Four facets of a touring pros game.....which is more important?

[Titleist99]

Davis Love and Nick Faldo touched on it so it made me rethink my position on the subject. The four facet are (in no particular order) : 1) Mental Game 2) Iron Game 3) Long game....driving 4) Short Game.

Watching Brooks Keopka today made me sway back to the short game......these guys are wizards around the greens. They turn 5 shots into 4 . Keopka hit a shot out of bounds and scored a boggy on the par five hole where as a normal golfer would have definitely been looking at an eight. What's more important to you?

[Insidious2]

Statistically speaking, driving and long game are the most important.

[MUNIGRIT]

Faldo and DL3 said proximity to the pin(aka ballstriking) and putting when talking about the scenerio. They said they could have 2 skills. They picked those 2.

[RainShadow]

Ever play with a plus cap or a our pro?

They get up and down from everywhere!

They turn mediocre rounds into under par rounds with short game and putting.

I'd say those are most important.

[bscinstnct]

 

There was an old pro, maybe tony jacklin, was playing with a good am who asked him The biggest difference between a good player and a pro.

 

They went out and he intentionally missed every green.

 

And beat the guy ; )

[Jtgavigan]

If distance and dispersion are at acceptable levels with ball striking, then short game is number 1, mental game number 2. A guy who hits it 270 off the tee most of the time but is a wizard with the wedge and putter won't compete much anymore. The courses are too long, hard, and fast. But, if a guy is just ok from tee to green, but a great short game, he can win (Spieth, Jordan a few years ago).

I am no tour pro, but have been a low single digit handicap for a long time now and what is getting me to the next level now is putting and chipping. Now, I know I can miss pretty much anywhere and feel like I can and will make par. I used to just hope i could. Even when i am not hitting it great, my short game turns what used to be a 78 into a 73 or 74 now. What used to be a 75 is now a 71.

Mental game is important as well. When Tiger was winning a lot, he was just dominant in the short game and mental game. He could win when he wasnt hitting it well. When he was hitting it well, no one had a chance.

[Titleist99]

Yep.....I remember a scrambling Tiger was more fun to watch because he was scoring while hitting it all over the lot....LOL!

[Titleist99]

People keep telling me that but I just don't see it,,,

[bscinstnct]

Is like football. You bomb off the tee and you be in the “red zone” more with more opportunities to score a TD (birdie/eagle)

But, you still gotta punch it in or you just get a FG (par) or nothin.

[jvincent]

Think of it this way, your long game, i.e. tee to green, is what determines your scoring potential. Your short game is what let's you capitalize on that potential.

Another way of looking at it is that if you are on or very close to every green in regulation you have a lot easier time shooting par or better.

Statistically speaking if you are missing too many greens or trying to get up and down multiple times from more that 30 yards (arbitrary number) then you just won't be able to compete.

[MUNIGRIT]

The answer is almost always the guy out of the top ball strikers for the week who putted the best. Hitting more greens is the key for an amateur lowering their scores dramatically IMO.

[Jtgavigan]

Well put. I agree.

[Curmudg3on]

+1

[rafal]

This is just regular golfer talk, but as my HCP lowered it was mostly due to improvement in long game. Once your HCP is low enough there aren't that many short game opportunities anymore as you simply hit a bunch of greens. When I am playing well I often might have 1-2 bunker shots along with 2-3 chips, that's it (playing regular tees ofc). I could have top pro short game at that point and it would be worth saving 2-3 shots overall. However pro quality drives would be worth at least 6 I think.

[acemandrake]

Mental game separates good players from great players.

 

Also, pro events are usually putting contests. They ALL have awesome long & short games.

[Titleist99]

the players need a little strategy this week....six inch rough.

[Titleist99]

This is what I see.......touring pros missing fairways but still hitting greens, driving 320 yards but can't get a wedge close, short hitters at 270 yard average winning back to back......but if you can get it up and down and have a dynamite putter you can compete with anybody.... that's just the eye test....I don't see bombers winning on a regular basis.

[Darth Putter]

 

[MUNIGRIT]

I dont see many 270 yard average drivers winning that much. Bombers are winning very consistently as almost all of them bomb it.

[elwhippy]

The mental game and scrambling are the most important. The ability to keep a clear head and get up and down from the ball washer will never let you down.

[OrangeGravy]

"I don't see Bombers winning regularly" is a red herring because just as you said, Everyone winning is very long. They may not be the Super Bombers, but most of the winners are still in the 300+ yd average driving distance for all practical purposes. I don't see guys under 290 winning very much. People see a guy like Morikawa winning and think, he's small he probably averages 270-280, but Nope, he's 296 so far this season. 290.2 is 160th place on tour in driving average for the season. There's 5 guys under 280. The list of names under 290 is full of old guys like Stricker and guys who have virtually NO chance to win anything, even opposite field event.

[bscinstnct]

 

Rory is the perfect example of how all 4 components come into play.

 

He has the ability to put it out there over 320 on demand. And excellent long/approach game. These put him in position to destroy par 5s and have advantage of par 3,4s

 

If his wedge game and short game is on (or when conditions favor them), combined with his driving/irons, he can “lap the field”

 

And if his mental game is on, he can break records in majors and dominate the game.

 

But, we see all too clearly, that even with the big drives and great approaches, if his wedge/putter is cold and/or he’s not mentally tough and resilient on Sunday, when it counts, he can have a lot of trouble.

[Forged4ever]

Seriously??????

 

No, really????

 

Mental Game....

 

Next...

 

Have a Great Week?

RP

[Christosterone]

This is a fairly good analysis/example...

when it comes to top tier pros, I can’t even fathom the differences between a guy ranked 100 and one ranked 30...the margins are razor thin

 

[Titleist99]

Perfect example...... Rory has mental lapse all the time, don't get me started on that....LOL!

[Titleist99]

When I mentioned guys winning driving 270 average was a little tongue in cheek but I was referring to Brendon Todd who almost won three tour events in a row. The average driving distance currently on the PGATOUR is 290 yards.....Brendon Todd is about 280-285 off the tee. My point was that an average driver of the ball can compete on any track that the pgatour has a tournament...

[KRAMER1997]

I think it really depends on the course set up and week. I personally think driving the ball long/straight gives a tour pro a huge advantage because that leads to hitting less club, which makes it easier to get closer to pins. When Tiger was winning 4 straight majors in 2000-2001, he was averaging 29 yards more on his tee shots then the rest of the field. That's at least a 2-3 club difference. I think it's easier to make birdies when you are hitting a PW vs 7. In 1997 Tiger was hitting wedge into the 15th hole at Augusta. If you look at the past decade, a lot of guys who drive the ball really well, but are average putters at best have won a lot of majors (Rory, Sergio, Dustin, Brooks). Tiger Woods's first Masters win at Augusta in 1997

[Titleist99]

If you can hit it long and straight you deserve the advantage...... you still have to hit the wedge and make the putt. Everyone plays the same course.....IMO ....I do think that if you drive it long and crooked there should be a penalty......again, just my opinion. Tiger was long and a great putter.

[Forged4ever]

Hey Brother, I hope all’s well?

 

Ya, the difference tween a Tour Boy and a 5~ capper are immense from just the PHYSICAL side of the game, putting aside the mental side, which is incomprehensible and incomparable, as they are not remotely even in the same universe, much less game or level, lol.

 

That being said, the difference between, say, the #124 Tour Boy and #24 is that the #124 Player, on the course, under the gun, HOPES that he can get it done, HOPES that he can bring that flawless practice line swing to this shot and HOPES that he can obtain the outcome that he visualizes in his head during his PSR.

 

The #24 Tour Boy, on the course, under the gun, KNOWS that he will execute the necessary swing and he KNOWS that he will obtain the visualized outcome because again, he has done it under the gun, and there is no sliver of doubt, the difference being the confidence level difference between HOPING versus KNOWING, and that can amount to a slight imperceivable muscle twitch or tightening, an irregular breath that might take that swing a mere degree or a few cm’s out of line and the #24 Player knocks it stiff from 223yds. and the #124 leaves it out a hair, it catches the green side rough and kicks right into the bunker.

 

To the spectator observing these two Players, their swings looked identical, however this is the only time that the #124 Player KNOWS anything, and that is that at impact, he KNOWS that he didn’t put his HOPED for visualized swing on rhe ball.

 

For those of you that doubt me and ya wanna vomit? stats on this, ? data on that, yada yada yada, do yourselves a favor at the next elite Am or Pro Tourney that ya go to, any Tour, cuz my point’s the same regarding those who KNOW versus those who HOPE.

 

Go on one of the practice round days when everyone’s full of hope, confidence and ready to tear *ss, and walk over to the line and start at one end, and watch the Player hit a few shots, and move down the line watching EVERY Player hit. Some you may know, though it doesn’t matter.

 

Say that you observe 25-40+ Players hitting balls. What will strike you is that they appear to be machines, most with gorgeous swings, and even those with less than “Classic” swings, repeat whatever swing that they have to put the ball in a relatively small target area down range.

 

You will see some of the most beautiful swings and glorious shots that you have ever seen, I don’t give a sh*t who ya are. Either write down the names or it’s much easier to put a dot by their names in your program.

 

Now come Friday evening, go back and see how many of those 25-40+ Players made the cut. The odds are that almost half, give or take a few, were slammin trunks on Friday evening!!

 

And those trunk slammers, like the #124 Player in Tour, HAVE the swing, they HAVE the game, and odds are that most have course records or low-60 rounds all over this or any other country.

 

What happened to the trunk slammers’ swings, strokes and games in between Tuesday/Wednesday and Thursday/Friday???

 

What, they evaporated on the walk to the first tee??????

 

They forgot how to swing????

 

They forgot how to putt????

 

GTFOH????

 

However what they do not have, UNDER THE GUN, is the #24 Player’s ability to INSTANTLY recall that pre-swing vision/psr KNOWING that that next swing, shot and outcome will be EXACTLY as they had visualized in their PSR, versus the trunk slammers & #124, who are HOPING that their next swing, shot & outcome will be exactly as their practice line shots or visualized PSR images.

 

Under the gun, the difference tween #124 & #24 has NOTHING to do with driver distances, mid-iron accuracies, wedges or putters, has nothing to do with fairways hit, greens hit or strokes gained.

 

This game at the highest level, comes down to an irregular inconsistent BREATH or an inperceivable to the naked eye twitch, and it can happen with any club, at any distance, at any time, though it usually raises its ugly head when the pressure is the greatest, when in the Player’s mind, that next swing and/or shot is THE most needed shot that he/she will hit that round or tournament.

 

This game at the highest levels comes down to two single words....

 

~ Hope

 

~ Know

 

Well, three words for you knuckleheads...

 

MENTAL

 

Or as Sam used to chirp, some Players were born to “respond under the gun” on Sunday afternoon, back nine, and some weren’t??‍♂️

 

Stay well Bro & I hope that you’re having a Great Season⛳️

RP

[Titleist99]

Yep.....every now and then you witness a light bulb going off and the touring pro see thing much clearer and the confidence level is off the chain...................................................Brendon Todd.

This is the same player who was thinking about opening a pizza chain just a couple of years ago. (don't quote me on the time frame)