Holy crap, I'm gonna play golf with Graeme McDowell!

[Lihu]

Judging by your report, Graeme really sounds like the same person he looks like.

Down to earth, nice and a comfortable person with which to spend time. Pretty good personality for number 12 in the world.

BTW, I'm sure he can hit much farther. Those distances you quoted are probably hit with 80% effort swings, and those were the longer ones.

[colin007]

BTW, I'm sure he can hit much farther. Those distances you quoted are probably hit with 80% effort swings, and those were the longer ones.

possibly, but on the tours own stats page he is almost at the bottom of the list.

[Club Rat]

Thanks again @David in FL.  Of course the picture above will start a flurry of "wearing hats indoors" comments!

Well, he is the Owner and can probably do whatever floats his boat !!!

Great story David. Thanks for sharing.

[Lihu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lihu

BTW, I'm sure he can hit much farther. Those distances you quoted are probably hit with 80% effort swings, and those were the longer ones.

possibly, but on the tours own stats page he is almost at the bottom of the list.

To that, I am pretty confident that the ones in the middle up to the 90th percentile can also hit 20% farther. I think the top distance tour pros probably can do well in long distance drives, if that was their goal.

They make a lot more money being in control, than just plain far.

[Foursum Golf]

Is it safe to say that GMac is your new favorite golfer?

[David in FL]

Is it safe to say that GMac is your new favorite golfer?

Yeah, probably.......well, him and whoever has a chance to beat Tiger in any given week!

[bplewis24]

Thanks again @David in FL.  Of course the picture above will start a flurry of "wearing hats indoors" comments!

Ban him!  Who the heck does he think he is?

Anyway, fantastic info, David.  It really is amazing how much control these guys have.  Hitting 18 greens and knowing you barely missed another 3w from 260-ish out is something I'll never have to worry about experiencing.

[MS256]

Wow!!! Sounds like a fantastic day.

I always wanted to play with one of the guys on the PGA Tour just one time just to see how my very best shots really stack up against the ones they hit all the time.

I like your description of what he looked like when he really tried to hit the ball farther. Reminded me of Freddy Couples in one of those Playing Lessons From the Pros things I saw when first started playing golf. Freddy said "I'm going to hit this one as hard as I can". When he made what looked like his normal swing he said "That's as hard as I can hit one".

I thought to myself, Hell Freddy, you didn't even come out of your shoes like I always do. Ha ha! (Of course he hit it well over 300 yards).

I didn't understand at the time that "as hard as I can" to him meant "as hard as I can" (while still using an actual golf swing).

[bplewis24]

I didn't understand at the time that "as hard as I can" to him meant "as hard as I can" (while still using an actual golf swing).

Good point.  This is something I speculated about in one of those distance threads, but few would acknowledge.

[Harmonious]

Great day for you , David.  I am struck by your observation that he hits all his shots with control rather than maximum distance, and he doesn't try to work the ball left or right.  Sounds like good advice for all of us. After all, he somehow managed a smooth 63 doing it his way.

[David in FL]

You'll get a lot of advice, but here's one that you might not get. Be a little (or a lot) more hesitant to say "good shot" than you normally would. Sometimes poorer players will say "good shot" when I thin a wedge that hits into a tier and happens to grab and wind up close, but it was a lucky shot, not a good shot. I've learned to not let it bug me, but it used to, and I know some good players who get quite irked by that kind of stuff. Look at his reaction and if he seems pleased, offer up a nice quiet "shot" (usually people don't say "good" at the better player level :D). Don't go over the top, just a restrained "shot" will be good. Aside from that, just play golf. You'll be fine.

This post by @iacas is spot on, and something that was actually on my mind.......well at least after the first hole. Graeme was no more than 130 out after his drive on one. He hit, his second, and from where I was, I could see that it was inside about 15 feet. I gave him a little "shot".....and got just a little bit of the stink-eye in return. Nothing overt, but I definitely noticed. That got my attention and I remembered that his standards from a buck 30 and my own, were worlds apart... I probably didn't compliment more than 2 or 3 of his shots the rest of the day.......but they deserved it, by any standard!

[boogielicious]

I have a friend that does this.  She says "great shot" no matter how bad it is.  It makes me crazy.

[Jakester23]

What's with the "shot" instead of nice shot or oh shit.

[flopster]

This is the thing that we amatuers just can't seem to get through our skulls is that when Graeme said hes going to hit this hard just means hes going to be more relaxed through the hit of the ball and let the swing reach maximum speed. We on the other hand put the death grip on the damn club and tense our arms and shoulders that making an athletic move is an absolute impossibility.

[bplewis24]

What's with the "shot" instead of nice shot or oh shit.

More cooler. That's how the pros do it.

[David in FL]

What's with the "shot" instead of nice shot or oh shit.

Well, when was the last time you said bad shot to someone...?

[bplewis24]

Well, when was the last time you said bad shot to someone...?

Does it count if I say it to myself?

[David in FL]

Does it count if I say it to myself?

Normally I just say, YOU SUCK.....  That tends to cover most of what I'm capable of on the course.