By my accounting, Augusta National has six shots you can’t take off. The tee shot on the par-5 second hole (illustrated), the second shot…

MARC LEISHMAN AGE 32 LIVES Virginia Beach STORY Lost in a playoff at the 2015 British Open; No. 27 in the world. PRESIDENTIAL PREP I played on my second Presidents Cup team in 2015, and the difference in the team room this time around was enormous. We’ve grown together as a group, and so I’m excited to see what we can do at Liberty National in 2017. MAKING A ROYAL EXIT Reflecting on it now, I don’t feel like I lost at St. Andrews last year. Zach Johnson really played well in the playoff. I know my game is good enough to win majors now, and that has me excited for this year. CLUB YARDS* DRIVER 290 4-WOOD 265 7-WOOD 250 3-IRON 240 4-IRON 226 5-IRON 213 6-IRON 199 7-IRON…

Unfortunately, golf isn’t always fair. Sometimes you hit a good shot into a green, but the ball releases and nestles up against the higher grass surrounding the fringe. Now what do you do? First, don’t freak out. This shot is not as tough as it looks. Follow these steps to get your ball up and down using what we call the bellied wedge. 1. USE YOUR PUTTING GRIP ▶ Take your sand wedge and grip it like you do your putter. When you swing, your goal is to strike the belly of the ball with the leading edge of the clubface. That will get the ball rolling like you putted it. 2. RAISE THE CLUB’S HEEL ▶ At address, hold the shaft more upright than normal, with the club’s heel…

Deane Beman won the U.S. Amateur twice and the British Amateur once, and from 1969-’73 he won four times on the PGA Tour. But he also stood outside the ropes occasionally, and when he did he had a problem that will seem familiar to almost anyone who has spent time in a golf gallery. “I couldn’t see what the hell was going on,” he told me recently, “and not because I’m 5-7.” Beman became the tour’s commissioner in 1974, and several years later he built the Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass, which has been the home of the Players Championship since 1982. The course was designed to increase the enjoyment of tournament attendees, and it incorporated innovations that Beman had first thought about more than 20 years before. Pete Dye…

ITS important to have swing thoughts on the tee. They help take your mind off all the bad things that can happen and put your focus on what you need to do to put one in the fairway. Way down the fairway. But just as important as mechanical thoughts is making sure you’re swinging with good tempo, particularly with the driver. You could have amazing technique, but if you can’t put it all together with the right rhythm, you won’t hit your best tee shots. So let’s start there as we try to make this your Year of the Driver. You might notice I’m wearing in-ear headphones. I like to listen to music when I practice to help improve my rhythm. I tend to get a little quick in the…

AS I SUSPECTED, proof arrived the other day that our country is now run by the Augusta National Golf Club when the 2016 Masters media guide landed on my porch weighing only slightly less than a sumo wrestler. ▶ Just thumbing through it, I quickly realized that it was going to tell me everything I wanted to know about every player who had ever competed in the Masters, including Cobie Legrange. ▶ For that matter, there’s biographical information on every fan who has attended the Masters, if only for a practice round. This dates back to 1934 and includes a Mr. Woody Scrum of Murfreesboro, Tenn., who was apprehended on Friday, March 31, 1939, trying to sneak into the tournament dressed as Henry Picard. The opening page dazzles you. It…