Innehållsförteckning för February 2016 från Golf Digest

Will you take on the big bunker? “Sometimes the yardage to the green doesn’t matter.” On a long par 3, don’t let the yardage intimidate you. Often there’s no need to carry the ball all the way to the middle of the green. Take the third hole at the Pronghorn Club (illustrated) in Bend, Ore., which tips at 253 yards and is typically set a hair over 200 yards for the members. This is a basic design model I’ve used on many of my courses—a large, raised bunker guarding a low green with assistance available to the shorter hitter. What kind of assistance? If you don’t feel comfortable flying the ball all the way to the green, simply carry it past that high bunker and allow the downslope leading to…

Q Do the pros warm up for tournaments using the same golf balls they play during a round or regular range balls? Andrew Wykurz, Metcalfe, Ontario A True story: Golf Digest used to own a range off the New Jersey Turnpike. One day, a guy walks into the shop and asks for two buckets of range balls. The attendant says “That will be $12.” The guy hands over $12, walks out of the shop, puts the buckets in a beatup car and drives away. We bring this up because pros can pretty much do the same thing at every tour stop. Only they don’t have to fork over $12, the balls are new, and the car is made in Germany. No matter which ball a pro plays, there are bags…

Three weeks before his 40th birthday in December, Tiger Woods did something he should have done a long time ago: He publicly stepped away from golf. Truly stepped away, with no stated expectations for when—or if—he might return. It placed before him an undetermined period free of scrutiny and judgment, something he has probably longed for since he started racking up agegroup titles as a junior. The decision was accompanied by a rare openness. At his pre-tournament press conference at the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas, where he was the host, and two days later in the release of a wide-ranging interview with Time magazine, Woods showed vulnerability, a quality he has always implicitly denied that he even possesses. Rather than defiant optimism, Woods was fatalistic. “I’ve reconciled myself…

When the legacy of Tiger Woods is determined, his most important impact might well be the better athletes he attracted to golf. Woods did that in two ways: He made the game cool, and he made it possible to get rich— really rich—by playing golf. August will be the 20th anniversary of Woods’ pro debut, and in those two decades talented and compellingly athletic young people have chosen golf over other sports. The results can be seen on leader boards every week. The Tiger Babies are here, and they are taking over. For the first time in the 13 years of the Golf Digest 50 all-encompassing money list, Woods is not No. 1. That honor goes to Jordan Spieth, who is 22 years old and was 3 when Tiger won…

The custom has reached American soil. What began in soccer internationally decades ago now happens every weekend in the NFL. After the game, you peel off your uniform and hand it to an opposing player, perhaps the dude most responsible for all the blood and mud stains, as a gesture of your deepest respect, win or lose. When it comes to sportsmanship, golf will not be oneupped. So anticipating the adoption of this ritual into our game—golf is undergoing a period of great social liberation— we thought we would offer some early guidelines. Sure, it might sound crazy, but so did GPS. First, sweaters are best. If not an option, limit swapping to days when the temperature is moderate and the humidity low. Unlike football players who wear pads and…

Simple tips for boosting power and control whether he’s being humble, matter-of-fact or simply doesn’t want to reveal the secrets of his extraordinary ball-striking, Sergio Garcia rarely talks swing mechanics. He’s a “feel player,” he says, and tries to keep things as simple as possible: Focus on the target and then make a confident swing. But when pressed on how he has been able to sustain remarkable distance and accuracy off the tee, El Niño, now in his 18th year as a pro, did share some telling insights. Here’s what he had to say. —WITH ron kaspriske My thought from the top: Imagine you’re pulling a chain down with both hands. SETUP I like to feel tall and relaxed at address. A lot of golfers hunch over the ball and…

every teacher looks for ways to give students a familiar feel to connect with their golf games. It doesn’t get much more familiar than bar games, many of which involve skills that translate nicely to golf. Consider the moves and concepts from these four common games—darts, cornhole, poker and Ping-Pong—that can simplify and improve your approach to the full swing, short game and on-course strategy. All it takes is some imagination and maybe a few cheap props. The best part is that you probably use all of these skills without even thinking about them. That will make them a lot easier to remember and reference when you’re holding a golf club out on the course—where you really need a simple, clear swing thought. So go ahead and toil over these…

what are the things I get asked the most about on Twitter? Tiger Woods and your golf swing. We’ll save Tiger for another day, but if you want help with your swing, here are a few tips for shooting it that will help me—or whoever’s looking—provide useful advice. The two main ways to look at the swing are face-on (directly across from the player) and down the line (aiming the camera downrange). Both angles have their advantages. Face-on shows some setup angles, the grip, body position and weight shift, but it isn’t the best view for a thorough diagnosis. If you’re picking one angle, shoot down the line, from behind the player looking at the target (left). Set the camera about chest high and on an imaginary line halfway between…

“I still live with my parents, sleeping in my same old twin bed.” SMYLIE KAUFMAN age 24 home birmingham, ala. Young players winning PGA Tour events has happened a lot lately. Five of the tour’s six fall events of 2015 were won by first-time champs. Still, Kaufman’s victory at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open in October stands out. He shot a final-round 61 to win in only the second tournament of his rookie season. The graduate of LSU qualified for the PGA Tour by winning on the Web.com Tour earlier in 2015. —STEPHEN HENNESSEY It’s All Smiles How could it not be when you’re a tour winner at age 24? smylie isn’t a nickname. It’s my real name. And it has great meaning. My grandmother’s cousin was Smylie Gebhart,…

We begin with a disclosure: When you ask folks in all walks of golf life a personal question, it’s only fair to answer it yourself. The question was this: “How much cash do you have on you . . . and why?” Cash is still king, right? Even in this age of credit cards and electronic banking, people still carry cash. OK, well, most people. I had $182 when I stopped Golf Channel’s Brandel Chamblee at the Open Championship last summer at St. Andrews. To Chamblee’s credit, he was forthcoming. (One major champion declined—old school.) Chamblee, a former PGA Tour player, was carrying $80, plus £70. “I usually carry about $300,” he said. “I’m not extravagant. I mean, if this is a contest, then Phil Mickelson is going to win…

1 Royal County Down G.C. (Championship) Newcastle, Northern Ireland 2 Augusta National (Ga.) G.C. U.S.A. 3 Pine Valley (N.J.) G.C., U.S.A. 4 Cypress Point Club Pebble Beach, U.S.A. 5 Royal Dornoch G.C. (Championship), Scotland 6 Royal Melbourne G.C. (West) Black Rock, Australia 7 Shinnecock Hills G.C. Southampton, N.Y., U.S.A. 8 St. Andrews Links (Old) Scotland 9 Muirfield, Gullane, Scotland 10 Merion G.C. (East) Ardmore, Pa., U.S.A. 11 Oakmont (Pa.) C.C., U.S.A. 12 Pebble Beach G. Links, U.S.A. 13 National G. Links of America Southampton, N.Y., U.S.A. 14 Winged Foot G.C. (West) Mamaroneck, N.Y., U.S.A. 15 Fishers Island (N.Y.) Club U.S.A. 16 Cape Kidnappers Hawke’s Bay, New Zealand 17 Sand Hills G.C. Mullen, Neb., U.S.A. 18 Kingston Heath G.C. Heatherton, Australia 19 Cabot Cliffs Inverness, Canada 20 Golf de Morfontaine Mortefontaine,…

Most amateurs I see spend a great deal of time focused on the break of a putt and, to a lesser extent, the speed. Those are key fundamentals for sure, but equally important is making a good stroke. Swinging the putterhead on a consistent path will help you start the ball on the line you pick. To groove your stroke, try my two-tee drill. Find a straight putt and stand 10 feet from the cup on that line. Set the putterhead down facing the hole, and stick two tees in the green—one just outside the toe of the putter and the other just outside the heel. The tees create a gate (right) that you’ll have to swing the putterhead through to keep it on a straight path to the hole.…

F aced with a short pitch over a bunker, your plan is to throw the ball up in the air and stop it fast. Instead, the leading edge of your wedge slams into the middle of the ball and sends it over the green. We call that “hitting it in the teeth.” Many people think the cause of this sickening shot is falling onto the back foot during the downswing in an attempt to lift the ball over the bunker. That’s part of it, but the real culprit is the breakdown, or cupping, of the left wrist through impact. To hit it high, you want your left arm and the shaft in a line at impact, pointing straight down to the ball. Your wedge has lots of loft, so you…

Nothing wrong with posing after you’ve nailed a tee shot. After all these years, Ernie Els still swings the club like he’s out for a Sunday stroll. There’s real power and effort behind his tee shots, but you’d never know that if you judged his swing only by its tempo. On the flip side, many amateurs take a wild hack at the ball, like it just insulted a family member. If you want a smooth-looking swing like The Big Easy’s, follow these steps to better tempo. David Leadbetter is a Golf Digest Teaching Professional 1. SQUEEZE, THEN RELAX Tension breeds poor tempo. It starts with a tight grip. To feel how lightly you should hold the club, squeeze the handle as hard as you can, then relax. Sense the lightness,…

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If I don’t seek your advice, then I don’t want it. The other day a friend asked, “What’s the worst advice you’ve ever received?” The question really stumped me. Every week I get unsolicited advice out here. People I don’t know have come up to me at the practice green to make a comment about my stance. I’ve listened to caddies for other players openly debate my alignment. On the PGA Tour, it’s tough to practice on a Tuesday because everybody and his brother wants to help you. I’ve won once out here. It took me years. A lot of people say they’re surprised I haven’t won more, but maybe they’re just my friends. It doesn’t matter how many cuts in a row I’ve missed. If I don’t seek your…

AT 5-10, 145 POUNDS, Justin Thomas, 22, seems too slight and callow to be a good example— let alone a paragon—of the foundational act on which modern professional golf is built. At least until he springs into his downswing with a driver. Thomas creates a 14.11-degree upward launch angle that is the highest on the PGA Tour, which combined with the seventhlowest spin rate makes him the leading exemplar of the “highlaunch, low-spin” mantra for ideal impact. The path of his soaring drives, which last year averaged 303.2 yards, traces the first, best step to succeeding on tour. “I love hitting driver because the harder I swing, the straighter I seem to hit it,” says Thomas, the winner of last November’s CIMB Classic in Malaysia. “It gives me a lot…