Almost Everything I Know About Making Putts

I also know that 90% of putts left short don’t go in, but you probably already heard that one from Yogi Berra.

PuttingA member of our forum, after noticing that my putting stats are pretty good, asked me what tips I could offer to help others become a better putter. After thinking about it, I realized that being a “good putter” is more about the sum of the parts than any individual part. So, I wrote back to the forum member and said “I’ll write something up in the future and post it for all to see.”

This is the answer to that question. I can’t promise that this will help everyone become a great putter – though I believe great putters are made, not born – because this process is mine. Still, a piece or two can likely be adapted to fit anyone, and I encourage comments from others about the different things they do to make themselves good putters.

Volume One Hundred Eight

Natalie Gulbis can now hold a trophy in her next swimsuit calender.

Hitting the LinksJim Furyk started Sunday three strokes behind Vijay Singh but quickly erased the deficit. He birdied two of the first three holes, then aced the par-three fourth on his way to shooting a final-round 64 for a repeat victory at the Canadian Open.

This week we have a recap of the Canadian Open, manipulating the rules of golf to your benefit, and a golfer’s odyssey through New Zealand.

Nine Roles at the Open Championship

In “Open Championship: The Movie,” here’s who starred and who only got cameos.

ProfilesWatching the 2007 Open Championship was a little like viewing a good action movie. There were heroes getting their teeth kicked in and coming back to win the day. There was comedy and drama. There were plenty of car wrecks and explosions. And at the end of the gauntlet, an evil ogre waited.

You can’t have a good movie without a great cast, so here are my picks for each of the nine leading roles from this year’s Open Championship.

Windy Knoll Golf Club (Springfield, OH) Review

After a slow start, Windy Knoll blows you over with a good challenge at a reasonable rate.

Windy Knoll LogoIf ever a course name evoked a certain image, well, I suppose “Windy Knoll” does a pretty good job. Set just a touch out of the way and west of Columbus, OH, Windy Knoll lives up to both halves of its name. With flat farmland to the west, the direction from which the prevailing wind blows, the subtly mounded “links-style” course will vex players when the wind is up and offers a stern test even in rare calm conditions.

I played Windy Knoll in early July on a breezy day. Read on to see whether it’s worth a visit the next time you’re looking for a new course to play.

Gary, Steroids, and Golf

Gary Player becomes the latest past champion to assume the position of soap box philosopher.

Thrash TalkPerhaps the only thing more tedious than watching 43 rehashes of the Van de Velde incident is listening to an old lion reminding himself he can still roar. Gary Player’s comments on performance-enhancing drug use on the professional golf tours certainly got a rise out of the news media. And although an exciting finish to a thrilling championship happily drowned out The Black Knight’s clatter, I think the issue is worth a closer look.

Golf Talk [Episode 066]

David Feherty: “If you don’t have a belly, you shouldn’t be allowed to use a belly putter.” Congratulations to Padraig Harrington on the first of potentially many majors.

Golf Talk PodcastWe discuss the 2007 Open Championship at Carnoustie, won by Padraig Harrington (and many will say lost by Sergio Garcia and even Andres Romero). Also, Gary Player’s comments on drug use on the pro golf tours and more in this week’s episode of Golf Talk.

You can subscribe to the RSS feed for our podcasts here or download Episode 066 as an MP4 file. For those who want to subscribe to us in iTunes, click here.

For this week’s Show Notes – links to articles we discuss in the show and additional information – just read on.

Fan No More

Sergio Garcia and Gary Player both used the media tent at the 2007 Open Championship to remove their names from my “players I root for” list.

Swing ThoughtsI used to consider myself a fan of Sergio Garcia and Gary Player. Sadly, their actions at the 2007 Open Championship put an end to that.

Before the tournament even began, Gary Player saw fit to tease us with his famous “neener neener, I know a secret” announcement that “someone” was taking drugs and that “at least ten, maybe a hell of a lot more” golfers on pro tours were using drugs. I agree with Gary’s basic point – he believes strongly in drug testing and the damage that could come to the sport if players are found to be using drugs to enhance their performance – but I’m disgusted that Gary, a legend of the game, chose the biggest stage he has to make the most damaging statement he’s ever made about the game of golf. His actions lack the class befitting a champion of the game.

Titleist Introduces New NXT Tour and NXT Extreme Golf Balls

Golf Designers Against Distance (GDAD) members are not going to like this at all.

Bag DropTitleist, the king of all ball manufacturers, yesterday updated its NXT line of golf balls. While the Pro V1 and Pro V1x line may be the preferred ball among low-handicap golfers, the NXT line is the ball for the masses.

Previously, the NXT line featured two balls: the NXT and the NXT Tour. With the 2007 revisions, the NXT Tour has been updated and the plain-old NXT has been updated and re-christened the NXT Extreme.

Volume One Hundred Seven

How do you say meltdown in Spanish?

Hitting the LinksPadraig Harrington came from six shots back going into the final round to have not just one but two shots at winning The Open Championship and finally put away the collapsing Sergio Garcia in the four-hole playoff.

As for Sergio “Bad Breaks” Garcia it makes no difference if his putter is standard length or belly, blade or mallet, right-hand low, left-hand low, whether he dresses like a banana or Ronald McDonald, at the end of the day the biggest determent to the young man’s game resides squarely in the space between his ears.

Finally, congratulations to Joe Ogilvie who beat some other guys and ran away with a four-shot victory in Milwaukee at the U.S. Bank Championship.

This week we have a recap of The Open Championship, the future of golf, and Commissioner Bivens going shopping.