Rickie Fowler tied for second, 8 strokes off the lead in the US Open. The score made it look like Martin Kaymer was the runaway winner but putting made the difference. I hope you and Rickie were paying attention to Martin’s putts from off the green and on the green. It made all the difference.
Commentators at the US Open talked about Rickie’s improved swing and control but they also said that his putting on the first 2 days kept him up with the leaders. On the final round it became painfully obvious that Rickie was trying to let his putts die into the hole. Big Mistake!
If your putts are curling around the hole and stopping inches past it then you are playing for a break that should never happen if you plan for your putt to run 12 to 18 inches past the hole. Rickie could have saved 4 shots in his final 9 holes if he had only ignored the 1 degree of slope and hit firmly and directly at the hole.
Putting both on and off the green made all the difference for Martin.
Martin Kaymer was hitting amazing shots around the greens. But he won the US Open with his putter:
Putting from Off the Green: If he had a smooth access to the green (in the very short cut grass) Martin took all the risk of hitting fat chips by putting from off the green. Chipping just adds a dimension of risk. Getting a clean chip, the right bounce and the right run-out can be avoided by using the putter. Whenever Martin had a chance to putt from off the green he made it count.
NOTE: Try gripping and swinging a hybrid or a 5 iron like a putter when hitting from off the green. It helps you break the habit of hitting with the same pace as a putter.
Firm putts through the hole with confidence would have put Rickie neck and neck with Martin
Putting On the Green: There was a lot of TV coverage to let us see that Martin’s putts always sank with some pace. They did not die into the hole. He took the bumps and any minor slope (up to 1 degree angle) out of each putt by hitting firmly with confidence at the hole. [CONFIDENCE IS THE KEY WORD HERE!]
You WILL improve your game by practicing lag putts from off the green and by planning your putts to run 10 to 18 inches past the hole. Remember that 100% of the putts that are short of the hole never go in so why are you hitting them short?
Both Rickie and Martin had locked leading wrists when they were putting. [They were putting with their shoulders by rotating their spine to take any wrist motion out of their putts.] GOLFSTR+ can give you the confidence to sink more putts by locking your leading wrist. Practice with your GOLFSTR+ and save another 2 to 10 strokes in YOUR game.
Buy your GOLFSTR+ on our website www.golfstr.com or by entering the name GOLFSTR when you search on www.Amazon.com .
