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FROM THE EDITOR FEBRUARY 2020 / ISSUE 2 / VOL 61

‘TheMcIlroyand Koepkarivalryhas beenjusttheright sideof‘spicy’but neitherplayerwantstogive aninchpsychologically’ Rory McIlroy compiled a lot of great rounds in 2019, but arguably the most important one came on a late September afternoon at East Lake GC in Atlanta.

Standing alongside World No.1 Brooks Koepka on the first tee in the final round of the Tour Championship, not only was the tournament on the line, there was the small matter of the season-ending FedEx Cup bonus.

But for McIlroy, who has long since passed the point where $15 million would change his life, money was the last thing on his mind. There was something much more valuable at stake – personal pride.

Just a couple of weeks earlier, McIlroy and Koepka had found themselves in the exact same head-to-head scenario at the WGC-FedEx St Jude Invitational in Tennessee. On that occasion, Koepka steamrollered McIlroy in the final round, shooting 65 to the Irishman’s 71. Although neither player would openly admit it, anybody who knows anything about professional sport will tell you that Koepka had laid down a marker. The American’s victory was an emphatic ‘look who’s the boss’ statement.

All of which made the re-run in Atlanta compelling viewing. Another Koepka victory would have confirmed

beyond doubt he was the world’s premier golfer while another McIlroy defeat would raise more doubts about his ability to play to his very best under the most severe pressure. As things turned out, it was McIlroy’s turn to go low and Koepka’s turn to tread water. McIlroy’s fourunder-par 66 was the lowest round of the day while Koepka’s surprising two-over-par 72 dropped him into a tie for fourth. “I wanted some revenge for Memphis,” McIlroy admitted just minutes after the event finished.

McIlroy’s victory not only settled a score, it created a bone fide rivalry between the world’s two best golfers.

Ever since Atlanta, the pair have verbally jousted with each other. So far, the tit-for-tat comments have been just the right side of ‘spicy’ but it’s clear that neither player is willing to give up the psychological edge in 2020.

So who comes out on top this year? We address this question and 19 others in our season preview on page 38.

We ask what Jon Rahm needs to do to open his major account, how Jordan Spieth can stop his slide down the world rankings, what the season has in store for Tiger Woods… and lots, lots more.

And our first issue of the new year would not be complete without an instruction special. In a 10-page masterclass, Master PGA pro Luther Blacklock shows you how to get rid of your power-sapping slice and swap it for a pro-style draw. So here’s to better golf in 2020.

And thanks for reading Golf World. Enjoy the issue.

Nick Wright, Editor nick.jwright@bauermedia.co.uk @nickjameswright

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Discover golf as it should be. #Fin�YourEpic visitwales.com/golf

BEWARE THE SHEEP

On June 1, Bandon Dunes in Oregon opens its fifth course, Sheep Ranch.

For decades a secret course for the chosen few, it’s now open to all.

Pack a bag, pack your sticks and form an orderly queue.

09 THE SPIN

Distilling the biggest stories in golf right now into one life-enhancing elixir. Drink well!

22 JUSTIN ROSE

Our star man reflects on the lessons of 2019 to prepare for a more prosperous year ahead.

24 JOHN HUGGAN

The moral outrage surrounding the Saudi International is valid, but where does it end?

40 TIGER WOODS

ON T H C O V E RE 27 TOMMY FLEETWOOD

What’s Tiger’s gameplan for 2020 – and where and when might the 16th major arrive?

The art of the approach – Tommy shows you how.

42 RORY’S QUEST

In the form of his life but plagued by demons, is it now or never in Rory’s quest for the Grand Slam?

30 LEE WESTWOOD

78 THE MERRY MEX

Why proper golf shots rely on proper fundamentals.

Lee Trevino almost didn’t make it to 37. So as he turns 80, we celebrate a life less ordinary.

31 TONY FINAU

The big-hitting American on bigger, better drives.

34 JON RAHM

Studying the soaring Spaniard’s unexpectedly orthodox swing.

86 ENTER THE SPEEDZONE

Inspired by F1, meet Cobra’s new Speedzone drivers.

88 SPACE-AGE WINTER GEAR

In their quest for a warmer jacket, Ping brings in NASA tech.

89 YOUR NEXT PUTTER IS...

The quick-glance guide to flatsticks.

90 NEVER GO RIGHT!

Why Wilson’s Launch Pads keep you on the straight and narrow.

92 MUST PLAYS

From Italy to Oregon, the courses you have to play next.

ON T H C O V E RE

12 ROBERT MACINTYRE

Six burning questions for the European Tour’s fast-rising Rookie of the Year.

64 ARCHIE BAIRD

To mark his passing, aged 95, we revisit a classic interview with the great golf historian.

68 BRANDEL CHAMBLEE

“I deal in the truth... and people f**king hate the truth” – the world according to Brandel.

ON T H C O V E RE

29 ENTER SANDMAN

Most amateurs shy away from bunker play. These two simple tips can turn a weakness into a strength.

33 TAKE CONTROL OF YOUR GAME

Positive reinforcement the tour pros use can boost your confidence and performance.

35 PURE EVERY PUTT

Why finding the sweetspot brings better length, speed and results every time.

98 TOP 100 SPOTLIGHT

On the Kintyre Peninsula, the glory of Machrihanish.

106 72 HOURS IN CORNWALL Five magnificent courses for one epic weekend.

112 PLAY 18 IN...

A quick guide to Dorset’s Top 100 course charms.

golfworldtop100.com | February 2020 Golf World 7

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COMPREHENSIVE GOLF COURSE AND RESORT REVIEWS

DESTINATION AND GOLF BREAK GUIDES

INTERVIEWS WITH LEADING DESIGNERS AND ARCHITECTS

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Is golf robbing itself of its biggest stars by making them so rich?

Never before has there been so much money available at golf’s top table. Rory McIlroy was the biggest earner on the PGA Tour last season, taking home $22.8 million. Jon Rahm was the European Tour’s biggest earner, making €6.2m from 13 events.

The Spaniard turned pro in mid-2016 and has already made €13m on the European Tour and $16m on the PGA Tour.

And it’s not just the game’s very top players that are making huge amounts of money. 112 players made over a million dollars

“I think with a different camera angle they would have realised that if it was from the side you would have seen that it was not improving the lie because it was far enough away from the golf ball.” Patrick Reed offers a weak attempt to defuse a cheating furore after cameras caught him clearing sand from behind his ball at the Hero World Challenge.

Wolff eagled the final hole at on the PGA Tour last season. In the 3M Open to 1999,win only 36 players reached by one that shot. figure. In Europe, 49 players

made over a million last season.

In 1999, only five players made that much.

What’s the problem?

So the game’s best players are making unprecedented fortunes, but why is that an issue? Well, golfers play for money. That’s not a cynical assessment; it’s a fact. Every professional event has a prize purse, and the season-long league tables of the FedEx Cup and Race to Dubai are based on how much each player has earned throughout the year.

When golfers already have tens of millions in the bank, one of the main incentives to play – money – suddenly has far less impact. That means they are becoming increasingly selective about the events they play.

The world’s best golfers played an average of 24.9 events in 2015. In 2019, that number had dropped to 22.3.

“Everyone has to look out for themselves and next year, I’m looking out for me,” said Rory McIlroy ahead of the 2019 season. “I’m trying to do what’s best for me to help me get back to the best player in the world and try to win majors again.”

In fairness to Rory, he played 25 events in the season following that statement. Of the world’s top-10 players, only Tommy Fleetwood, with 28, played more. Rather than justifying a lack of events, McIlroy was explaining his decision to focus his attention on the PGA Tour at the expense of the European Tour, due to the greater prize money and world ranking points on offer.

McIlroy is one of ten players to boast PGA Tour career earnings of over $50 million. 180 players have made over $10 million in their careers, while 53 players have made over €10 million in the European Tour. Is it any surprise that those players are being more selective about their schedules? Got a major coming up in a few weeks? Why not take some time off to rest and get yourself prepared for the events that really matter?

‘ IF WE EXPECT TOP PL AYE RS TO PL AY After all, you can afford to.

“It’s just about managing time now and trying to figure out what’s going to work best,” says Bryson DeChambeau, who has decreased his number of starts the last two years running.

At his peak, played 23 or 2 per season. La he played 14. I the year befor Woods, of cou his mid-40s an managing a bo has undergone numerous ope World number Brooks Koepk He played 22 e last year, a

10 Golf World February 2020 | golfworldtop100.com

significant drop from the 27 and 28 he was clocking up a few years ago, before he’d made a fortune. These players all have more than enough money to live on for the rest of their lives, but no one is suggesting they are about to hang up their he game ore wins, ors. The m rests th the sser ents.

w the standard, the-mill ean Tour ts that are

suffering,” says eight-time Order of Merit winner Colin Montgomerie. “The first thing a sponsor asks is, ‘Who is playing?’ If you say, ‘A lot of the guys won’t be there due to the fact they are playing in America,’ then they’ll come back and say, ‘Well then I’m not putting in as much money as I might have’.”

“It doesn’t take a mathematical genius to work out that the economy in Europe is not very good,” says Graeme McDowell. “The European Tour schedule is not ripe with $3-, $4- and $5 million events.”

It’s a vicious circle. If you don’t have the big money on offer, you can’t attract the best players. But if you don’t have

“I don’t have any sympathy for anyone that cheats. If you make a mistake maybe once, you could maybe understand, but to give a bit of a bullshit response like the camera angle, that’s pretty up there.” Cameron Smith is one of many players unimpressed by Reed’s actions and response.

WE E KLY, WE ’ LL BE DISAPPOINTE D’ the best players, you can’t attract the big money. That puts your event at risk.

Take the Houston Open, for instance. October’s edition featured none of the top 30 in the world rankings and only two – Henrik Stenson and Keegan Bradley – of the top 50.

“I’m learning that players are interested in chasing the big money internationally and playing overseas,” says tournament director Colby Callaway. “That’s not up to me to figure that out, but up to the Tour to help, because there are tournaments who are saying, ‘What about us?’”

Each tour imposes a minimum number of events players must play to retain

membership, but even those are being reduced. “The change to our minimum tournament requirement recognises that many of our members are global players who, at the same time, wish to remain loyal to the European Tour,” said European Tour CEO Keith Pelley, reducing the minimum number of starts from 13 to five.

That’s a bit like saying you’re only asking your cheating wife to be faithful four nights a week now because you know she wishes to remain loyal to you.

Besides, if you are one of the top players and have won a few events in recent seasons, exemptions and invitations tend to be stacked in your favour.

The issue of players choosing

to skip certain events has been exacerbated by the revamped schedule which came into place for the 2019 season, with the majors now crammed into just a 14-week period. The increasingly global European Tour, meanwhile, involves more travel than ever before, with 47 tournaments across 31 countries, only 13 of which are actually in Europe.

Too busy

The top players don’t need to play events they don’t fancy and would rather focus their attention on trying to win majors or, at the very least, WGC events with the bigger prize pots on offer.

Pelley accepts that there isn’t

much he or anyone else can do.

“If we expected the top players to play on a weekly basis, then our expectations would be unrealistic,” he says. “There is unbelievable opportunity for the players right now. There are probably less than 10 golf tournaments in the world now that are mandatory. And there are 35 tournaments offering prize money of at least $7 million. We recognise the multiple choices they have about where to play.”

He says, “there is no simple solution” and “if top-player participation was the only metric that our sponsors and partners look towards, then we are setting ourselves up for disappointment”.

Given the increasing likelihood of a global tour that will merge, in some manner, the PGA Tour and European Tour, some of the lesser events may cease to exist soon anyway.

Events that can offer enough prestige, prize money and ranking points will continue to thrive, as will those happy to offer seven-figure appearance fees to individual players – here’s looking at you, Saudi International.

Of course it’s a shame that some of this excess money at the top of golf’s pyramid cannot be dispersed to its feeder tours, where top-drawer golfers don’t make enough to survive, or perhaps to the women’s game, where prize finds are, at best, a couple of per cent the size of those at a PGA Tour event. But professional golf never has been and never will be a communist endeavour. The rich will get richer, the poor poorer.

As fans, we’ll still get to watch the world’s best players.

Perhaps less often, yes, but fresh, hungry, and competing for the prizes that matter most, with the freedom to play attacking golf. They don’t need to worry about whether dropping from second to fourth will cost them a hundred grand.

They are out there to win.

Second is nowhere. That creates a certain do-or-die, knockout punch-seeking approach that is fantastic to watch. As long as you can afford to, of course.

golfworldtop100.com | February 2020 Golf World 11

“I was close to being European number one a few times so I know how tough it is to get over the line. For him to do it so soon after turning professional shows how good he is. It is only a matter of time before he is world number one as well.”

Sergio Garcia praises Race to Dubai winner Jon Rahm.

FIVE BURNING QUESTIONS FOR…

Robert MacIntyre

“I couldn’t keep my driver on the planet, I didn’t want to play golf… and now I’m nearly in the top-50 in the world…”

2019 was the year Robert MacIntyre announced himself to the golfing world. In his debut season on the European Tour he clocked up seven top-10s, including three runner-up finishes. He came T-6 in his major debut at The Open, becoming the first Scotsman since Colin Montgomerie to finish in the top-10, came 11th in the Race to Dubai and was named European Tour Rookie of the Year. Recent winners of that award include Jon Rahm and Brooks Koepka, and we wouldn’t be at all surprised if young Bob follows them to even greater success.

1

Did your season on the Challenge Tour prepare you for the European Tour?

It made me the player I am today. I learned how to travel on m own I learned how to

greenkeeper; he works two jobs. My mum previously worked three or four jobs. Now she’s starting to cool it down a wee bit, which is nice. It’s been down to them and they have given me the chance. Now I just thank them so much.

3

Was there a moment when everything clicked?

The week between Morocco and the British Masters. We were in Morocco, missed the cut, and I pulled out of the China event the following week. I wasn’t enjoying golf.

Everyone knows I wasn’t enjoying golf.

I didn’t even want to be playing golf, if I’m honest with you.

So I took the week off, went and played some shint and that made me realise what

life was about. It was an away game on the bus with the boys, enjoying ourselves, and it made me realise that the job I’m doing isn’t a job. You’re doing it because you enjoy it, and that’s the mindset I’ve had since then. It made me realise, don’t find it a chore. Go and enjoy it, every day, every week. That’s what I’ve done, and here we are.

4

You’ve settled quickly among the game’s elite. Did you ever feel nervous playing alongside golfers you’d grown up watching? It took guts to challenge Kyle Stanley for not shouting “fore”...

I said at the start of the season that I wouldn’t really know I was on the European Tour until I played with a star. It was Ernie l On the first tee in Johannesbur I

“He will be a force in European golf for many years to come.”

Thomas Bjorn was impressed by fellow Dane Rasmus Hojgaard after watching the 18-yearold win the Mauritius Open in just his fifth European Tour start, making him the thirdyoungest winner of all-time.

HARD YARDS Is your course too long for you?

Most golfers are making the game less enjoyable by playing the wrong yardage.

What if we told you that you could shave half-an-hour off the time it takes to play a round of golf while simultaneously scoring better?

Sounds too good to be true? Well, it’s not, it won’t cost you anything, and you can implement it the next time you play.

We’re talking about ensuring that the course you play, and particularly the set of tees you choose, gives you the right challenge.

“Golfers are masochists,” says Jack Nicklaus. “They want a challenge but they end up playing the wrong tees. I don’t hit it as far as I used to, which is why I don’t tee off from the back anymore. Teeing it forward is a great way to play faster, score better, and have more fun.”

GOLFERS WHO TRIED TEEING IT FORWARD

56% 56% 83% 85% 93% said it made the round quicker

said it would make them play more often

THE DRIVER METHOD

Take the distance of your average drive (please note: average does not mean best-ever, downwind, downhill, on a rock hard fairway…) and multiply by 24.

found they hit shorter clubs into greens

said they had more fun

THE 5-IRON METHOD

Take your average 5-iron distance (the same caveats apply) and multiply by 36.

Driver (yards)

18-hole yardage

5-iron (yards)

275 250 225 200 175

6,600 6,000 5,400 4,800 4,200

200 185 170 155 140

said they will tee it forward again

THE COMBO METHOD

Take your average 7-iron distance and multiply by 18. Then take your average driver distance and multiply by 14. Add the two totals together.

18-hole yardage

7-iron (yards)

7,200 6,660 6,120 5,580 5,040

180 x 18 170 x 18 160 x 18 150 x 18 140 x 18

290 x 14 270 x 14 250 x 14 230 x 14 210 x 14

7,300 6,840 6,380 5,920 5,460

RIP, PLASTIC TEE Royal North Devon is the oldest club in England, but is not stuck in its ways, recently becoming the first to ban the use of plastic tees. “Birds pick up plastic tees that are often garishly coloured and drop them all over the place, including on the beach and in the sea,” says RND committee member Richard Hughes. “We have found tees in birds’ nests before. From the start of the new decade, we would like all golfers to only use wooden tees and the pro shop will only supply wooden tees.”

Wooden tees are usually white or natural wood colour, making them less attractive to wildlife. “Look after our environment and hopefully it will be there for many years to come,” says Hughes.

NUMBEROFTOP-10 FINISHESINMAJORS DURING THE LAST DECADE FOR RORY MCILROY. Dustin Johnson is second with 16.

golfworldtop100.com | February 2020 Golf World 13

“If Tiger can win the US Open on a broken leg, what’s a blister?”

Pablo Larrazabal won the Alfred Dunhill Championship, his first victory since June 2015, despite foot pain so severe he thought he might not be able to play the final round.

WHATSUPPS? The PGA Tour’s major oil change

An increasing number of tour professionals are using CBD oil. Should you be joining them?

At the top tier of golf, where the margins between success and failure are tiny but worth a fortune, players seek any advantage they can get. The latest edge is CBD oil. The CBD market has grown from almost nothing to £300 million in the last three years, with millions swearing by its benefits – and it hasn’t gone unnoticed by the world’s top golfers.

WHAT IS IT?

Short for cannabidiol, CBD is a chemical compound found in the cannabis plant. In pure form, it is an oil, although this oil has been used to create myriad products, including tablets, lotions, creams, burgers, toothpicks, teas, sweets, chocolate bars and bath bombs.

WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS? Advocates say it offers pain relief, relieves stress and improves sleep. The suggestion is that it could help golfers cope with high-pressure moments.

However, no scientific research has yet proved any effects.

WHO USES IT?

It is estimated that dozens of players, if not hundreds, use CBD across the PGA Tour and PGA Champions Tour. Bubba Watson was one of the first to publicly state he was using it – he announced a partnership with cbdMD last April and bears their logo on his visor – while Brendon Todd’s career was resurrected after he started using it. After a three-year stretch that saw him miss 37 of

41 cuts and his world ranking fall below 2,000, the 34-year-old won two PGA Tour titles in a fortnight and finished fourth at the next one.

IS IT LEGAL?

Yes, but you need to be careful.

The cannabis plant is made up of more than 100 cannabinoids, the main two being cannabidiol (CBD) and andtetrahydrocannabinol (THC). THC is the psychoactive cannabinoid that p get ‘high’ and is ille in the UK. CBD is le some products also contain small amou of THC, which isn’t.

“There’s no real control,” says Harry Sumnall, a professo

substance use at Liverpool John Moores University, talking to Wired. “In the UK, we have a number of regulatory agencies, but they are under-resourced.

It’s difficult for them to provide that oversight, because the CBD market is too big.”

IS IT ALLOWED ON TOUR?

“We don’t determine what is a banned substance,” says PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan “We rely on WADA Doping Agency].

BD is unregulated, with risk. We’ll to stay very close bstance that would or off their list.” moved CBD oil banned list in er 2017.

‘Advocates say it offers pain relief, relieves stress and improves sleep. The suggestion is that it could help golfers cope with high-pressure moments.’

BUBBA: ‘I’M ALL FOR IT’ “I’ve personally felt the benefit I use it because I’m getting old For the inflammation in my bo waking up with better sleep – those were the two things I wa focused on. With a seven-year old and a four-year-old in the house, and playing golf all day, I needed some energy fast. Fo me, it’s all about sleep and trying to get the body right.”

14 Golf World February 2020 | golfworldtop100.com

SHOULD YOU BE USING IT? A few drops of CBD oil aren’t going to knock 10 shots off your handicap, but there is evidence (albeit anecdotal) to suggest it can help with anxiety and sleep quality. If either of those are having a negative impact on your golf game – or any aspect of your life – CBD is just one of a long list of things you could try, but it’s probably not top of that list. If you do try it, make sure you find a product that is pure CBD, free from THC, and consult your doctor first.

RORY: ‘I’M NOT SO SURE’ “I’m very aware of the banned substance list and careful what put into my body. I wouldn’t be comfortable taking CBD oil. I’d be paranoid that there would be THC in it and that could lead to a positive [drug] test.

I am the most conservative on everything. I try not to take anything in terms of pills to help in any way.”

“I think it is [possible]. I have to do everything right and have all the pieces come together, but who knows what the future holds?”

Tiger Woods says he hasn’t given up the chase of Jack Nicklaus’ record of 18 major victories.

THE BIG QUESTION

Is Donald Trump playing too much golf?

As he enters the fourth year of his Presidency, we look at how much of it has been spent on the fairways.

Outings

“I’m going to be working for you. I’m not going to have time to play golf.”

Those were the words of Donald Trump, late 2016, in the midst of his campaign to be elected President of the United States. He was criticising the outgoing President, Barack Obama, saying, “Can you believe that with all the problems and difficulties facing the U.S., President Obama spent the day playing golf?” Trump’s election campaign was successful, but has he stayed true to his promise?

Obama is believed to have

240 220 200 180 160 140 120 100 80 60 40 20 0

played golf 306 times during his eight years in office, roughly a round every nine and a half days. Trump’s numbers are somewhat harder to track as he tends to be less open about when he is and isn’t playing golf. He has spent over 200 days at golf clubs, but it’s impossible to know whether he actually played on all of those occasions. Trump owns many golf courses and could be using the facilities to conduct meetings, without even swinging a club.

Trumpgolfcount.com, a website run by self-confessed data junkie Sophie Germain, calculates that Trump has made 228 visits to golf clubs since being sworn in, with at least 107 of those being confirmed as times Trump definitely played golf.

The Washington Post’s Philip Bump, meanwhile, calculates that Trump played golf 77 times in the first year of his Presidency alone.

Clearly, Trump is entitled to time off and to spend it playing golf. If you give him the benefit of the doubt and assume he has only played 107 times in nearly three years as President, that is less than one round every 10 days. If you take it as read

that a golf-mad Trump spending over four hours at a golf club can mean only one thing, that equates to more than six rounds per month, which arguably is a lot for a man with so much on his plate.

Either way, Trump has played more golf in the first three years of his presidency than the man he criticised for playing too much. If Trump is re-elected and serves another four years, he may well overtake Obama’s total, but he’ll have to up his game to become the most golfobsessed President in history.

That title belongs to President Woodrow Wilson, who clocked up nearly 1,200 rounds from 1913 to 1919.

THE PRESIDENT’S PLAY TIME Obama rounds Trump confirmed rounds 0

15

30

45

60

75

90

Weeks since Inauguration

105

120

135

Trump golf club visits

golfworldtop100.com | February 2020 Golf World 15

“I’m excited to go play and see a place I’ve never been. I understand those who are upset or disappointed. You’ll be OK. I’m excited to experience this for the first time.”

Phil Mickelson defends his decision to skip the Phoenix Open, an event he’s never missed, to play the Saudi International.

NEW GEAR

The gear to boost your game in 2020 It’s true that you can’t buy a golf game, but you can certainly buy things to help make yours better. Here’s our pick of the best handicap-cutting kit on the market to up your game this year.

SUPERSPEED GOLF £199.99 Used by hundreds of tour pros to increase swing speed and distance, SuperSpeed promises to add between five and eight percent to your clubhead speed with four-six weeks of practice. The average amateur male swing speed is 94 miles per hour; add five to seven mph to that and you’re looking at an extra 12-21 yards on your tee shots, which is a genuine game-changer. www.superspeedgolf.com

V1 GOLF FREE If you’re working on your swing, what you think you are doing may be very different to the reality. The best way to resolve this is by videoing your swing, which is where V1 Golf comes in.

It enables you to capture slowmotion footage and analyse what’s going on, frame-byframe. You can share the footage with your coach for feedback, or direct to social media, if you’re feeling particularly brave. www.v1sports.com

PUTTOUT MIRROR £49.99 The PuttOut Mirror comes with alignment aids to help perfect your setup, guides to ensure your path is square through impact, and a gate to putt your ball through, offering feedback and adding challenge to your practice. It is adjustable to suit your stroke and putter.

Numerous top tour pros use it, and are not being paid to do so – that should tell you something. www.puttout.golf

16 Golf World February 2020 | golfworldtop100.com

SMARTPHONE TRIPOD £10-15 To make video footage of your swing as useful as possible, it’s important you set the camera or your phone in the right place and keep it steady. A lightweight and portable tripod can easily be kept in your golf bag when not in use, and takes just moments to set up at the range or even on the golf course. www.amazon.co.uk

FORB HOME GOLF PUTTING MAT £49.99 Spend 15 minutes a day on a putting mat and watch your handicap plummet. Far too many don’t feature a hole, which defeats the object. Others have such a steep incline it becomes absurd. This mat, available in 10’ and 12’, features three holes and a gentle two-inch incline. It rolls up for easy storage and is made from non-crease material to keep your putts rolling purely. www.forbgolf.co.uk

“It’s not something that excites me. There’s a morality to it as well. A lot of countries we play in there’s a reason not to go, but I just don’t want to.” Rory McIlroy reportedly turned down a $2.5 million appearance fee to play in Saudi Arabia.

ACUSTRIKE GOLF MAT £44.99 Winner of Best New Product at the 2019 PGA Merchandise Show, this is a simple but brilliant piece of kit to use at the range. Simply place your ball on the designated spot and hit your shot. The mat will give you all the feedback you need in terms of whether you hit it heavy or pure, out of the heel or toe, and even the path your clubhead was traveling on through impact. It will help you groove a pure impact and make hitting balls far more useful. www.acustrikegolf.com

RUKKET POP-UP CHIPPING NET £30 Turn your garden into a short game area with this easy-to-use chipping net. It features three targets, pops up in an instant and folds away into a carry bag for easy storage and transportation. You can even use it indoors with the 12 foam practice balls that come with it, if you’re not feeling brave enough to start pitching Pro Vs around the office! www.rukket.com

LINEFIX360 £9.99 A line around the circumference of your ball is a fantastic alignment aid and is perfectly legal, including in competition. This is the best tool we’ve tried for making sure the line is perfectly straight. You can get cheaper, plastic alternatives, but they don’t hold your ball as securely and often mean you have to draw a much thicker line, which is less pleasing to the eye. www.groovefix.com

RAPSODO MOBILE LAUNCH MONITOR £499 A launch monitor makes it easy to ascertain exactly what is happening at impact and during the ball’s flight. Unfortunately, a Trackman or GC2 will set you back around £15,000, which is a bit steep for most of us. This Mobile Launch Monitor offers much of the same info, including clubhead speed, ball speed, smash factor, distance, launch angle and launch direction, for a fraction of the price. It can’t match the big boys in terms of detail, but it’s a decent alternative for the price, and is much easier to carry around than a full-size launch monitor. www.rapsodo.com/golf

ARCCOS 360 £249.99 Golf’s only fully-automatic performance tracking system records every shot you hit, enabling it to provide in-depth information on not only how far you hit each club, but also your strokes gained performance in driving, approach play, chipping, bunkers and putting.

When paired with your phone, it also serves as a GPS which, coupled with the club-by-club yardage data, will help you choose the right club more often, saving you shots. Users drop their handicap by, on average, 3.77 shots in a year. There aren’t many pieces of golf equipment that can say that. www.arccosgolf.com

“Do I think eight shots is extreme? Absolutely. Given there was no intent I think it’s a pretty harsh rule. It’s tough to swallow.”

Russell Henley incurred an eight-shot penalty for breaching the ‘one ball rule’ after discovering he had some Titleist prototype balls in his bag alongside his usual Pro V1x.

modern classics

The decade’s best new golf courses

The early 20th Century may always be remembered as the golden age of golf architecture, but the last 10 years has seen the introduction of some incredible layouts of its own. Here’s our pick of the best.

Ba Na Hills, Vietnam (2016)

Voted the World’s Best New Golf Course upon opening, the Luke Donald design sits at the bottom of one of the most impressive mountain ranges in Vietnam, with every hole framed by native forest. The entire course is floodlit, providing some of the most stunning night golf available in the world. banahillsgolf.com

“I get really repulsed because, to me, you’ve got to protect the integrity of the game, not protect the player.” Greg Norman clambers down from the fence and joins

the debate over Patrick Reed’s rules infraction at the Hero World Challenge.

Cabot Cliffs, Canada (2016)

One of the world’s most beautiful courses, with breathtaking vistas at every turn, and a Coore and Crenshaw design that more than does the setting justice. There are six par 5s, including three in four holes. cabotlinks.com

Lofoten Links, Norway (2015)

A stunning course to play at any time of year, visit between August and October for your chance to play golf under the Northern Lights, an experience you will never forget. lofotenlinks.no

West Cliffs, Portugal (2017)

Wonderful design work by Cynthia Dye means the par 72 feels completely natural, as though it has always been there. The Atlantic is visible from every hole but doesn’t distract from 18 holes of pure class. westcliffs.com

Cape Wickham Links, Australia (2015)

Australia’s No.1 public course interacts with the sea like few, if any, courses in the world. The 11th is practically in the ocean, while the beautiful beach comes into play as a bunker on the 18th. capewickham.com.au

Tara Iti, New Zealand (2015)

It won’t be easy (or cheap) to get a tee time, but you’ll be rewarded by a fantastic Tom Doak layout surrounded by nature and views that take your breath away. Visitors are only allowed on once – ever. taraiti.com

Trump International, Scotland (2012)

Designer Dr Martin Hawtree has worked on umpteen Open venues and calls this “the most dramatic, stimulating, invigorating stretch of golf anywhere I have seen in my career”. It’s no overstatement. trumpgolfscotland.com

golfworldtop100.com | February 2020 Golf World 19

UNTY > DEAD A MONEY > BLOOD EWS > FAKE N ’S WOES T T E L L I >W E ORY GAM L G E H T >

BLOOD MONEY

The European Tour’s decision to head back to the Middle East and host the second Saudi International this month is another kick in the teeth to the reputation of the game.

Those big-name players who’ve signed up for the fat appearance fee should feel ashamed of themselves – do Phil Mickelson, Sergio Garcia, Dustin Johnson and all the rest really need the money so badly?

They may trot out the well-worn spin about helping to grow the game and being excited to visit new places,

Dialogue @GolfWorld1 www.facebook.com/golfworld1 golfworldmag golf.world@bauermedia.co.uk Golf World, Media House, Peterborough, PE2 6EA

and shame on the players.

PRIZE LETTER

Chris Monk, Doncaster

NO NEWS HERE, FOLKS

END OF AN ERA

but the reality is that they are helping a wicked regime present a false image of itself to the world.

In the year or so after directing the assassination of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi, Saudi Arabia has hosted high profile sporting events that include boxing, Formula 1 and wrestling as a way of rehabilitating its global image.

The Saudi International is just the next example of what some are calling “sportswashing”, where morals go out the window in the chase for money.

The European Tour will also tell us they are merely looking to grow the game and expand into new territories but the truth is far, far less palatable than that. Shame on them

20 Golf World February 2020 | golfworldtop100.com

The news that the BBC will show no live golf this year, with the loss of its Masters coverage, is hardly unexpected but no less depressing for that. First the Open, now the Masters and for the first time since 1955 the BBC will show not a moment of live golf. Clearly money talks in the modern world and Sky Sports always held all of the aces in negotiating to show both of those majors. But if those in charge of the game were serious about trying to find a way to grow the game, they would find ways to ensure live golf remained on terrestrial television in some way, shape or form. What message does it send?

M Burdett, Email

Your view could win you a 2019 Motocaddy Pro-Series cart bag!

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I understand we live in an age of fake news, but I hoped golf would be immune to such nonsense. Reading the headlines made by Brooks Koepka in discussing Rory as a rival, however, it seems I was wrong.

Addressing the hyped-up ‘rivalry’ between himself and Rory, Koepka said: “I’ve been out here for, what, five years. Rory hasn’t won a major since I’ve been on the PGA Tour.”

Incredibly, this statement of fact made hysterical headlines the world over, despite it being entirely true.

Don’t get me wrong, I would love to see Rory push Koepka hard this year and add to his majors tally, but talk is very cheap and we’ve been here before. Until Rory does something he hasn’t done in almost six years – win one of the big four titles – we should all calm down and stop hyping things up.

Barry Forde, Email

THE COMEBACK KID

Your feature on Danny Willett in the January issue – ‘The Comeback Kid’ – was an enlightening read. I must admit I had previously taken a somewhat irrational dislike to Mr Willett, who I have always found to be a little bit too ‘chippy’ for my tastes. It turns out I was wrong.

Your interview painted Willett in a different light and I’m happy to admit I was misjudged him. He talked candidly about his struggles after Augusta, struggles that at times were caused by the actions of others rather than through any fault of his own. Throughout it all he has retained a sense of perspective and a sense of humour – or gallows humour as your writer put it.

I admire him more having seen his slow and painful recovery, although his language leaves a lot to be desired!

Chris Andrews, Exeter

DOUBLE STANDARDS

Your round up of 2019’s biggest villains piece served to remind us what a prize pillock Sergio Garcia was in the year just gone.

In slamming his dr the ground, destroyin bunkers and making rules up as he went, G dragged his and the game’s reputation through the gutter.

That he escaped largely unpunished reflects very badly on the game. With so many people watching, many of them impressionable young fans, the authorities had a duty to punish him appropriately. Instead, what an example they have set by allowing him to act like a spoiled child and get away with it.

The fact you mentioned Sergio’s antics alongside the case of Bio Kim only highlighted the double standards at play in the game. Here we have a player suspended from his tour for 12 months for ‘flipping the bird’ at a fan whose phone had gone off during the downswing – and not for the first time.

No question Kim was wrong to react as he did, but his punishment was on the very heavy side of heavyhanded. If he has any sense, he should get himself onto the European Tour as soon as possible, because clearly anything goes on that circuit.

Q&AS Did Patrick Reed deliberately prove his lie in the bunker at the Hero World Challenge?

NO: INNOCENT MISTAKE 14%

INNOCENT ORGUILTY?

Jakki Moxon, Email

BLOWN AWAY

I have just finished reading your recent ranking of courses in Wales and all I can say is go and play Holyhead.

It blows most of the courses ranked above it out of the water.

The greens alone are the very, very best. And frankly, there’s nothing more to be said.

Gaz, Email

MR PLAYER, NO

YES, HE’S A CHEAT 86%

Given Saudi Arabia’s human rights record, would you be willing to play in the Saudi International?

YES: MONEY TALKS 42%

MONEY MATTERS

Terry Efford, Guildford

NO: I’VE A MORAL COMPASS 58%

A GLORIOUS GAME

I loved The Lost Art of Putting, by Karl Morris, so I snapped up a release-day copy of the sequel, The Lost Art of Playing Golf – and how pleased I am that I did!

How it resonates with me, right from the very first chapter, where he talks about gratitude. It is so true; the days when I savour the sheer pleasure of my round are the days when I play best. Some days I simply lap up the beauty of my surroundings and the joy of being alive, out there in the fresh air when others are at work, unhappy or unwell.

On those days am truly grateful for the privilege of being able to play golf, meeting delightful people of all ages and from all walks of life.

Above all, I am grateful that I, a selfproclaimed hater of all sports, took up golf in my mid-sixties and

discovered a whole new world of opportunity. What other sport allows you, as a newbie, to compete happily with players of all abilities?

Thank you, Karl Morris, for reminding me of how truly fortunate we golfers are.

2020 is the year of Brooks versus Rory. Who do you expect to come out on top?

BROOKS 28%

HEAD TOHEAD

Listening to Gary Player recently, I was surprised to hear him say that the ball should be reined in 50 yards for the professionals but that the amateur should retain the existing ball! No, no, no Mr Player.

As distance has increased in the amateur game, so have winning scores. Stableford winning scores nowadays are obscene, with six under par and more being common! To my mind, the same rules should exist for both parties.

Mr Player also stated that amateurs should use any putting method they wish, especially the broomhandle. To this I have to also disagree. In cricket, if you cannot face fast bowling, you cannot simply widen your bat! It’s just not cricket – and neither is the broomhandle putter golf!

I have been a club member for 71 years, most as a single-figure handicapper, and as we matured we endeavoured to match our best club players. Now, with the ‘false handicap system’, to assist the game to grow, the new handicap system encourages cheating, and is destroying the game at club level.

A way forward would be to introduce a Gold, Silver and Bronze division system, as per the ladies.

Golf prowess is being weakened!

And to watch Langer and Scott putt is appalling!

Terrie E Gibbons, Email

RORY 72%

Golf World reserves the right to edit all letters submitted to Dialogue for style and length purposes.

golfworldtop100.com | February 2020 Golf World 21

MAJOR CHAMPION

JUSTIN ROSE

Wentworth has found its feet and character again after all the changes

I

f I had to rate my year on the golf course in 2019, I’d probably give myself a B-. A season can never be too bad when you win a tournament, but I felt I lost a bit of early momentum and rhythm by taking February off. As a result, my game just wasn’t where I wanted it to be coming out of that.

In fairness, I had a lot going on at the end of 2018 with the chase for the World No.1 position, which was always on my mind, so I felt I needed the rest in February ahead of hectic new spring and summer schedule. But I felt like I was fixing my game on the road each week and I just found it hard to get my confidence going. The season seemed to pass so quickly that I didn’t really feel like I built in my practice times and training camps with my team, which I’m normally really good at.

I was really comfortable with all of my new Honma equipment. When I’m on the range and look at my data, my equipment is now fantastic from top to bottom. From that perspective, I’m very comfortable and happy. I’m not second guessing anything. I’ve also really enjoyed the fact that there’s some flexibility in the equipment deal in terms of putters and wedges. Overall, I putted well and there are definitely aspects of my game that improved last year. But when I looked at my swing on video there were a couple of bad habits that I found hard to break. My backswing got a little upright and cupped, so I started to get a bit of a twoway miss going.

Although things didn’t go as perfectly as I’d have liked, I competed really hard and made the most of my game in many situations. I competed well at the US Open and had a chance to win without playing my best stuff and I was out in the second to last group in the final round of The Open.

On a more positive note, Torrey Pines is a great place to win and it was amazing to be back at Wentworth for the BMW PGA Championship in September. The new timing for the event is fantastic. You always have a great chance of good weather in mid-September. But even sweater weather is still great golfing conditions. The event also comes after a full growing season and the course was in perfect condition.

I think Wentworth has really found its feet and its character again after all the changes through the years.

We’ve got a huge year coming up for golf in 2020 – and I turn 40 as well. Hopefully I can derive some inspiration from the great players who’ve played well in their 40s.

There’s so much to look forward to and the Olympics is a big event on my radar. Rio in 2016 was incredible and it’s

22 Golf World February 2020 | golfworldtop100.com

an experience that’s just kept on giving for me. Playing in Tokyo and defending my gold medal is going to be a huge thrill and something that I’ll be very fired up for.

Of course, the major season starts at the Masters in April. That’s always a huge highlight and it’s a tournament I’ve been very close to winning in the past. Then it’s the USPGA at TPC Harding Park, the US Open at Winged Foot and The Open at Royal St George’s. Then off the back of the Olympics we’ve got the FedEx Cup and the Ryder Cup, so it’s a year where so many big events come thick and fast. From April through September, I’m really just going to be rolling with it as best I can – there won’t be many chances to take time off. It’s going to be about keeping my game sharp and trying to hit as many high points as possible in those big tournaments.

I learnt a lot from how I approached the new schedule and I’ll definitely put some time and attention into the training side of the game, as well as the competing side, this year. Some of the shifts I want to make are built around how I approach my weeks on tour. I really want to focus on just being there to compete and save the harder working for when I’m not at tournaments. I’ve structured a practice plan for my weeks off at home and I’m going to use my coaches a little differently, too. I felt the hours I was putting into my days out on tour were too long. You really want to be mentally fresh to give it your best on a Sunday, so I’m going to change my workload and focus more on working with my team away from tournaments. Happy New Year to everybody and I hope you have a great golfing year in 2020.

Justin Rose is a US Open champion and Olympic Gold medallist who has played on the European and PGA Tours for 20 years.

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STRAIGHT TALKING

JOHN HUGGAN

Onceyou start notgoing to events citingmoral outrage, wheredoes it end?

I

t’s time to talk politics. Stay calm. Politics and golf, actually. It has forever been a potent and volatile mix, one that is unfortunately both inevitable and inherent, especially when the professional game is our focus. In that arena, players and administrators are more and more having to ponder the direction of their moral compasses.

Not that too many seem to be in any doubt.

Not, say, when it comes to competing in Saudi Arabia, a nation where, according to Amnesty International, “torture and other ill-treatment of detainees remains common.”

Indeed, just over three months after Saudi Arabian journalist Jamal Khashoggi was extrajudicially executed inside the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul, the European Tour was in the Middle East state for the Saudi International. No doubt highly compensated, four of the then world’s top-five players – Justin Rose, Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson and Bryson DeChambeau – were in the field.

At the time, European Tour executive director Keith Pelley was unrepentant. Which was not surprising. The Old World circuit has been holding events in the oil-rich Middle East since 1989 and now has as many as six across the region. As was ever the case, money talks long and loudly in professional sport.

“Our main focus is the safety and security of our players and staff,” Pelley said. “Like many global companies who operate in the region, we monitored the situation. Having looked at that – and having done our due diligence in terms of safety and security – we’re moving forward and looking forward to this new chapter on the European Tour.”

That view hasn’t changed. During a sit-down with some journalists during the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai, Pelley was impishly asked if Sergio Garcia (who was summarily and correctly disqualified from the 2019 Saudi International after damaging a series of greens in a fit of temper) was back for the 2020 event as “a punishment.”

Silence was the response from the 54-year old Canadian.

“Next question,” said the tour’s head of media.

Okay, who am I to talk? I write to you as a journalist who has many times covered tournaments in countries like China, Turkey and the aforementioned United Arab Emirates. None of those nations has an unblemished record in the area of human rights. Far from it. But, over and over, I have turned a Nelsonian eye to those abuses, jumped on a

24 Golf World February 2020 | golfworldtop100.com

plane, spent a week or so in a nice hotel and written about an inconsequential sport. (Although I do draw the line at Saudi Arabia. Not going there. Not ever.)

As a result, I am at best ambivalent when analysing my own decision-making. To be honest, I have no idea what would be the 100 per cent “right” thing to do. On one hand, I have bills to pay and mouths to feed. On the other, I am appalled by so much of what I read about some of the places I have been.

I’ve heard both sides of the argument, of course. Once you start down the road of not going to events citing moral outrage, where does it end? If you take things to somewhere not even too close to the nth degree, a case can currently be made for not visiting the United States. In Washington DC – “the nation’s capital” – only the really interesting murders make it into the newspapers, so cheap has human life apparently become.

On the other hand, there are those who tell me that the darker sides of anywhere are usually exaggerated. Take Portrush. Had The Open gone to Northern Ireland two decades ago at the height of The Troubles, would the event have been played unmolested? I tend to think it would, given golf’s ability to cross divides.

So, going forward, what should I do? Continue to wallow in my ignorance of what is going on wherever my job takes me? Or make a principled stand at last? Over to you. Any and all advice welcome.

John Huggan follows the PGA and European Tours. He is the author of seven books and has written for Golf World since 1992.

NEW YEAR, NEW YOU

With such a large selection of magazine subscriptions and prices from just £1, why not try something new in 2020? There’s no excuse!

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9 ways to hit it closer Take your ball-striking to the next level with the World No.10

If you are looking for a player from whom to learn how to hit good approach shots, Tommy Fleetwood is your man. In the past two seasons, he has been ranked 12th and 18th respectively on the European Tour in the Greens In Regulation performance category. That’s a lot of very, very good irons shots – enough to see him average 13.3 greens per round across two long campaigns.

Here, he reveals the secrets to his incredibly consistent ball-striking.

ruction ★ bunker play ★ swing basics ★ driving ★ course management ★ tHe arcHive ★ mental game ★ swing study ★ putting

tommy fleetwood

tour in

instruction from the game’s top players and coaches

tour instruction ★ bunker play ★ swing basics ★ driving ★ course management ★ tHe arcHive

1

Everyone is trying to hit it further off the tee, but in my world, with a choice of 280 yards in the fairway or 300 yards in the rough, I’d take the former.

Why don’t amateurs think the same?

To hit more greens, make more effort to find the fairway first. That’s your first step to better irons shots.

2

I don’t think too much about anything at address – except alignment. I struggle with that, whether being too open or too shut. So I have to keep an eye on it. I try to get my path as square as I can because I can get ‘in to out’, with too much right-to-left shape. Everyone should always be trying to stay within the parameters of where they play their best. I set up as neutral as possible and try to get my divots as straight as possible. Then I know I’m playing OK.

3

Divots tell you pretty much everything, they always have done. Every shot I take on the course I always have a look at my divot to make sure it’s just a good shot. It can be too deep and you’re too steep, or if you haven’t made a divot you haven’t squeezed the ball out properly. If it’s going left, you’ve come over the top, if it’s going right you’ve come inside too much. In this age of Trackman, I still don’t think you can beat looking at your divot and your ball flight.

4

I grip down the club a little bit, but if a ball is above my feet, I grip down further. I like to feel the weight on my heels more than usual, too. You feel as if the ball is going to go left from this lie but you often hold off it and end up hitting it right. If the ball is below my feet, I squat a little bit more at address.

Again, you feel as if the ball will go right but you often flip your wrists and end up hitting it left. That’s what I always do! Don’t compensate too much.

5

The ball on a downward slope is a difficult one for most people… but it actually helps my swing because I can’t get ‘in to out’ as much

28 Golf World February 2020 | golfworldtop100.com

‘Iliketofeel thatmyright palmfaces downthrough impact’ from that sort of lie. I’ll have a little more weight on my left side with a wider stance to keep myself grounded.

However, the key thing is you have to trust that the ball will get in the air.

Just focus on taking the ball first.

6

The ball on an upslope looks inviting. It’s a great natural launching pad… but it always goes left when I hit it – I am still working that lie out!

As a rule, you need to take half a club more as the ball will fly higher. This is especially true into the wind when it is even more worthwhile taking that extra half club and hitting it a little more softly. An extra club is actually a good tactic in any scenario. A smoother strike nearly always reaps rewards.

7

I like to feel my right palm facing down through impact. It means my right arm covers my left arm through the hitting zone. That helps to squeeze it out properly. If the right hand gets underneath, it is going to go right or you have to manipulate it and end up flipping it left. With the right hand on top, you can play from there.

8

I struggle with spinning my lower half too much… I think I have the fastest legs in the world! So I have to

★ mental game ★ swing study ★ putting

LEARN

Russell Knox

two-step sand play

use my two tips to splash it close more often

From my perspective, bunker play probably gets less attention from amateur golfers than any other area of the game. It should therefore come as no surprise to find that it’s very often the area they find the most difficult. The ironic thing is that splashing competently out of the sand is really quite simple if you know what to do.

I know that sounds a touch flippant, but the margins for error in a bunker are actually much greater than with a regular chip or flop shot since you don’t have to be extremely precise with your entry point into the sand. The key thing is to take that important first step and get yourself into the practice bunker. If you can make that commitment, I’ve no doubt that within a short space of time you’ll be hitting greenside splash recoveries a lot more confidently.

My advice is to get comfortable with the basic technique to begin with so you can get the ball out every time. Once you have that mastered, you can then learn to hit a wider range of shots. Follow the above pointers and the two key tips below and bunker play will soon be one of your strengths and not a weakness.

MaKe a big swing If you open the face properly and have the confidence to accelerate into the sand a couple of inches before the ball, it’s actually not that hard to get out of bunkers. Get the ball position forward to give yourself room to hit the sand first and release the club.

work on slowing it down. From the top of the backswing, I like to press into my left foot a little bit and then I can turn through the shot. But be careful you don’t overdo it as I can sometimes; I spin a bit too quickly now and again and then I have nothing to hit against.

9

People often advise a three-quarter swing for control. To be honest, I am not a big fan of that tactic, because I struggle (surprisingly as I grew up playing Southport’s links) with keeping the ball down. I can keep it down, of course, but I still have to hit it hard to do so. But for amateurs it can be a great tactic in the wind. To hit those controlled shots, generally you should be gripping down a little, play the ball a touch further back in the stance and swing more smoothly.

alteR the spin and Release I like having my feet square to the target but my body a little open. If you want to generate lots of backspin, take a big swing and a little less sand. If you want the ball to run more, abbreviate the finish, swing slower to create less speed and take a little more sand.

golfworldtop100.com | February 2020 Golf World 29

TOUR INSTRUCTION ★ BUNKER PLAY ★ SWING BASICS ★ DRIVING ★ COURSE MANAGEMENT ★ THE ARCHIVE

LEE WESTWOOD

GET READY FOR BETTER IRON PLAY You’ve heard this from me more than once over the years, but I’ll say it again. You can’t hit solid golf shots without proper fundamentals. Your posture, ball position and alignment determine your swing shape, your swing path and the direction in which the ball travels, so it’s important to get it right! Here are five key things I focus on to keep my iron game on track.

CREATE A SOLID BASE Ball position is key and it needs consistency. Flex your knees so they are over the laces of your shoes with your weight towards the toes. I like a slightly closed stance because it’s something I’ve always done. I just like to have my right foot drawn back very slightly.

CHECK THE LIE The toe of the club should be just off the ground.

This is why fitting is so vital. The clubs should fit you. If they don’t you’ll always be making compensations.

GET THE HANG OF IT Your hands and club should hang vertically underneath your shoulders because they are always going to want to return to this point. Your hands should be neither too near your thighs nor held away from the legs.

UNDERSTAND YOUR WRIST ACTION How the wrists behave in the swing can be confusing since the movement actually takes place while the club is moving. I find it best to explain and demonstrate when the club is static. Take your address position and be aware that the wrists actually work in an up-and-down chopping motion. Lift the club up as I have done here and simply move it into the takeaway position with your upper body.

Your hands now have set the club correctly in the takeaway.

30 Golf World February 2020 | golfworldtop100.com

GROOVE THE TAKEAWAY I always like to see the club parallel to the target line with the clubhead in this position.

Many golfers open or close the face in the takeaway. A closed clubface means it’s effectively looking directly at the ball for longer, while fanning means the club face is too open. The exercise (left) will help.

★ MENTAL GAME ★ SWING STUDY ★ PUTTING

LEARN

STRATEGY HOW TO BEAT A TOUGH AND STRATEGIC PAR-4 The 350-yard 3rd at Augusta is a great strategic par-4. What makes it so difficult is the shape of the green and the wind that circulates around the trees. You can hit almost the perfect shot onto the front edge and see it roll all the way down. It’s a hole where you have to manage a ‘miss’.

STEP 1 Part of knowing where

to ‘miss’ is understanding what type of recovery shot you want to play. Here, you rarely have the option of a regular chip. I like to bump a 5-wood up the hill to the left pin or a little lofted shot from back left to a right pin.

STEP 2 If you can, always try to find out in advance where the pin is located. You can then use that information to help you target the appropriate part of the fairway with your tee shot.

STEP 3 The smart guys nearly

FIVE-MINUTE LESSON TONY FINAU The 27-year-old US Ryder Cupper averages over 300 yards off the tee and is currently one of the world’s 10 longest drivers. We quizzed him about his technique.

always lay up off the tee to leave a full wedge in. You can bomb a drive and maybe leave yourself an eagle putt, but I’ve seen plenty of players walk off with bogey or worse. The risk is only worth taking if you can almost guarantee a birdie. Otherwise, a stress-free par is a much better option.

G

Pl

i

i

ti

GW How do you distribute your weight at address and finish for maximum distance?

I start on the balls of my feet. I’m not thinking about putting the weight on the right foot and then transfer to the left. I get in an athletic position and I make a solid turn. To be honest, I don’t really know what per cent of my weight is going where, but I know that through the ball it’s definitely 80 to 90 per cent off my left foot, and holding a nice finish off my left. It takes strength and the variables of timing with your body but I know I hit the ball solid.

3

GW How important is it to set the club early?

Setting the club early is super-important for someone like me because I have really long arms. Sometimes I get stuck setting the club on the downswing and that’s one of my things that I’ve been working on. But you have to make sure you’re loaded at the top for you to make an aggressive move at the ball.

2

GW Do you have a specific swing trigger?

Same thing as my putting; it’s my forward press right before I take the club back. I press the club, it’s very subtle but I feel it, and as soon as I feel it then the club has got to go back and then it fires through. It keeps my big drives simple, especially under the gun.

1

GW What role does technology play in your driving?

It’s a huge advantage. The numbers speak for themselves. We’re hitting it 30-40 yards further on average than the guys just 20 years ago. The technology did that.

golfworldtop100.com | February 2020 Golf World 31

tour instruction ★ bunker play ★ swing basics ★ driving ★ course management ★ tHe arcHive

FROM OUR ARCHIVE

Jack nicklaus 1982 “At the top, I want the shaft pointing parallel to my target. If it aims left or right, the downswing will deliver the club across the target line.”

ViJay singh 1999 “When I won the PGA, I focused on being really aggressive through the ball. I felt bad shots would come from not releasing properly.”

learn from a legend the secret behind the faldo fade If you release your forearms freely through impact – think Tiger Woods in his prime – you are obliged to maintain your spine angle, for if you stand up through impact the ball will start left, stay left and continue left! Powerful draw spin comes from a consistent spine angle. Players such as Lee Trevino and Nick Faldo employ what is essentially a ‘fade mechanism’ by keeping their hands and the clubshaft low through the ball. However, a small side-effect of this method is that the player is forced to stand up through impact and finish with the spine in a more upright position.

It is no coincidence that both Faldo and Trevino, who could be labelled supremely accurate ball-strikers, are far from being long or powerful hitters quite simply because suppressing forearm rotation through the ball reduces power and distance.

– Luther Blacklock is a PGA Master Professional. www.explanar.com.

32 Golf World February 2020 | golfworldtop100.com

miguel angel Jimenez 2007 “The secret to good putting? Just make sure you keep the putter face low to the ground.

Rhythm is the magic ingredient.”

★ mental game ★ swing study ★ putting

LEARN

Take control with mantras take a leaf out of the tour pro psychology book and use positive reinforcement to boost your confidence

n

euroscientists estimate that we have around 50,000 thoughts a day. That means for the four hours you are out playing golf, your inner caddie will have talked to you over 10,000 times. This is helpful when you play well but when you don’t, it can feel like someone is following you around ripping your game to shreds. This is not only unhelpful, it can make you feel out of control, angry and frustrated. With these thoughts having such a powerful influence on behaviour, motivation and focus, learning how to deal with them can make a huge difference to your performance.

One of the ways the pros do this is by developing their positive self-talk. Specifically, they use mantras – short phrases that remind them of the practice they’ve put in or the skills they’ve mastered. Using a mantra can be like receiving verbal persuasion from a caddie or coach who is standing alongside you as you compete – either focusing on your technique or helping you stay motivated.

The persuasion these mantras offer can boost your confidence so you play to win rather than trying not to lose. They are helpful in the tough moments as they can help you evaluate situations more positively and enhance your ability to cope with the pain or pressure that comes when you push yourself mentally or physically.

A study on how young elite Irish golfers coped under pressure in international tournaments found these techniques were key within their coping strategies. Their positive self-talk helped them to regain a sense of control. The studies on these types of self-talk show they are particularly effective when competing in tricky environments such as extreme heat.

There are a number of suggestions as to why mantras work. A persuasive view is that when we are under pressure we are held back by lapses in motivation and the effort we feel we are putting in. Having our inner caddie talk to us so positively decreases our perception of effort (how hard, heavy, or strenuous the movements are feeling) and can increase our potential motivation to master the moves. When you remind yourself of your motivation, the effort feels easier and the same workload suddenly feels less strenuous so we perform better.

So follow our guide to writing your own mantras, test them until you find one which fits and regularly assess in your post-round analysis if it is working. Once your reflections show it is having a positive impact at least 50% of the time, you can feel confident you are starting to get a great handle on your inner caddie.

Dr Josephine Perry is a sport psychologist at Performance in Mind. performanceinmind.co.uk

Make your mantras work 1

Identify Identify when you have the tricky moments in a round. Which areas would benefit most from positive head chatter?

2

Notice Notice what self-talk you are already using in your head at those moments. You can jot down thoughts once you come off the course or even use the voice recorder on your phone to capture what you think in these key moments.

3

Consider Consider what would help. Would it be instructional; to improve your stance, routine, breathing or skill, or motivational; to psych you up, stay focused on your mental strategy, be reminded of your purpose or to reduce stress.

4

Think Think of all the different phrases you could use.

Try to hone each one down to about three or four words which would be easy to remember.

5

Ensure Ensure the phrases are positive. Rather than reminding us not to do something (don’t get distracted) we need to focus on what we can do (hinge and turn).

6

Get emotional If you go for a motivational mantra it should make you slightly emotional. If it gives you a bit of a lump in your throat thinking it, then you’ve found the right one.

7

Experiment Try your different mantras on the course until you settle on the one that feels right for you.

8

Practise Once you have found your mantra practise using it until it feels natural and stays front of mind.

golfworldtop100.com | February 2020 Golf World 33

TOUR INSTRUCTION ★ BUNKER PLAY ★ SWING BASICS ★ DRIVING ★ COURSE MANAGEMENT ★ THE ARCHIVE

SWING STUDY: JON RAHM

WHY THE SPANIARD’S TECHNIQUE IS A LOT MORE ORTHODOX THAN IT LOOKS It’s fair to say that John Rahm’s golf swing isn’t the most graceful on Tour. But Rahm’s consistency throughout the season, not only in finishes but in all the key performance categories, has been absolutely relentless. A look in slow motion reveals Rahm’s swing to be remarkably orthodox with the exception of his trademark ‘bowed’ left wrist at the top – an idiosyncrasy that has become

commonplace in recent years as the world’s top players have chased a combination of huge power with a more controllable left-to-right ball flight. Rahm’s sturdy build enables him to create a very solid foundation, yet despite that sturdy base he is remarkably flexible through impact, firing his lower body and hips aggressively to hammer that ball towards the target.

ADDRESS

HALFWAY BACK

AT THE TOP

HALFWAY DOWN

Rahm is hitting a fairway wood here and his set-up is perfect. He is tilting gently from his hips and his arms hang naturally. There’s nothing excessively fancy or exaggerated here, just a very solid orthodox set-up.

The poster shot for the modern swing. Rahm’s left arm is parallel to the ground but his right forearm is slightly higher than his left. In previous years, the left arm would be deeper and the right elbow lower.

From orthodoxy to unorthodoxy in the blink of an eye. Rahm’s bowed left wrist is not symptomatic of an irregular backswing but the extremely powerful lower body rotation that is to come in the downswing.

Rahm’s lower body action is ferocious. Only halfway into his downswing, his hips have already cleared. He has all the room in the world to release the club. The shaft bisecting the right forearm shows he’s bang on plane.

34 Golf World February 2020 | golfworldtop100.com

★ MENTAL GAME ★ SWING STUDY ★ PUTTING

LEARN

HOT

STATS AT A GLANCE BIRDIE AVG: 4.35 (6th) STROKE AVG: 69.62 (6th)

COLD

DRIVING DIST: 305.6 (20th) GREENS IN REG%: 69.04 (29th) SAND SAVES%: 52.8 (69th) WORLD RANKING: 3rd (146th)

Putting

PURE STRIKE ROLLS

HIT THAT SWEETSPOT TO CONTROL LINE AND SPEED

Much is made of the importance of hitting the sweetspot with your driver and irons, but it’s just as important for putting. And for two reasons. First, speed and distance control are the secrets to avoiding those frustrating three-putts from medium-to-long range. You can’t roll the ball dead weight from different distances if your control of speed is inconsistent from putt to putt. You just can’t achieve that consistency if your strike pattern is out of the centre of the face on one strike then near the heel or toe the next. Second, those putts hit towards the toe or heel of the face will not only come up short, they’ll also veer off line because the putter face will twist either open or closed at impact. Focus on these three pointers to hit the ball solidly every time.

1 Keep your head still If your head moves, the whole of your upper body will move with it and knock everything out of sync. It will make delivering the putter head back to the ball along the same path each time extremely difficult to achieve.

2 Keep your stroke compact The longer your stroke, the more chance the putter head has to stray off line. The good news here is that most people take the putter too far back and then decelerate into impact. Shortening your stroke will likely help you develop a little more speed and get the ball to the hole more frequently.

3 Stay down until the ball is on its way Especially important on shorter putts,

looking up too early to see if you’ve holed out or not will knock your shoulders off line and very often cause you to drag putts left. It requires a little discipline to stay down but the results are worth it. And if you can’t resist peeking early to see where the ball has gone, make sure you swivel your head to do so, instead of lifting it.

– Chris Jenkins is an England Golf coach. www.chrisjenkinsgolf.com

PLAYING TIP

HIT THE DIMPLE FOR PURE STRIKES

To hone your strike, colour in one dimple on a golf ball. Align the putter face with that dimple and focus purely on striking the coloured dot on the ball. It’s great for your concentration, too.

IMPACT And, wow, look how open Rahm’s hips are here, the belt buckle literally facing the target.

Here’s the reason for the bowed left wrist – to hold the face square through impact. If he released the club normally, the ball is flying right every time.

golfworldtop100.com | February 2020 Golf World 35

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QUESTIONS FOR

THE NEW YEAR BRINGS NEW QUESTIONS THAT WILL SHAPE THE GAME IN THE COMING 12 MONTHS. HERE WE PRESENT 20 KEY QUESTIONS FOR 2020.

WO R D S : K I T A L E X A N D E R , N I C K H A R P E R , J O H N H U G G A N R O B M CG A R R & N I C K W R I G H T

It’s been a long, long time since we’ve had a decent rivalry in golf. Tiger Woods’ dominance of the sport deprived us of all that fun. You have to go all the way back to Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson to find an evenly-matched rivalry. Greg Norman and Nick Faldo’s ‘spicy’ relationship gripped us but their headto-head encounters rarely ended well for the Australian. Woods and Mickelson had potential but Tiger had eight majors in the ba before Lefty had even got off Big Easy found it hard to get head long enough to become an a minor irritant to the America Koepka and McIlroy, howeve boxes. Both players have won fo of a similar age. McIlroy is 30, K are refreshingly open and hon some nice contrasts, too. Mc childhood phenom while Koep bloomer who played satellite ci earning his PGA Tour card. R worldwide while Koepka’s relat fans and media has been a slow McIlroy’s resumé may be de PGA Tour wins to Koepka’s s Irishman’s fourth major, the 20 came before Koepka even joined Koepkas was quick to remind out here for five years. Rory h major since I’ve been on the PGA don’t view it as a rivalry,” he rec It was the first time Koepka publicly since he was defeated

by McIlroy down the stretch Cup in Atlanta. “I wanted s Memphis,” McIlroy said afterw referring to their head-to-head Jude Invitational a few weeks ea shot 65 in the final round to w the year while McIlroy stumble followed up by telling the me would have to “go through m wanted to retain his World No But a great rivalry is founded than tit-for-tat soundbites. W to see McIlroy and Koepka due it out in majors in the years t come. Until then, and until McIlroy wins a few more, the verbal barbs mean nothing.

He needs just one more win to usurp Sam Snead as the PGA Tour’s most successful golfer of all-time and four more majors to end the Tiger vs. Jack debate once and for all, so 2020 is an exciting year for Eldrick T. Woods. But it’s also one that needs to be very carefully managed.

A series of back surgeries and rehabilitative work have, against all odds, enabled Tiger to win again, but the fact remains that he’s a 44-year-old who has undergone multiple back surgeries. As such, he played just 13 events in 2019, around half as many as his peers, and had to withdraw from the Northern Trust in August due to injury. He played 19 events in 2018 and said he was “mentally, physically and emotionally exhausted” by the time he got to the Ryder Cup. We wouldn’t be surprised to see him play a schedule of 16-18 events in 2020, with a focus on being rested but match ready for the majors, while playing as many FedEx Cup points rich WGC events as possible.

Coming off December’s Hero World Challenge and player-captain duties at the Presidents Cup, expect Tiger to have a quiet start to 2020 as he recuperates ahead of the meat of the season and four majors in the space of three months.

He’s likely to play the Farmers Insurance Open in January, and has already committed to February’s Genesis Invitational – hardly a big surprise, given he’s the host. He’ll probably play the WGC-Mexico, also in February, and will play The Players in mid-March.

He’ll likely follow that with the WGC-Dell Match Play and then take two weeks off to get ready for his Masters defence. There are four PGA Tour events between each major; expect Tiger to play one of them to stay match sharp. Twice in 2019 he had a complete rest between majors. Twice it resulted in missed cuts.

He also wants to win one of the few things he hasn’t – an Olympic medal – before it’s too late: “Making the Olympic team is a big goal,” he said. “I don’t see myself having too many more opportunities. At the next Olympic Games, I’ll be a 48-year-old. To be one of the top Americans at that age is going to be tough.

He’ll then reach the FedEx Cup Playoffs hoping he has enough points on the board and juice in the tank to mount a challenge.

40 Golf World February 2020 | golfworldtop100.com

Predicting where Tiger might win next on tour is tricky as his schedule remains uncertain, but he’s won the Arnold Palmer Invitational, the WGC Invitational and the Farmers Insurance Open so often they pretty much engrave his name on the trophy as soon as he arrives. In terms of adding to his 15 majors, the Masters and the Open again remain Tiger’s best hope. Both Augusta National and Royal St George’s will

MA STE R S

A U G U S TA N AT I O N A L , 9 - 1 2 A P R I L

DUSTIN JOHNSON He’s never won the Masters and his only major victory will be nearly four years past by the time this year’s majors get underway, but no one is as consistent around Augusta as the former world number one.

He’s finished in the top-10 in each of his last four appearances – a feat no one else can match – and was only a shot behind Tiger last year.

They say it takes a while to really get to grips with Augusta’s subtle quirks this is DJ’s 10th Masters and will be his time to shine in green.

PGA C HAM PIO N S H I P

T P C H A R D I N G PA R K , 1 4 - 1 7 M AY

RORY MCILROY He’d never played Harding Park before the 2015 WGC-Match Play but that didn’t stop Rory blitzing his way to victory. “It suited my eye,” he said. The PGA Championship does too – it’s the only major he’s won more than once and he’s missed just one cut in 11 events. The pressure of the Masters and a possible career grand slam may again prove too much, but 2019’s most consistent performer could well bounce back in the best possible way in his very next major appearance.

U S O PE N

W I N G E D F O O T, 1 8 -2 1 J U N E

XANDER SCHAUFFELE

reward the man who can plot his way around the course, seeing the shot and execute under increasing pressure.

Even more so than Augusta, Woods relishes the challenge links golf throws up. “It allows you to be creative,” he’s said.

“Augusta used to be like that. The US Open is obviously not. And the PGA is similar to a US Open setup.” If he is to win big again, circle Georgia or Kent. But ‘if’ remains a very big word.

e’s only played three US Opens but has clocked up three top-six finishes already, including a T3 last year. Winged Foot demands elite ron play above all else – Marc Leishman won last time the US Open was here – and is something Schauffele has in spades. He’s shown e has the game to win a major, finishing runner-up at the 2019 Masters and The Open in 2018. With the experience from those near-misses nder his belt, he’s ready to go one better and break his major duck.

TH E O PE N

R OYA L S T G E O R G E ’ S , 1 6 - 1 9 J U LY

JON RAHM Rahm’s first four years on tour are the best we’ve seen from anyone since Tiger Woods. The only thing lacking is a major victory, although the powerful Spaniard has clocked up four top-10s and three top-5s in golf’s biggest events. It is surely a matter of when, not if, he breaks his major duck, and when he does, expect it to be at a links course, as that is where he tends to really excel. He finished T3 and T11 respectively at the US Open and The Open last year, and won the Irish Open in 2017 and 2019.

golfworldtop100.com | February 2020 Golf World 41

20 questions

Nine long years will have passed since Rory McIlroy plucked defeat from the jaws of victory at Augusta National, that final day implosion in April 2011 seeing the 21-year-old blow a four-shot lead to finish nowhere. He cried that night but he will have been consoled by the fact he had his career ahead of him and opportunity would come knocking again. Nine years later, Rory McIlroy is now 30 and the opportunities have knocked but gone unanswered: a 4th, a T7, a T5.

With the three other majors in the bag, the Masters is all that stands between McIlroy and the Grand Slam, golfing immortality. But the Masters has become a problem. The one that will not come.

At 30, Rory could feasibly have another 15 solid shots at the green jacket ahead of him – good odds for a man of his ability, with a game that appears perfectly suited to the challenges of Augusta National, with the booming right-to-left drives and towering irons. Alas, the scar tissue of 2011 runs deep and the law of diminishing returns comes into play. “I feel like I’m a good enough player,” said McIlroy after a T10 in 2016. “I feel like I’ve got everything I need to become a Masters

42 Golf World February 2020 | golfworldtop100.com

champion.” The problem is that the longer the wait, the harder it becomes. “I think with each and every year that passes that I don’t [win], it will become increasingly more difficult.”

Looking positively, Rory enters 2020 in the form of his life – his stats across the board showing a player firing on almost all cylinders. Even the short game that has often undermined his Augusta assaults is in good shape.

Psychologists talk of a need to focus on performance over outcome. “This helps them stay in the moment and just do what is required right then,” says sports psychologist Dr Josephine Perry.

“When their focus is on the result, their head has already left the course and they may make poor decisions and lose focus.”

Easy for some, perhaps, less so for Rory. “I am – ask anyone who knows me – a complete prick in the week leading up to Augusta,” he said in 2017.

“But they understand and know that. It’s stressful.”

It’s hardly now or never for a player of McIlroy’s undoubted ability, a man in the peak years of his life. But as a man at the peak of his powers, going into Augusta with a game in rude health, it’s impossible not to worry that if he doesn’t get it done this time, it won’t ever get an easier. Rory knows that, which might be the biggest problem of all.

JIN YOUNG KO Jin Young Ko recorded the season of her life in 2019, featuring 12 top 10 finishes, including four victories, half of which were majors. She finished the year with the second-lowest scoring average in LPGA history, having gone 114 holes bogey-free at one stage and ending the season with an insane GIR stat of 79 percent.

But like so many greats before her, she wasn’t happy. “My play today was not good,” she said after finishing only T11 in the CME Group Tour Championship in November. “I will work harder and more.” Chasing perfection is a futile pursuit, but Ko won’t come up short for lack of trying.

“This is not the end but only the beginning,” she vowed. “I will work even harder to become a better golfer.”

No player has been able to win back-to-back Rolex Player of the Year titles since Yani Tseng in 2011 – the prodigy who shone so bright and faded fast.

Jin Young Ko is the most overlooked and underrated world number one in history, but if she resists the urge to fix what clearly isn’t broken in her game, she could break that statistic and begin a period of dominance not seen since Lorena Ochoa a decade ago.

LYDIA KO Last year was a tale of two Kos, for while Jin Young was dominating in only her second season as a pro, her namesake Lydia continued her slow, painful and perplexing slide down the world rankings.

World number one as recently as 2016, Lydia Ko remains a cautionary tale against making too many changes to a winning formula. The knock-on effect of so often switching coaches and caddies – and of listening too often to her parents’ views – the South Korean-born Kiwi began 2019 ranked 14th, ended with no victories and only three top-10 finishes and ended it in 38th.

The big concern for Ko is that her accuracy and putting can no longer compensate for a lack of distance off the tee. A growing number now wonder if her slump may be terminal.

“Thank you to the haters for bringing out the strength in me, and pushing me to become the best I possibly can be,” she snapped back on Instagram.

It’s a cruel irony that the player who inspired a new generation of South Korean golfers to dominate the women’s game looks like being pushed out towards obscurity by them. Golf’s natural selection at work.

NELLY KORDA

MARIA FASSI

ANNE VAN DAM

Twenty-one-yearold American won two LPGA titles and one LET title in 2019. Expect a first major in 2020.

Highly rated, bighitting 22-year-old Mexican, turned pro May 2019 and tipped to dominate in the coming years.

Twenty-four-year-old Dutch star with the finest swing in golf and effortless distance. Her five LET wins will lead to greater success.

golfworldtop100.com | February 2020 Golf World 43

20 QUESTIONS

Ever since a 19-year-old Jordan Spieth won the 2013 John Deere Classic and started holing everything he looked at, one question lingered. What would happen if his super hot putter ever went cold? It didn’t take long to find out. In 2016, Spieth ranked 2nd in Strokes Gained: Putting on the PGA Tour. A year later, he ranked 123rd, having also tumbled to 181st in cleaning up the three-footers. He is now without a victory since the 2017 Open Championship.

But at least the solution was simple – rediscover the magic and climb back up the rankings, right? Not quite. In 2019, Spieth had his best ever putting season. Yet he is now 43rd in the world and was a bystander as the American Presidents Cup team boarded the plane to Melbourne for its biennial destruction of the Internationals.

So have the quirks of Spieth’s grip, bent left arm and chicken-wing finish finally caught up with him or is the problem psychological? The issue most likely has its roots in a late Sunday Masters afternoon in 2016, when Spieth lost a five-stroke lead down the stretch. The following summer, Spieth almost blew the Open at Birkdale in similarly destructive style from the front. And in 2018, he let a final round lead at Carnoustie slip. Spieth, quite simply, has lost the ability close. We’re betting it’s only a temporary affliction, though. Winning, after all, is in his DNA. He’ll find a way.

44 Golf World February 2020 | golfworldtop100.com

In short, nothing more than he’s already doing. Having raced to five European Tour titles in just 39 starts, 10 quicker than Seve, and having put himself in contention to win at a rate not seen since Tiger in his pomp, and having registered top 10 finishes in all four majors since turning pro, the question is when and not if the Spaniard will win his first major.

Blessed with the game, and a high ball flight reminiscent of the one that powered Jack Nicklaus to 18 major titles, the only question mark of Rahm has always been his hot temper. But even that seems to be under better control nowadays. Witness last November’s DP World Tour Championship and Rahm three putting on 15, something that might have made the younger, more combustible Rahm explode and unravel. Instead he counted to diez and reminded himself of a story Jack told about winning the Open at Muirfield in 1966. “He said he was on the 16th hole as well and told himself: If you finish 3, 4, 4, which there is birdie, par, par, you win the tournament,” smiled Rahm. “I told myself on 16 before I hit the tee shot, “If you finish 4, 3, 3, you win the golf tournament, no matter what anybody else does.” And that’s what I did.” He sealed that success with a birdie. Expect bigger and better from Rahm in 2020 – perhaps as early as the Masters. And when he lands the first, expect it to be the first of many.

Bryson DeChambeau entered last season with high expectations, having closed 2018 with a flurry of victories that suggested a major victory was within reach in 2019. Instead, he struggled to make the impact expected, falling from a year-end world ranking of 5th to 12th a year later. The off season has allowed him to take stock and look at how he can take his game to the next level. The answer, it seems, is for the young American to bulk up.

“I’m going to come back and look like a different person,” he announced late last year. “Bigger. Way stronger. I’m going to be hitting it a lot farther.” In this era of gym bunny super athletes that’s hardly a revolutionary approach.

But this being DeChambeau, there is science behind his reasoning. The goal of bulking up is to “make sure the neurological threshold is just as high as the mechanical threshold,” which, as we all know, means maximising muscle potential and the body’s range of motion. While hardly a slouch off the tee, DeChambeau’s drives last season ranked T34, his 302.5-yard average being 15 yards short of Cameron Champ at the very top and seven yards behind Brooks Koepka at T10. It’s hard not to assume that DeChambeau has been inspired by Koepka, the world number one and poster boy of power.

Copying the four-time major winner’s body shape makes scientific sense. If he can also copy Koepka’s pace of play, we’ll be right behind him.

The four constituent parts of golf’s Grand Slam are the best of the best, tournament-wise.

So winning one isn’t easy. But perhaps even more difficult than finishing first at the highest level is doing it again. The game’s long history is littered with one-off major winners. Right now, Shane Lowry falls into

that category. And, unfairly or not, only a few months on from his career-defining Open victory, that is the question for the genial Irishman: can he win another major?

The immediate signs are not that good.

Perhaps understandably in the wake of such an emotional triumph, Lowry failed to record

even one top-10 finish for the rest of 2019.

And don’t think he hasn’t noticed.

“I would have taken your hand off for what I’ve done this year – it’s been incredible,” he said just before his final event of the year, the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai.

“But I try not to dwell on that. The one thing

that’s gotten me since Portrush is when I’ve had a bad day people say to me, ‘You won the Open, it doesn’t matter.’

But it really does matter. Every day it matters. I want to be the best player I can be every day.” That’s more like it. Even in a world that is ever more scientific in nature, there remains room for

those of an artistic temperament. Lowry is one such man, a fact that always makes him – in the right week and on the right course – a potential contender in majors. Watch out for him at Winged Foot in the US Open. In 2016 at Oakmont, Lowry led into the final round but didn’t win. Call it unfinished business.

That kids grow up so fast these days is as true a cliché in golf as it is anywhere else.

Elite amateurs are ready to win the moment they turn professional. Most of them went through the American college system, so they’re essentially living life as a tour pro and competing at an extremely high level before they cash their first cheque. Last year, we saw Viktor Hovland, Matt Wolff, Bob MacIntyre and Kurt Kitayama explode into our consciousness, but who comes next in 2020?

1. SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER is the man to watch on the PGA Tour. The Texan played in the Walker Cup in 2017 and won twice last season as he topped the Korn Ferry Tour. He’s taken to the top tier like a duck to water, with three top-10s and no missed cuts in seven starts.

He’s an excellent ball-striker and he makes lots of birdies.

Don’t bet against him making a decent run at a Ryder Cup spot.

Norwegian KRISTOFFER VENTURA played alongside Hovland and Wolff at Oklahoma State and he’s already got two professional wins. Both those trophies have come on the secondtier Korn Ferry Tour, but they’ve proved he knows exactly how to get the job done when he’s in contention and he’ll no doubt be inspired by joining his former college teammates on the PGA Tour.

2.

1.

3.

4.

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5.

In Europe, CALUM HILL and 2. MATTHEW JORDAN look like very hot prospects stepping up from the Challenge Tour.

Hill won three times in two years on the second tier and Jordan played alongside MacIntyre in the 2017 Walker Cup and is especially dangerous on links courses. Danish twins RASMUS AND 3. NICOLAI HØJGAARD also have big futures.

Keep an eye on Asia, too.

Japan’s TAKUMI KANAYA is the World Amateur Number One, but he’s already proven his pro credentials by winning on the Japanese Tour in November and it won’t be long until he enters the pro ranks. JOO-HYUNG KIM is already a pro at just 17 years old, and he recorded three wins and nine top10s in 20 starts across Asia in 2019.

In the ladies’ game, 4. JENNIFER KUPCHO is the next Next Big Thing from America. She won the inaugural Augusta National Women’s Amateur and finished tied2nd in just her third major as a pro at the 2019 Evian.

Twenty-year-old German 5. ESTHER HENSELEIT finished runner-up four times in her rookie season on the LET and a first win in 2020 could open the floodgates.

20 questions

This is a watershed moment for women’s professional golf in Europe. The Ladies European Tour has struggled for a few years, with rarely more than 20 events per season since 2015, relatively small prize funds and players finding it difficult to attract even the most basic of sponsorships. Last November’s announcement of a partnership with the LPGA Tour has been greeted with enthusiasm by everyone involved. They’re right to be optimistic. The LPGA

will bring bigger sponsors and greater exposure to the LET. The 2020 schedule is set to offer more events and larger purses, plus a more specific pathway to the higher-calibre and more lucrative LPGA Tour – although it might feed into the second-tier Symetra Tour rather than straight to the top table. It was getting very difficult to make a living on the LET, but more players will now have the opportunity to pursue their dreams. For the LPGA, they get direct access to the players, fans, courses and sponsors in a significant golf market.

The full schedule is yet to be announced but one important event we know will be visiting the UK is the UL International Crown. The biennial team event always attracts a world class field and it will be at Centurion Club, Hertfordshire, on August 27th30th, the week after the Ricoh Women’s British Open at Royal Troon. This fortnight represents a huge opportunity for both Tours and the players to put down a marker for the future of women’s golf in Europe – expect them to make the most of it.

Two European-based tours (with similar geographical footprints) in search of growth and expansion that are already cooperating on a couple of events in 2020 might have been a more preferable solution to some people, but in reality, this was never a realistic proposition. A joint venture with the LPGA with the focus on the global future of the women’s game seems like a more logical coming together. The future of the LET is certainly a lot brighter than it was just a few months ago.

golfworldtop100.com | February 2020 Golf World 47

20 questions

The new schedule last year had mixed success.

There were positives like the BMW PGA Championship moving to September and more time between the run-ins on the PGA and European Tours. But there were also negatives as it felt like the ‘major season’ was over very quickly. For the players, adapting to the new schedule was tricky – and not everyone managed it successfully – Sergio and Phil Mickelson spring immediately to mind. That is

only going to get more difficult this year when you add an Olympics and the Ryder Cup into the mix.

The biggest lesson many players learned last year is that you need to peak early and stay hot. All the majors come between April and July, so you have to be ready heading into the Masters. If your game isn’t there by early April, it’ll be very hard to find it when there’s a major coming at you every four weeks.

If you’re playing well, the events between majors become about maintenance without burning out, and you can ride a wave like Brooks Koepka did.

This season, expect to see the elite guys playing a little more golf prior to Augusta, probably just one event between each major, and then putting the clubs down for a longer stretch after September.

The FedEx Cup finishing earlier than the European Tour might give the Americans a chance to rest more heading into the Ryder Cup. From a fan’s perspective, having the Olympics and Ryder Cup will extend the season of big events into late September. But we’ll have the same problem we had last year in 2021, with the final major in July. There’s still some work needed on the schedule – perhaps a fifth, international major around October or November time – but there are a lot of incredible events to look forward to throughout 2020.

Th e k e y daTe s The Players March 15 The MasTers April 9-12 PGa ChaMPionshiP May 14-17 Us oPen June 18-21 The oPen July 16-19 olyMPiCs July 30-Aug 2 Fedex CUP PlayoFFs Aug 16-30 ryder CUP Sept 25-27 dP World ToUr ChaMP Nov 19-22

48 Golf World February 2020 | golfworldtop100.com

At the back end of 2019 the European Tour and PGA Tour both addressed the ongoing issue of slow play, one proactively, the other with some reluctance. For the 2020 season, the European Tour’s new four-point plan will focus on regulation, education, innovation and field sizes. Players will receive shot penalties more quickly, repeat offenders will be fined more significantly, members educated on the rules and known slow-pokes more aggressively targeted. “We are already at the forefront of pace of play management in the professional game,” said European Tour CEO Keith Pelley, arcing an eyebrow in the PGA Tour’s direction. “But after being mandated by our tournament committee to be even firmer in dealing with this issue, the time was right to take these additional steps.” There have been suggestions that the PGA Tour is stuck in

its ways, loathe to upset its members by making any kind of meaningful change. “We are not stuck in our ways,” denied PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan.

“We know that players all over the world are watching the best players in the world on the PGA Tour and the LPGA Tour, and they mimic their actions. And so, if there is an opportunity for us to make a positive contribution to the game and continue to elevate our product, that’s what we’re going to do.” Though very thin on detail, Mr Monahan announced that modifications to the PGA’s pace of play policy are likely to come into effect in the second quarter of 2020. Tellingly, perhaps, his soundbites came a few days after Brooks Koepka had called out Bryson DeChambeau for his glacial pace of play – an unsightly spat that reflected very poorly on those in charge. Change may not be swift, and it may be reluctant, but it feels like it’s finally coming.

From 2020, a player with two bad times will have a stroke added to their score.

The number of seconds allowed for players hitting first – 70 seconds for those who follow.

The penalty for 15 bad times in a year, up from previous £9,000.

Field sizes will now be cut from 156 to 144 where possible to more easily police pace of play.

golfworldtop100.com | February 2020 Golf World 49

20 questions

Four years ago, the likes of Rory McIlroy, Dustin Johnson, Jordan Spieth and Adam Scott chose not to play when golf made its long-awaited return to the Olympics in Rio. Justin Rose embraced the opportunity, won the gold medal and has revelled in being introduced as the Olympic Champion ever since, describing it now as his most important victory.

This year in Tokyo, all the big names will be there, because Rose is proof that an Olympic gold medal really matters. The Olympics still might not be viewed with the same reverence as the majors by most players, but it’s leapfrogged the WGCs for many of them. Those who played in Rio raved about the tournament and being a part of the Olympic experience, the fans turned out in their droves and responded positively after the event, and the fact it only happens once every four years makes a medal an even more precious commodity.

If anyone again chooses not to play, they can’t use excuses (legitimate or otherwise) like the Zika virus or question marks over the location.

Tokyo was named the world’s safest city in 2019, Japan is a golf-mad nation and Kasumigaseki Country Club is an established and highly-rated course that has hosted the Japan Open on four occasions.

Rory and Tiger have already declared their intention to play from July 30-August 2. They will undoubtedly be joined by the majority of the world’s top players.

50 Golf World February 2020 | golfworldtop100.com

The familiar refrain of ‘C’mon Aussie’ has been missing across both tours in recent months. Jason Day, Marc Leishman, Cameron Smith and Lucas Herbert all slipped down the world rankings in 2019. Adam Scott had a good year but didn’t get a win. In fact, there were no Aussie wins on the PGA Tour in a calendar year for the first time since 1987, and only Scott Hend got a trophy on the European Tour.

Australia’s rich golfing heritage is undermined by a lack of strength in depth – with only three players in the top 50 and five in the top 100 of the world rankings. So when the big names don’t perform, Aussie golf struggles.

Scott is the most likely to get back in the winner’s circle in 2020. He had two runners-up finishes and seven other top-10s last year, including T7 in the US Open and T8 in the PGA Championship. He’s won 29 times around the world, but the last of those was in 2016. For Day and Leishman, it looks somewhat trickier as both have struggled with injuries in recent years.

Former world number one Day hasn’t been swinging at his best either.

Australian golf needs the younger players to now step up, but there isn’t a long queue of them. Smith and Herbert have talent and potential, but they have to find greater consistency. Beyond that, the next bright hope is 21-yearold Min Woo Lee, a big-hitter who should get a decent number of starts on the European Tour this year. We might hear the cry again in 2020, but it may again be in isolation.

Out of the world’s top 50 for the first time in 25 years, months away from hitting the big 5-0 and on the back of a season that was, by his own standards, troubled, it’s easy to predict that we’ve seen the best of Phil Mickelson.

Having reinvented himself as the king of social media, and accepted a $3m pay cheque to play in the Saudi International rather than play the Phoenix Open he’s been a fixture at every year since 1990, it’s also easy to think that Lefty is slowly exiting the main stage and transitioning into the next phase of his life. “Given that I turn 50 this year, there’s a good chance I’ve played my last Phoenix Open,” he reasoned, an air of finality in his voice.

“We’ll see.”

As sad as that would be, it should come as little surprise. Lefty wasn’t only battling the new breed of super athletes on tour in 2019, he was also battling the undefeatable adversary in Father Time. His victory at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am last February showed he can still win, just not with the same regularity.

Phil Mickelson dropping out of the world’s top 50 for the first time in a quarter-of-a-century – for the first time since November 27, 1993 and the first time in 1,353 weeks – only highlights how much we’ve taken Lefty’s brilliance for granted.

He will win again, no question.

There’s every chance he’ll win this season, next and possibly beyond, but his days as a top 50 force are now behind him.

HOME ADVANTAGE COUNTS TOO MUCH But for the historic comeback in 2012, we’d be looking at six straight home victories. Home advantage, with the partisan crowd and advantageous setup, has become too big an advantage and it will show this time.

THE US NOW HAVE A PLAN Europe used to win in the States – 2012, 2004, 1995 – but that was when the US had no plan and lacked unity.

The US have copied Europe and now go in with a plan and a system – if not complete unity.

EUROPE’S TEAM HAVEN’T AGED WELL Sergio, Stenson, Rose, Poulter and Casey will be 40, 44, 44, 44 and 43 respectively. We hope for one last hurrah but powers wane and the reduced captain’s picks means they need to make it on merit or miss out.

EUROPE MAY BE ROOKIE HEAVY Europe scaled down the captain’s picks from four to three, preferring players who qualified to wildcards – a questionable decision that could backfire if Europe ends up overloaded with rookies, as we saw at Hazeltine.

THE BAYING MOB WILL PLAY ITS PART It is only a tiny minority, but add booze-fuelled patriots to a powder-keg atmosphere and Europe have trouble. We need experienced heads who stay cool. Would Rahm, Hatton and Willett thrive in such conditions?

THE US MIGHT YET IMPLODE They have a plan but it only takes one ego-fuelled beef to undermine everything. Koepka and DJ have put their 2016 issues behind them, but Patrick Reed’s presence may yet help Europe.

EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED Hey, we’re Europeans and sometimes the heart overrides the head. Also, nine wins in the last 12 tournaments cannot count for nothing. So we still believe. Alas, it’s more hope than expectation.

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SLICE BUSTE R SPECIAL

BY GOLF WO TEACHING PAN LUTHER BL

QUI 52 Golf World February 2020 | golfworldtop100.com

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ThaT weak slice cosTs you disTance on every single shoT. so why noT swap iT for a pro-sTyle draw? The good news is ThaT iT’s much easier Than you Think.

golfworldtop100.com | February 2020 Golf World 53

The 4 Key Reasons you Can’T sTop sliCing A slice cAn stem from A combinAtion of flAws – but you cAn bet your bottom dollAr thAt At leAst one of the following is to blAme. let’s fix them All!

a weaK gRip When we reference a ‘weak’ grip, we’re not talking about grip pressure. We’re talking about the position of the hands, and the top hand in particular. In a good grip, you should be able to see two to three knuckles on the top hand. If there are more than three knuckles, the grip is ‘strong’. Fewer than two and the grip is ‘weak’. A weak grip often causes the clubface to be too open at the top of the backswing, which in turn leads to it being open (aiming) right at impact.

bad aim & alignmenT If you don’t aim the gun correctly, the bullet will never hit the target. The same holds true in golf.

Many amateurs set up aiming too far right of the target. When that happens, their natural body alignment and swing will cause them to hit the ball in that direction. To avoid that happening, they’re forced to swing across the ball-target line in the downswing to get the club back on track.

That leads to weak, left-to-right ball spin.

an inCompleTe shouldeR TuRn Watch any of the world’s top golfers and you’ll see that they all rotate their upper body and shoulders through 90 degrees. A full coil is not only a major source of power, it’s essential for accuracy. Without a full turn, you’ll struggle to shift your weight correctly onto the right side going back and then back to the left in the downswing. To hit the ball powerfully, you’ve got to get off your front foot in the backswing.

a pooR Release To create that desirable right-to-left draw spin, you have to actively release the club, rotating your forearms and hingeing your wrists through impact and into your follow-through.

Without this action the club will remain ‘open’ through the hitting area, causing shots to leak to the right. Think of the motion as how you’d look to hit a forehand winner down the line when playing tennis.

54 Golf World February 2020 | golfworldtop100.com

Ideally, you should be able to see two to three knuckles on your left hand when your grip is formed.

In a good, neutral right-hand grip, the lifeline on your right hand should cover and hide your left thumb.

Your right thumb should be approximately level with the knuckle joint on your index finger.

slice buste r special by golf world teaching panelliSt luther blacklock

#1 fix your grip 4 ste ps to for m i ng th e pe r f ect g r i p Step 1 tilt from your hipS Form your grip once you’ve placed the club behind the ball, not while the club is in the air. Tilt forwards from your hips to lower your hands to the grip. This gives the added benefit of great posture!

Step 2 hold in the fingerS not the palm As you apply your left hand, make sure the grip lays diagonally across the base of your fingers, not in the meaty part of the palm. Hold it too high in the palm and you restrict your natural wrist action.

Step 3 thumb reStS juSt right of centre When you wrap your hand around the club, make sure your thumb rests just right of centre on the grip. Many amateurs place it directly on top. This causes problems!

Step 4 lifeline coverS left thumb Applying your right hand, again make sure the club rests in the fingers. Slot the lifeline on your right hand on top of the left thumb, covering it from view completely.

the killer flaw to avoid One of the most important keys to a great grip is the position of the left thumb. The correct position – level with your left index finger – allows the club to run diagonally across the palm. If your left thumb extends too far down the grip, you create too much angle between your thumb and forearm. You then have to either arch your wrists at address or lower your hands to present the clubface to the ball correctly.

#2 fix your aim AlwAys Ai m th e clu b fAce f i rst, th e n you r body One of the most common causes of a slice is simply poor body alignment. Many golfers position their feet before they place the club behind the ball. Think about it like this. If you were firing a rifle, you’d swing the barrel round to where you want it to aim and your body would follow suit. The same procedure is true in golf. If you aim the blade and the shaft correctly, your good grip will encourage the rest of your body to fall into line. Here’s how to get it right.

Viewing the shot while facing the target enables you to use both eyes in the process – helpful for depth perception and improving your aim.

Standing back well behind the ball as you survey the shot gives you a more accurate perspective of where you need to be aiming

Holding the clubshaft in line with your ball and target gives you a better view of the overall line of the shot.

SLICE BUSTE R SPECIAL

BUILD GOOD ALIGNMENT INTO A ROBUST, REPEATABLE PRE-SHOT ROUTINE STEP 1 Once you’ve identified your line, approach the ball with your chest and body facing your target. Stand as open as possible as you present the club. Standing side-on gives a warped perspective.

BY GOLF WORLD TEACHING PANELLIST LUTHER BLACKLOCK

STEP 2 It often helps to select an intermediate target a few feet in front of the ball to align to. After all, it’s easier to aim at a target two feet away than one that’s 150 yards or more in the distance.

LEARN FROM TIGER Tiger has always possessed exemplary fundamentals and they are all evident here. The first thing to notice is how relaxed he looks. There are no excessive body angles. Since he is hitting the longest club in the bag, Woods’ posture is just gently tilted from the hips so his arms hang almost vertically below his shoulders.

If you could view this set-up from the face-on angle you’d also see the ball position underneath his left armpit, his left arm and shaft forming a spoke and his right shoulder

STEP 3 Set the clubface behind the ball with your right hand as you continue looking at the target. If you aim the club solely with your left hand, it’s very easy to end up with your shoulders aiming too far right of target – one of the main causes of a slice swing.

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STEP 4 When the blade and shaft are correctly placed behind the ball, a good gr will ensure that your shoulders, hips and fe remain parallel to the target line – just as long as your right elbow and right hip are set lower than the left at address.

WHY SHOULD MY CHEST FACE THE TARGET WHEN I AIM THE CLUB? When you keep your chest facing the target as you walk into the shot, you have to use both eyes in the alignment process. If you err and aim the club with your left hand, you will inevitably begin to view your target with just your left eye. This simple error causes poor alignment and weak shots.

golfworldtop100.com | February 2020 Golf World 57

#3 Fix Your shoulder Turn Coi l agai n st a f lexe d r ig ht kn e e A key cause of slicing is failing to complete your backswing. For most golfers this is caused by nothing more than anxiety and tension. However, a full shoulder turn is the ideal antidote to a snatched and hurried takeaway. How important is a good shoulder turn? Well, if you get it right it ensures that 15 other parts of your swing slot neatly into place.

The right knee is the fulcrum of your golf swing. Retaining the flex in the backswing helps you coil correctly and maintain a consistent spine angle.

SLICE BUSTE R SPECIAL

WHY YOU NEED A SOFT RIGHT ELBOW AT ADDRESS Because the right hand is placed further down the grip than the left, it is obvious that your shoulders should not be parallel to the ground. In fact, the whole of your right side should be a little lower than the left to help your shoulders coil

through 90 degrees.

At the top of your swing, some 60 percent of your weight should be on your right foot.

While your left arm should form a fairly straight line at address, your right elbow should be relatively soft and fold down towards

your right hip. This simple adjustment permits your swing to rotate slightly to the inside and enables your wrists and forearms to function freely.

One of the most common faults that can be viewed at driving ranges up and down the

country every single day is a piston-like straight right arm and high, arched wrists. From this very wooden address position, you’re obliged to lift the club outside the line, ensuring a downswing that cuts across the ball through impact.

BY GOLF WORLD TEACHING PANELLIST LUTHER BLACKLOCK

LEARN FROM TIGER Top of the backswing positions don’t get much better than this. Tiger has coiled his left shoulder underneath his throat through a full 90 degrees while his right knee has remained beautifully flexed to harness the motion. And if you drew an extended line from the butt of the club through his sternum, you’d find it intersected perfectly with the golf ball – a sign that Woods has swung in his ideal biometrical plane. Power and accuracy are the result

DRILL: THE RECTANGULAR TAKEAWAY

This exercise teaches you the importance of good connection in the backswing. Take your normal grip and then slide your right hand down the shaft until you form a perfect rectangle with your arms and chest. Now practise turning to the top of your backswing while maintaining the shape.

You can only achieve this if your arms and body move together. If you lose the connection and swing only with your arms, your perfect rectangle turns into a parallelogram!

golfworldtop100.com | February 2020 Golf World 59

#4 fix your release You ’ve gotta se n d it to b e n d it!

Necessity is the mother of invention. In the same way that Cristiano Ronaldo might curve the ball around a defensive wall in order to hit his target, you can ‘draw’ the ball to play around various obstacles, counteract the effects of the wind or reach a tricky pin position. With your right hip and shoulder below the left, you can complete your shoulder turn. All that is required now is to drive the ball forwards, allowing your hands and forearms to impart draw spin to the ball. Remember that draw spin is a creative act.

Failure to release the club will cause the ball to stay right or, worse still, for the shoulders to dominate the downswing causing the ball to be pulled left.

Creating draw spin is a creative act. The wrists and forearms need to release freely through the ball to generate power and accuracy.

60 Golf World February 2020 | golfworldtop100.com

SLICE BUSTE R SPECIAL

PRACTICE DRILL: FEET TOGETHER SWINGS This exercise will help you blend wrist hinge into a full shoulder turn while staying in perfect balance. You can perform it with an iron or a wood, but

it works great with a driver! Stand with your feet together and the ball central in your stance.

Choke down a little on the grip to give yourself some extra

control. Now make some swings. You’ll find that you have to actively hinge and rehinge your wrists back and through in order to hit the ball without

falling over or losing your balance.

Once you’re familiar with the feeling, introduce that wrist action into your real swing – and watch that ball fly!

BY GOLF WORLD TEACHING PANELLIST LUTHER BLACKLOCK

LEARN FROM TIGER One of the hallmarks of Tiger Woods’ swing over the years has been his uninhibited release through impact. If you take just one thing away from this image it’s how Woods’ right forearm is actively releasing over his left as he sends the ball powerfully on its way.

Another key highlight? Check out how low Tiger’s right shoulder is as he fires his upper body through the ball.

On the contrary, most amateur golfers have their left shoulder much too high at impact, which usually leads kl f i h h

PRACTICE DRILL: THE WIPER

Hold a golf club vertically out in front of you with your arms parallel to the ground at sternum height. Keeping your hands in exactly the same position throughout, rotate the club 90 degrees to the right, then smoothly back across to the other side. This promotes forearm strength and clubhead speed – two invaluable assets for creating that desirable draw spin.

golfworldtop100.com | February 2020 Golf World 61

FREE Simply ShoRt GamE DVD Most golf shots are played from within 100 yards of the green, so the fastest and most effective way to improve your scoring is to be consistent within that distance. In this great new DVD With Ma you’ll learn how to: T eaching ster PGA n Master the running chip Pro n Learn the lofted chip Blacklo Luther ck! n Pitch with consistent accuracy n Hit better bunker shots every time n Roll the ball with your putter Even if you have little time to practise, this DVD will help clear your mind and teach you simple principles to improve your technique and touch around the greens.

Luther Blacklock is a Master PGA teaching professional with his own golf school based in Milton Keynes, England, and the inventor of the Explanar Swing Trainer. www.explanar.com

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ONE-SHOT WONDERS

Celebrating the art and the architecture of the short hole, the purest test of any golfer’s game.

THE OTHER MOLINARI

Edoardo Molinari opens up on success, his sibling and naming and shaming on slow play.

ON SALE JANUARY 30

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ARCHIE BAIRD

THE HISTORY MAJOR Last month saw the passing of one of the game’s foremost historians, the estimable Archie Baird, creator of Gullane’s Heritage of Golf Museum.

Here, in tribute, we revisit an afternoon spent in his company in 2011.

Archie Baird

N Niblicks, cleeks and featheries weren’t on Archie Baird’s mind as he courted Sheila Park while at Edinburgh University in the early 1950s. He was falling in love and showing just about enough interest in his academic work to qualify as a veterinary surgeon, becoming the fourth generation of Baird to do so.

Final exams over for both he and Sheila, who had read medicine, they resolved to get married and began setting up home in Scotland’s capital city. A flat was inherited, but it required furnishing. With money tight as the young professionals started

at Gullane, the small town in East Lothian so steeped in the game. “I realised it would be a fascinating hobby to collect old golf clubs,” he told Golf World in this 2011 interview. “It was rewarding, too, because every junk shop in Edinburgh had them and nobody wanted them. So I went round looking for Willie Park clubs.

But the blighters eventually realised what I was doing and put all their prices up.

Soon, they were often over 10 shillings. I continued, though, and began to realise there were a lot of clubmakers I had never heard of. So I also bought all the golf books I could find to help me.

“I haunted the auctions and used to bid other people off the park. I backed up purchases with a good deal of knowledge, though. I wasn’t just buying any old rubbish. I’ve no idea what it has cost me to assemble but it has provided me with a modest business and I love doing it and showing people it. I have no pension, but I have a collection.”

Decades of collecting while running his city centre veterinary practice had resulted in a vast array of memorabilia. So when Baird retired he moved to East Lothian to enjoy the game he had become absorbed with. He joined Gullane and later became

keep it going. It died out totally by 1700 because they couldn’t make good clubs; the shaft was hazel, which was far too whippy, and they had no hardwood, so the heads were made of lead. This is a head made in about 1680 with some hazel still inside it,” he says, thrusting a black object in my hand. “It was found in Amsterdam harbour. That was a Big Bertha of the day. But they didn’t need to hit the ball a long way. They always played on the ice and to a stake. Luckily, the Scottish wool merchants went across and picked the game up. This is the painting of Haarlem cathedral which proves it,” he adds, motioning to a beautiful print.

What follows over the next hour or so is a chronological tour through the annals of golfing history, from featheries and hickories to all manner of artworks and artefacts. Suddenly, he pulls out a secret Sunday club. “Presbyterians did not like golf on a Sunday, he explains. “So you could have one of these small clubs which look like a walking stick and when no-one was looking you could have a hit.” Next comes what looks like a liquorice-covered walking stick. “This is the rarest club in here,” he announces. “I know all the great collections and nobody has one of these.

‘Willie Park sNr’s clubs Were beautiful craftsmaN’s creatioNs, i Picked them uP for five shilliNgs’ out, they scoured the secondhand shops for pieces of furniture others had tired of.

One such excursion to the auction lane sales changed Archie’s life forever.

Noticing a canvas bag stuffed full of oldfashioned golf clubs, he wiped away the dust to reveal the words ‘W. Park, Musselburgh’. Willie Park Snr was the first winner of the Open Championship and as well as being the finest player of his generation, he designed courses and crafted clubs. He also happened to be the great grandfather of Archie’s new wife.

“I thought, ‘I must have these clubs’,” remembers Archie. “They were beautiful; craftsman’s creations. They were over 100 years old, long-nosed clubs – but nobody wanted them, so I got the whole bag for only five shillings.”

That sliding doors moment began for Archie a consuming passion for golf and, in particular, its history. This love manifested itself in a private museum, ‘The Heritage of Golf’, which opened in 1980 and was located beside the pro shop

the club’s captain, and it was there that the idea for the museum came to mind.

The club granted him use of a small annex on the side of the pro shop, which has become an Aladdin’s cave of golf artefacts.

His collection has charmed visitors and historians from all over the world.

In the early days, the room was more primitive. It had a mud floor and there were bare rafters from which he hung his clubs. Today it is a little more polished, but still compact and neatly organised.

An historic howitzer

Squat, thick-set and charismatic, Archie Baird was also bold, engaging and brusque. The perfect historian host in what so many claim is the ‘Home of Golf’. “The Dutch played a game like golf way before we did. I have evidence going back to 1300,” he states, in a tone which seeks to end an argument before one can begin. “There is no mention of golf in Scotland before 1450. But, the Dutch neither developed the game nor did they

It is a club encased in gutta-percha which means it can withstand any weather.”

Shortly afterwards, however, and without warning, the tour comes to an end – somewhere around the late 1920s.

“Aluminium entered the fray,” he says.

“Here is an aluminium-headed club from America from about 1930. Then there were steel-headed clubs, though they had problems with swing weights. And then titanium and graphite came along and I lose interest... Ask me any questions – I’d be delighted to try to answer them. And if you wanted to argue with me, I would be pleased also.”

It is an abrupt end to a fascinating tour, one that leaves an awkwardness in the air and an elephant in the room. Why did the 1920s lead Archie to lose interest?

“Well, it all became mass production and you get clowns like Tiger Woods who are disagreeable human beings,” he growls. “I like the nice guys, though, such as (Bobby) Jones. The game became so commercial. But I still love playing

golfworldtop100.com | February 2020 Golf World 65

golf and especially proper golf, which is alternate-shot foursomes. World golf is going down the tube because everyone is playing fourball golf and it takes five hours. We play for two-and-a-half hours, have some lunch and go out and play again! It’s much more sociable and there’s no anguish about it at all. I enjoy the social side of it, the golf is now a sideline.

I’m not interested in scores or records – it’s the description of what people enjoyed about the game that’s important to me.”

Shovelling sand, milking goats

Archie’s fascinating character reflects his fascinating life – the kind of life not often lived these days. Born in Edinburgh, he attended famous Watson’s College for a while but went to school an hour away in Dollar because, as he notes, “my father was a violent alcoholic and my mother was a very smart lady so she sent me and my brother away to school and to an uncle’s farm in Berwickshire in the holidays”.

His was never destined to be a mundane

pilots at Arnhem. They realised it was easier to teach us to fly gliders than soldiers from scratch. We were stationed about six to a room in a hotel in Harrogate, where I had got involved with a young widow. Then one day the officer said, ‘Have we any volunteers for gliders?’

I thought, ‘Well it’s better than this young widow chasing me around’ so I put my hand up. But we only did the one operation, which was crossing the Rhine.

It was a superb operation.”

His war action over, Archie’s patron in America went bust. His mother arranged a home for his brother in Baltimore, but Archie had to look after himself. “I had enough credits to get into the state college in New Mexico and I worked my way through two years with some of the most wonderful occupations: shovelling sand for Franklin D. Roosevelt; in the college canteen; as a lifeguard at the swimming gala, where I taught all the young ladies to swim after closing time. After they closed the pool, I milked 15 goats in the morning and evening; then I got a job in the cinema,

historian; no-one had previously taken notice of the memorabilia. “Even their bookcase was a wonderful Sheraton... and the secretary was using it to put stationary in behind his desk! I got in the smoking room and discovered a wonderful collection of books in tea boxes in the back of the locker room. So I spent the whole of one winter organising them.”

Through his connections at an esteemed institution such as the Honourable Company, Archie has played extensively in America. “I knew the right kind of people. I knew not to bother with Pebble Beach, but I’ve played Cypress Point four times in a week as I have a chum who is a member. I’ve played Seminole 30 or 40 times. Prestwick is my favourite away from East Lothian, though. I’ve also known Tom Doak for 30 years since he was laying out Kiawah Island with Pete Dye. He has been here many times. I took him out on No.3 on a windy day and he thought it was marvellous. He said it was a marvellous layout and had some of the best greens he

‘In the states, archIe shovelled sand for franklIn d. roosevelt, mIlked goats and worked as a doorman’ existence and a contact in America led to him crossing the Atlantic, a journey made by very few in those days. Archie’s father had gone to school with a boy whose parents died, so his father (Archie’s grandfather) took him in. When this boy became a man, he went to the States to seek his fortune and married the daughter of the President of the Sante Fe railroad.

When the war started, he said to Archie’s mother: ‘Send the boy to me’.

“We went in a convoy over the Atlantic, but it wasn’t as plentiful a convoy when we arrived at New York as it had been in Glasgow; we had lost three boats to the ocean. Then we got the train to Chicago, then the Super Chief for three days and two nights to get to Los Angeles. After I had done my two years at college in America, the US army chased me. I said, ‘No thank you, I want to serve my king and country’. So I hopped up to Canada to join the RAF. I was trained as a fighter pilot for two years and came back to this country in uniform with my wings.”

His action was short and sharp. “I was trained on Hurricanes, but by the time we got back we were not losing many fighter pilots – but they had lost all their glider

66 Golf World February 2020 | golfworldtop100.com

starting off as a doorman. I finished off as assistant manager at the cinema and 20th Century Fox used to send me a $10 cheque every Christmas. Then I came back to Scotland and went to veterinary college.” The rest, as we know, is history.

In 1954 Archie took over the remains of his father’s practice which his mother had kept going with locums. His graduation was delayed as his tutors said he was playing too much rugby (he played for his college against Scotland’s universities – “we could sing dirty songs all the way to Aberdeen and back and never repeat one” – while his brother’s son Roger scored a try for the Lions in New Zealand). His punishment was to do another term.

It was now that golf, up to now an occasional pursuit, became a passion. “I knew when I qualified I couldn’t afford to get injured playing rugby and have a locum work for me so I thought golf was a good alternative. There were lots of marvellous municipal courses, such as Braid Hills or Portobello. Two shillings and you were on.”

Archie also joined Muirfield in the 1960s and immediately became their

has ever played on.”

Archie is no longer a playing member at Muirfield, though. “I can’t reach the fairways even from the old gentlemen’s tees,” he laments. “But I play regularly at Gullane. We have match dinners every eight weeks. I have a very particular process; I find a very decrepit opponent and tell him to find a good partner. I am also decrepit so I find a good partner and we play off the forward tees and our job is to simply put the ball 100 yards up the fairway. The good players therefore have shots they never otherwise experience and we all enjoy ourselves and play for £4.

I have played 978 dinner matches and with over 300 different people and I’ve got a record of every one.”

After he patiently poses in his museum for some photographs, our time with Archie is nearly at an end. As he scurries about popping a few artefacts into a supermarket carrier bag, we ask if he can quite believe that he has created such a wonderful collection. He pauses for a moment and with a hint of a smile and a joyous glint detectable in his eye, he responds. “I just married the right woman.”

Archie Baird

ABOVE: Archie’s collection of balls through the ages, including the guttapercha ball that saw the game’s popularity boom in the 19th century.

BELOW: The historian at work, surrounded by art and artefacts.

perspectives

BRANDEL CHAMBLEE

‘i speak the truth and i often say the truth is like poetry. the problem is that people f**king hate poetry’ Often anonymous during his career on tour, Brandel Chamblee’s real fame has come since stepping to the other side of the mic. Here, in an expansive, illuminating interview, the poet shares his life’s lessons with John Huggan. golfworldtop100.com | July 2019 Golf World

A

when I wasn’t playing that well – that there was a fresh challenge there for me. I got a buzz doing it, or trying to get it right. And the next thing you know I was a TV guy. I think it was former Masters champion Jackie Burke who said, “Once you go up into that booth you never come down.” And he was right. So here I am. The occupation on my passport says ‘TV analyst’. It does not say ‘professional golfer’.

The challenge as an analyst is to be different. By the

time I get on the air at the end of the day, just about everything that could be said about the golf has been said. I watch it all day. And I’m at the end with the job of saying what has not already been said. I have to come up with stuff that no else has and make it interesting for the audience. I find that to be incredibly difficult.

Which is why I don’t take my eyes off the TV all day.

Asanamateurgolfer,Iwasexceptional. I was probably

better as an amateur than when I played on tour. I was a first-team All-American in college. I was ranked fourth in the United States. I got invited to play in a premier tour event when I was 20 years old and made the cut. I was probably a better golfer in college than I was during my 15 years on tour.

I can’t stand it when people talk around me when I’m watching. It drives me nuts. I sit in silence. What the

commentator says is important to me. If he says something great I will refer to it that night and give him credit. But, whatever he says, I need to say something else. I need all the information so that I can come up with two or three interesting themes. And then make it memorable. Turns of phrase are so important. They are what make things memorable. That’s my job.

But I was a good tour player, no question. Most don’t

last 15 years. People forget that. Qualifying for the tour is the easiest part – and the qualifying is hard as hell. I probably listened to too much instruction. My swing deteriorated. But I worked really hard and felt like I could make any theory work.

I was a longish hitter and I was especially good with the long irons.

I could hit a 1-iron straight up in the air. But when I got on tour I think the best I ever was in driving distance was 49th. I lost some of that zip. Without power, you have to be so precise. Every era has been power-prejudiced. If you look at who has won the Vardon Trophy, with very few exceptions, they are the most powerful players. So I struggled. As a pro I’d give myself a C+ for accomplishment. But an A for effort.

I have no regrets about my career and what I achieved. I had a very

nice career. I made millions of dollars playing golf and travelled around the world. I achieved what I call my “Grand Slam”. I played in The Open at St Andrews. I played in the US PGA at Winged Foot.

I played in the US Open at Pebble Beach. And I played in the Masters. I had a heckuva time and no regrets.

My transition from player to pundit wasn’t overly graceful. I tried to juggle both at the same time in

2003. I only had conditional status that year. I thought if I played well enough I’d keep my card anyway. But I soon realised I couldn’t do either job that well when I was trying to do both. For one thing, I was new to television so I was on a huge learning curve. But they kept asking me back. At first, of course, I indignantly turned down television when I was asked. I was like, “I’m a golfer, Why would you ask me to do that?” But I soon realised after doing it a few times – especially

70 Golf World February 2020 | golfworldtop100.com

I catch a lot of flak, I guess. I have

my opinions on that. One is I search for the truth. If a guy tells me he is 20-yards longer, I look that up. I say the truth is like poetry and people f*cking hate poetry. I get that I’m not really a journalist. We are borderline PR agents. We are selling.

Like so many, the Old Course has a special place in my heart. I’ve

Chamblee rates his tour career as a steady C+ – his single victory coming in the Greater Vancouver Open in 1998.

not played it a ton, but I spent the summer of 1982 in the UK and we started and ended at St Andrews. It was just me and my college roommate. He is a pretty good player and, as luck would have it, we were tied standing on the 18th tee of our last round, on the Old Course. He hit it way right onto the road and broke a window on a milk truck. I was up on the green and there were three guys with mohawks watching. My friend was on the road arguing with the milk truck driver about who was going to pay for the window. And I was up on the green victorious. I played there again as a pro in the 1995 Open – terribly, but played nonetheless.

I do worry for the future of St Andrews. It’s a shame to

see what is going on there. The only hole that can still hold its own is the 17th. But some day soon someone is going to drive almost onto that green. That may be the tipping point. There has to be one of those. Almost every hole on the course is a flick to the top guys. I remember watching The Open there in 2015 and I called what we were seeing, “gross”. And the pin

‘I should be completely unaffected by crItIcIsm and praIse. takIng eIther to heart Is not goIng to help me’

the good guys

a sense of perspective Rory McIlroy is a guy I’d like to have dinner with. He’s a lovely person who is unspoiled by failure or success. A reluctant superstar. When he came out with that quote about there being “more important things in life than golf,” that caught my interest. I admit I’d wondered if the money had made him comfortable, but those quotes made me wonder again. I went back to 2007 when The Open was at Carnoustie. In the middle of his transcript, he said, quote: “I’m a normal guy. I want to live a normal life. I go to the cinema. I hang out with my friends.

The second I leave the course I don’t think about golf. I don’t talk about golf.

My friends will tell you that. I’m a pretty good golfer. But I want to have a normal life.” So he hasn’t changed his tune between then and now, 12 years later.

Today, Rory, pictured with wife Erica, is exactly the person he was in 2007, and he’s still saying the same thing.

You cannot separate someone’s personality away from their talent, any more than you can separate their eye colour from their talent. People always act like grit is something apart from talent. Talent comes from grit. Grit is as much a part of your DNA and your genetic make-up as your build.

So yes, while grit is innate in Ben Hogan and Gary Player and Tom Watson, it wasn’t so much in Jack Nicklaus. Rory is more like Jack.

Maybe he is even more balanced than Jack. So that means he maybe won’t win 18 majors. Maybe he’ll win eight.

But I’m betting that golf and all the stuff you have to do to be great will never consume Rory’s life to the extent that he is not present in the lives of those around him.

positions are getting ridiculous. And the speed of the greens. When they had to stop play in 2015 it had more to do with the greens being too fast than the strength of the wind.

dumbest thing in the history of golf, it was the dumbest thing in the history of sport. Now, I was wrong. Hank made him different, but he didn’t make Tiger worse.

Tiger’s win percentage was better under Hank than under Butch. And his winning percentage in Majors was comparable. He didn’t win by such big margins, but he still won. But making that change was insane.

The one thing that has obsoleted courses more than anything else is the Stimpmeter. That is one piece of

equipment everyone wants to get rid of. Every superintendent and every tour player. We can all agree to do that. Imagine Shinnecock Hills with greens running at nine on the Stimpmeter. Or, once we get rid of the darned thing, imagine Shinnecock with greens that are appropriate. Appropriate speed for the design.

I got a lot of my criticism of Hank wrong. I’ve sat next

to numerous people who argue that Hank’s work was crap. And that Tiger’s next teacher, Sean Foley, actually made his swing better. I hear that. Aesthetically, people prefer the Foley swing. But if you look at the ballstriking stats, they are better under Hank. Foley had an injured Tiger, but that jumping from teacher to teacher has a cost. It costs time and energy.

Tiger burned years working on his swing.

The most dangerous place on tour was and still is the driving range.

More dangerous than a bad back.

That’s the one thing I’d do differently, if I could have my career over again. I would keep my own counsel more. It wasn’t as easy back then. Teachers could make their way onto the range and convince you that they had a panacea for every flaw. Now, tour players are much better equipped but it’s still easy to take the wrong advice. A tour player can end his career on the range by listening to the wrong information.

And it is pot luck.

Tiger’s domination was more remarkable because of the equipment he played. He had

the “bladiest” blades you can play. And the “spinniest” ball. I almost think he dominated because he did that. He was powerful enough to do that. Back in the day, Tiger averaged 298 from the tee. Daly was 299. But the next guy, Davis Love, was at 288. That is huge. The average was about 263 or 264. The game has some problems because these huge guys are coming. They are about to do things that are going to make what has already happened pale.

Those teachers who have rolled up on the range, got themselves a following and ruined careers have never been held accountable.

Teaching is the only job I know where you are only judged by your successes. Think about it.

In what other job are you not judged – at least to some extent – by your failures? But teachers only get talked about when their players are going well. When their players are at the bottom of the leaderboard we never talk about them. But the second a guy plays well we hear about who he’s working with. Yeah, he is. But that coach is also working with five players who lost their cards. Where is the average?

What Tiger did with Hank Haney was perhaps the craziest thing ever in sport. Look at it now and it’s

obvious they were hugely successful, but Tiger had just won four Majors in a row and made 142 cuts in a row.

And he won those Majors by huge margins. He was the most dominant, the most consistent and by far the best player. It was the best golf anyone had ever seen. So it was like, “Are you kidding me?” Why would anyone change that? It was madness. It was not only the

I learned how golf was really meant to be played in 1982. I came over to the UK that year to qualify for

Top: Chamblee put down his microphone and dusted off his clubs to qualify for 2018’s Senior Open at St Andrews.

Bottom: Haney took plenty of criticism from Chamblee for changing Tiger’s swing, but the analyst admits he “got a lot of it wrong”.

The Open. I was paired with a guy I had never heard of in my life. And at the end of the round I was like, “Oh my God. That’s how golf is meant to be played.” His name was Gordon Brand Junior. He hit shots that were so crisp. I can still hear the sound they made. I can see the shots. I didn’t hit it nearly as good.

The swing was always a puzzle to me. I read a lot of

instruction and noted that most of the great players took the club inside, most of them crossed the line, most of them looked like they came over the top in transition. But not one teacher ever taught any of that.

I always wondered why they didn’t do that.

Great players don’t learn from teachers – they learn from other great players and from necessity. Take Lee

Trevino. He tried to copy Ben Hogan. He watched Ben hit balls. So he decided to play with a fade. He went to the range and found the only way he could hit a fade.

Lee was a portly fellow. Portly fellows can’t turn. So how did he get out of his own way? He “pre-set” out of the way. But how does he then get power? He had to loop it under from the inside. That’s what Lee came up with. He was influenced and he evolved. The opposite of that is Tom Watson, who tried to swing like

golfworldtop100.com | February 2020 Golf World 73

the good guys

A mAn of few words Dustin Johnson is a lot smarter than you think. A lot of people like to say he is not that smart, but he is. Now, I have to admit that Dustin and I have the same manager (David Winkle of Hambric Sports), so I am privy to stuff he has done in business meetings. I know that he was in a financial meeting once and his guys said they were going to move money here and there. Dustin listened and said that would save him $170,000.

Which was exactly right.

So yes, he thinks differently from most people, or how people would assume he thinks. Ben Hogan once said that he hoped a deaf mute would win the US Open, so that the press would have to figure it out on their own. I think Dustin is certainly laconic. He is loathe to talk about himself – because to him it’s all very simple. He looks at the target.

He thinks about the best swing he’s ever made with the club he is about to hit.

He visualises the shot. And he hits the shot. He’s not solving any problems bigger than that.

Yet everyone tells these players how unbelievable they are. To which Dustin says something like, “Listen man.

There’s the ball. I hit it as far as I can and I go from there.” He is just a really, really nice guy.

Find me a video of DJ saying a cuss word. Find me a video of him throwing a club. People can say whatever they want, but I absolutely love the guy.

Sam Snead. And no one would ever say that Tom looks like Sam. But, like Lee, he got the best parts right.

Right now, he operates with impunity. He flies bunkers that everyone else has to work around. But he can be held accountable by architectural design, obstacles if you like. We have to give him something to think about.

Every single teacher is guessing. That’s all they’re doing. Not one innovation has ever come from teachers.

They all come from players. Teachers only learn from players, not the other way round. Athletes originate; teachers copy. That’s why I’d rather sit and watch a great player than listen to a great teacher.

We should also see courses as works in progress, not works of art. They always have been works in progress.

St Andrews wasn’t always 18 holes and it was never as long as it is now. Shinnecock Hills was once 4,000 yards and now it isn’t. Augusta is not what it was, either. The course is wherever the tees and greens are because courses evolve.

But I do have a great deal of respect for some teachers out there. There’s a handful of guys

that get no credit, but everyone is stealing from them – the whole teaching industry. They come up with things all the time, things that no one has ever seen. One of them is a guy called Kelvin Merieara, who teaches at a little public range in Hawaii. He is a genius and every teacher has stolen from him.

He put swing breakdowns online – and I know what it takes to put those together. I thought, this man must not sleep, he must not have a wife or kids.

And when I met him I asked if he slept.

He said, “no”. I was like, I knew it! I asked him if he had a wife or kids. And of course he doesn’t. I knew that too.

Train like a scientist and play like an artist. That is what

sport is. Even 100 years ago they trained as scientifically as they could. So you would be a fool not to use the information available.

The trouble is there is so much of it around now. That all has to do with why we have seen such a huge increase in distance. Balls and clubs have something to do with it. But more than anything it is because the athlete is getting bigger.

I think golf course architecture may offer a solution.

There are several architectural ideas I have which will help solve the problem of distance. One of them is pot bunkers, which you have here in Great Britain. In the middle of the fairways, maybe 350-yards off the tee, those things would make players think about blasting away. There is one on the third hole at St Andrews. You can’t see it from the tee, but you know it’s there. Even if you have played the hole a few times you still wonder where it is exactly. And it plays bigger than its size.

They all do. So if we have accordion topography or chocolate-drop mounds out there – or pot bunkers – we can hold the guy who can hit 350-yards accountable.

Modern equipment doesn’t allow guys to work the ball like they used to. For me to hit a

Top: In his now familiar position as an analyst on the Golf Channel set.

Bottom: As a huge fan of the Old Course, Chamblee fears for its future in the modern game.

30-yard slice with a 3-wood is darn near impossible. If I do everything I can to hit that shot, I might be able to curve the ball 15 yards. That’s why I harp on about course set-up. If set-ups were more punishing to “stray cats”, guys would get drivers with less MOI. And they would get balls that curve more. In other words, if guys played Shinnecock Hills six times a year and there was some penalty for missing the fairway, they would ask for balls that spin more. They would get drivers with more MOI. And they would curve their shots more. But they don’t have to do that these days.

One, because they hit the ball so far – they don’t go around trouble, they go over it. Because they can. Once they do that, they have shorter irons into greens. So they don’t have to curve those. It’s harder to curve short irons anyway. And they can stop it next to the hole.

So it’s a combination of things. The game has evolved. I can make arguments for and against that evolution just like you can.

I often get asked who is the most underrated player in golf. But there isn’t one. We overrate everybody.

Because we are selling players. We are selling the idea of greatness. And that is exciting. It’s not exciting to say that, when a guy wins an event, it may be the last one he ever wins. Or that he got lucky. Or that, many times, winning a Major Championship is a death sentence for a career. We never say that. We always say winning a Major is a launching pad, or that it will open the floodgates. There is romance to what we do – and a bit of PR. I get that. But I also want to believe in it. When I won on the PGA Tour I thought I would win more.

But I didn’t. If a commentator had said I probably wouldn’t win again it would have hurt. But 10 years down the road he would have been right.

Golfers are the only athletes that are never criticised.

Think about it. In every other sport you have a coach who will be in your face if you make a mistake. But golfers don’t have coaches like that. Golfers are lauded, especially if you make the Tour. If you do that, you

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the good guys

a very fine human being Rickie Fowler will win a Major, I am convinced of that. If you start talking about the best players over the last 20 years, all of them but one won a Major, and that was Lee Westwood. It is freakish that he didn’t. He ran into Tiger Woods too often.

But all of the others are off the list. Because they were good enough to win a Major. Rickie Fowler has eight top-fives in Majors. Eight! So he will win a Major. He is right on track. If you win three per cent of your events, you will get in the hall of fame.

And he is right on that number. He is on the same track as Lanny Wadkins, Johnny Miller and Ben Crenshaw. Tom Kite.

But more than being a very fine golfer, Rickie Fowler is also a genuinely fine human being. Let

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me tell you a story about Rickie Fowler. I was commentating in 2010 when he laid up on the 15th hole at the Waste Management Open in Phoenix.

He had 203 yards to carry the water, 218 yards to the hole. And he was one shot back. I criticised him for laying-up when he could have hit a 5-iron right next to the hole.

The next time I saw him was three weeks later.

He tapped me on the back and could not have been any nicer. That takes a man who is very comfortable in his own skin not to take offence.

I get that people do take offence. No one likes to be criticised. But when he did that, I knew that here was a guy who gets it. He was doing his job and I was doing mine. He’s just a lovely person.

In the modern era, we take the Ryder Cup too seriously. Jack Nicklaus knew what the Ryder Cup

have been good enough all the way and so lauded by people in the media. And by people everywhere. And it’s very easy for them to believe that. So when you get on tour and Johnny Miller says you choked, it’s like “how dare you talk to me like that... don’t you know who I am?” Even when you did choke.

should be. It’s not “hit and giggle” but it’s about camaraderie. Jack giving that putt to Tony Jacklin in 1969 summed up what it was about. There had almost been fist fights between players earlier that week. It was not real pretty from a fan perspective or a player perspective. Which is why Jack stepped up. He clearly felt like giving that putt was what the event needed to re-establish its equilibrium. Sam Snead was the US captain and he was furious. That was Jack’s first Ryder Cup and he has always said that the Ryder Cup is only used as a measure of a player, if that player is a lesser player. If you need it to fill in gaps.

“Oh, by the way, he played on five Ryder Cup teams.” That works perfectly for the Ian Poulters of the world. Which is fine. Making the team is a fine accomplishment.

I certainly never did it. But if you’re a great player – and this was Tiger’s point – your Ryder Cup record doesn’t really matter.

Unpredictability is important to me. I hate to be predictable. I try to come at a player from every direction. I’ll talk about his weakness one night, then his strength the next night. I’ll talk about his swing one night, then his chipping the next night. I guarantee I’ve done 5,000 Tiger Woods breakdowns, but I’m always trying to be different.

It is only human nature to remember only criticism.

Anything I have said about players have been mostly about their games.

But I promise you, if I say 100 things about any player, 90 of them will be positive. Because they are extraordinary players. I could put clips together and you would think I was sycophantic towards every single star. It would take no time to do that. But people tend to remember that I said someone has changed his swing for the worse.

But I understand why the Ryder Cup is so important to a lot of people. I once interviewed

Arnold Palmer. I asked him about the Ryder Cup and he started crying. It was hard for him to talk about it without crying. When he was introduced on the first tee as representing the United States of America he got emotional.

I’ve never represented my country in a team event. I would imagine I would be that way, too. I have represented my school and before the first event our coach was telling us about all the people who had worn the same uniform for 100 years before I did. He told us we were not only representing ourselves but the University of Texas. He told us what it meant. And by the end I would have run through a wall for him.

Phil Mickelson thinks he is the smartest guy in every room. He can

walk into a room full of CEOs or top-level scientists or mathematicians and think he knows something more than all of them. I’ve known that about Phil for a long time. I think anyone who knows Phil knows that.

The problem is that, again, there is a danger when you make as much money as Phil has made. You live in an echo chamber where everyone tells you how amazing you are. And you are not held accountable for things you say or things you do. You are never told that you need to grow up.

Phil’s got a little Machiavellian thread running through him. The reason there is a week off in the middle of the Fed-Ex Cup is because of Phil. The match-play championship has a round-robin aspect because of Phil. Rees Jones is looked upon unfavourably as an architect because of Phil. Phil didn’t like Rees’ work and said so publicly.

Phil goes into the media centre and nearly always has a bit of an agenda. He knows that if he is a little bit nice here and there he can sell that agenda. He plugs products like no one else.

Top: Phil Mickelson has a “Machiavellian thread running through him,” according to Chamblee.

Bottom: The analyst want a “no-tolerance policy” introduced to improve spectator behaviour at The Ryder Cup.

The problem with the Ryder Cup is that the fans have gotten a bit more belligerent. The matches are red

meat to the lions. And the last one in the US was distasteful. In general, the Europeans seem to have fun with it. They’re not as hateful. In the US, a minority are spoiling things and lowering the narrative.

It’s unfortunate. I wish there was a no-tolerance policy and we could get them out of there. Think about it.

Things would be very different if Augusta National ran the Ryder Cup. That’s what we need. It’s getting out of hand.

We’re edging towards a world tour. But there has to be

some cataclysmic event to make it happen. Like the PGA Tour buying the European Tour. Who knows if that is the right thing to do, though. Or they could combine and stop playing opposite one another. That would mean a lot of politics. And egos. Bottom line is I’m not sure players from the US would want to hop on a plane and go to, say, Germany. But obviously it’s already happened in the women’s game.

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TH E M IR ACLE OF

THE GREAT LEE TREVINO TURNED 80 LAST MONTH, BUT HE SHOULD NEVER HAVE MADE IT TO 37. SCOTT MURRAY CELEBRATES THE RISE AND RISE OF MERRY MEX.

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clip around the ear. Within a fortnight, Trevino would be up and about again, competing in the Open at Carnoustie. It wasn’t the first time he’d bounced straight back up after suffering one of life’s hard knocks, and it certainly wouldn’t be the last.

Riding high dudgeon

Lee Buck Trevino was not to the manor born. Brought up by his single mother, Juanita, in a Texan shotgun shack with no running water or – ironically enough – electricity, he was sent out into the cotton fields at the age of three. By the time he was five, he was helping his Mexican grave-digging granddad Joe water the local cemetery at night. He never knew his father. At a young age he would get tooled up and go out hunting; because a kid’s gotta eat. It was a hard-knock life all right, and yet true to character, Trevino managed to wring precious drops of positivity from these inauspicious beginnings. “A lot of people have two To have reached 80 years old is a fine innings by any ways to go: down or up. I was already down. I only had metric – and an exceptional one for someone who, at one way to go!” Trevino found golf at the age of eight. the tender age of 36, was struck by a bolt of the great He would go down to his local course, the Dallas creator’s finest electric juice. As he hovered a couple Athletic Club, and rummage around for lost balls, of feet off the ground – the lightning having flashed selling them back to the members for decent dollars in off a lake as he waited for a squall to pass during the austere post-war times. He chanced upon a rusty old 1975 Western Open in Illinois, hitting the bag he 5-iron in a nearby pasture, cut down the wooden shaft, was leaning against, then via the steel shafts of his and practised every day by hitting apples. He became a clubs passing up his back and out his left shoulder caddie. Games played after work in the gloaming – Trevino experienced the sense of flying through an convinced him he could make more money swinging ethereal tunnel, faces of friends, foes and lovers clubs than carrying them. He hustled for dimes, looming in and out of view. All fell calm. Silence. At nickels and dollars, usually gambling with money he this point in proceedings, it’s probably safe to say didn’t actually have. He had no option but to win. that making it to his 37th birthday felt something of And he always won. Even when he offered to play a pipe dream. left-handed; even when But mere lightning – a he’d use just one club and force which raises the give his opponent their full ‘Th e docTors who temperature of anything handicap; even when he Tr eaTe d Tr evi no in its road by 30,000 used a taped-up 32-ounce degrees centigrade in less Dr Pepper bottle as a sai d Th e sorT of than a millisecond – gimmick at a nearby scorch mar ks wasn’t powerful enough nine-hole pitch-and-putt, on h i s shou lde r to put paid to this swinging in the baseball particular street-fighting style, sending his ball a we r e usually on ly tough. The doctors who good 100 yards each time, r ecor de d i n treated Trevino that rarely shooting over 30.

Th e morg u e ’ night said the sort of After a teenage stint in the scorch marks on his Marines in Japan, he shoulder were usually became assistant to the pro only recorded in the morgue. Trevino forced himself at the Horizon Hills club in El Paso near the Mexican to stay awake all night, fighting a couple of sleeping border, where he would regularly relieve the local pills powerful enough to sedate several wild horses, gamblers, hustlers and big-rollers of their bankroll. staring at the clock on the wall. Every ticking second His most famous win came in 1966 against Ray confirmed he was still alive.

Floyd, who had already won a couple of tournaments With trademark grace and wit, Trevino to this day on the PGA Tour, and rode into town with a view of maintains he “deserved to get hit”, having “set the making some easy money in a pre-arranged highwhole thing up a week before” at the US Open while stakes match with the best player at the club. Floyd entertaining the gallery during a thunderstorm asked a young man, bent over at his feet cleaning his interlude. Waving his most recalcitrant club in the shoes, who he’d be taking on. “That would be air, he delivered his most famous quip: “Don’t worry me,” Trevino announced, putting himself in serious about it! Even God can’t hit a 1-iron!” Fate thus danger of being cleaned out by Floyd’s jaw, which was recklessly tempted, the Lord proved otherwise a few descending at high velocity towards the days later in Illinois, though thankfully His floor. Trevino won the first day, shocking Floyd, who intervention proved nothing more than a celestial immediately asked for an emergency nine to

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Lee Trevino

Having seen off Jack Nicklaus to win his first Major at the US Open just three weeks earlier, SuperMex won The Open at Birkdale in 1971.

He’d won the Canadian Open in between.

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TREVINO’S BIG MISTAKE While Trevino’s Major thrills were glorious, his inability to win a Masters title remains a regret seared on his memory.

Trevino’s relationship with Augusta makes Donald Trump’s look cordial. Though he played the tournament in 1968 and 1969, he signed off by announcing “Don’t talk to me about the Masters. They can invite me all they want, but I’m not going back.”

Despite all this bluster, he only snubbed three tournaments – in 1970, ’71 and ’74. Trevino’s distaste for the Masters was usually attributed to the layout, and the plentiful right-to-left holes that welcomed creator Bobby Jones’ draw but shunned his fade. In 1970 he added: “Augusta is full of humps, and guys like me who hit the ball low don’t like that kind of course.”

In 2015, however, Trevino contradicted that, saying his problem was never with the course but a personality

clash with Augusta cofounder Clifford Roberts, and a hatred of the strict rules code he enforced around the club.

Warming to this theme, he recently described as “gutless” the Tour pros who willingly obeyed those rules.

It’s not hard to imagine Roberts’ glacial conservatism clashing with Trevino’s often chippy brashness. But underneath these comments, there has always been a whiff of something more mephitic. In May 1970, shortly after his first boycott, he announced: “There are people up there in Augusta who haven’t gone along with what is happening in life.

“They choose their field the way they want to and stay out of line. I will never play there until they make it an open tournament like we have everywhere else.”

Trevino’s scarcely veiled comments on Augusta’s exclusivity continued with his

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famous comment that, had he not been invited as a player, his only route to the course would have been through the kitchens.

In 1975, when he told media he was changing his shoes in the car park and not the clubhouse because it was nearer the range, he was fooling nobody.

However, in a dog-leg sharper than Augusta’s 13th, Trevino would later label his boycotts “The greatest mistake I’ve made in my career”.

Jack Nicklaus is often credited with mellowing Super Mex’s stance, though his recent revelations about Roberts imply things may have been different after Roberts’ suicide in 1977.

Or perhaps Trevino was simply mollified by a Masters Committee who – despite his doing everything possible to get himself uninvited to golf’s most exclusive party – continued to ask him to come and play every spring.

reclaim his money. “I’m sorry, I can’t, Mr Floyd. I have to put in all the carts before dark,” Trevino truthfully told him.

With rounds of 65 and 64, Trevino won the first two days of a three-day rubber, only losing the third after narrowly missing an eagle putt on 18. He gleefully gathered the bulk of the put-up cash.

Floyd, a mere three years away from his Major breakthrough at the 1969 PGA, left Texas in that lofty vehicle, high dudgeon. Despite the result, few would have predicted that Trevino, still shining shoes and earning $30 a week, would pip Floyd to Major glory. Except that’s exactly what he did.

Toiling in obscurity, without a college scholarship or amateur record to prove his worth, the chances of ever getting a PGA Tour card looked slim. But he qualified for the 1966 US Open at Olympic and, using a cobbled-together set that included seven different brands, Trevino tied 54th, earning $600.

At 27, Trevino was embarking on his maiden PGA Tour campaign at a relatively ripe old age, which may explain why he wasted no time whatsoever in aiming straight for the kingpin. He ended the 1967 season as rookie of the year, having

Lee Trevino

did pretty well on his Masters debut in 1968. He was two off the lead going into the final round, only to capitulate with an 80, finishing in a tie for 40th. He never seriously threatened to win the Tournament again, although he would register top-10 finishes in 1975 and 1985, and in 1989, at the age of 49, shoot an opening round of 67 to briefly lead the only Major he’d never land. In retrospect, Trevino’s fade and low ball flight were never going to work at Augusta National. “The way he saw it,” reported legendary Guardian reporter Peter Dobereiner, “he was like a horse with shortened nearside legs being asked to race on a right-handed track. It could not be done.” Additionally, his Mexican lineage

‘afte r wi n n i ng th e 1968 US OPe n , b eati ng Jack by fOU r StrOke S , tr evi nO an nOU nce d h e ’ d bUy th e al amO an d g ive it back tO m exic0’

trousered nearly $30,000, then won the 1968 US Open at Oak Hill, beating Jack Nicklaus by four, matching the Golden Bear’s tournament record of 275, becoming the first person to shoot four rounds in the 60s at America’s oldest tournament. “I’m gonna buy the Alamo and give it back to Mexico!” he quipped. The cash was important, but the lifetime exemption was priceless. Against all the odds, he was in.

Of course, there’s in, and then there’s in. Golf has never been a wholly progressive school, and as a Mexican-American he was never likely to be welcomed with open arms by the self-appointed cognoscenti.

During the Baltusrol tournament, he based himself at a cheap motel nearby, and was refused entry to its restaurant on the spurious basis of not owning a jacket of requisite tidiness. He was forced to walk half a mile each night, along a perilous highway, to the nearest diner. Trevino, a friend to all until crossed, kept the slight very much in mind. “Years later, the owner of the motel wanted to have a big ceremony when I returned, to present me with a jacket. I told him to keep his damn jacket. ‘I have plenty now. Where were you when I needed this?’” Bother was also inevitable at Establishment Central, aka Augusta National. Trevino

When Trevino won The Open for the first time at Royal Birkdale in 1971

ensured Trevino would never accept the antebellum attitudes still very much in fashion at Augusta.

At this point in time, no black player had ever been invited to the Masters; Trevino opted to give the clubhouse a symbolic bodyswerve, signally changing his shoes in the car park. He declined his invitations to play in 1970 and 1971. “For me, the first Major of the year is the US Open. I don’t count the Masters.” By the time he missed the Tournament for the second time, he’d not won on Tour for more than a year, his marriage had fallen apart, his beloved mother was dying of cancer, and he was hitting the bottle to a career-bothering degree. Many wrote off Trevino as a swinging supernova, burning brightly but all too briefly, coming and going in the blink of an eye.

he finally felt he belonged and successfully defended it at Muirfield in ’72.

The imperial phase

At the Doral-Eastern Open in March 1971, a concerned Jack Nicklaus approached the struggling Trevino in the locker room and applied some cute reverse psychology to light a fire in his rival and good friend’s belly. “I hope you go right on clowning,” deadpanned the Golden Bear. “And I hope you never learn how good you are. If you do, the rest of us might just have to pack up and go home!” Fire thus lit, cue Trevino’s imperial phase.

Within a couple of months he had won the Tallahassee Open. Another month went by, and the Memphis Classic was bagged. Three weeks later came his famous snake-tossing turn, where Trevino playfully tossed a rubber snake at Nicklaus on the first tee. Eighteen play-off holes later, the Mex had secured the proudest moment of his career, defeating Jack by three

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strokes. “Anybody can win a sudden-death play-off,” he recalled later, “but to win over 18 holes, when I beat the best there is, it gave me the confidence and I felt like now I belonged. I knew I could play with the best.”

Nicklaus would only be human to have wondered what fresh hell he’d unwittingly unleashed. Another fortnight on, Trevino had also landed the Canadian Open and his first Open Championship at Royal Birkdale, seeing off another good friend in Lu LiangHuan. Taking a one-shot lead into the final round at Birkdale, playing with Mr Lu (as he was known by fans and fellow players), Trevino got off to a fast start with five birdies on five of the first six holes. “After about six holes, Mr Lu looked at me, bowed and said, ‘Hey Bird,’ which is what he called me, ‘do you want to play through?” Victory over Mr Lu at Birkdale was a watershed moment for SuperMex. “I never thought I belonged. I never had the equipment. It’s like a farm boy going to Oxford and he doesn’t have the clothes. You gotta have the tails! You can’t do it. When I left Birkdale it was the first time I felt deep down that I belonged. I’d arrived. I’m one of the guys!” Twelve months later, Trevino successfully defended his Claret Jug at Muirfield with a display that captured his never-say-die

‘ i n eve r b e long e d. it’s li ke a far m boy goi ng to oxfor d without th e rig ht cloth e s . you gotta have th e tai l s! ’ attitude forever in aspic. During most of the third round, he clung onto the coattails of leader Tony Jacklin, yet another good friend about to fall victim to Trevino’s relentless ways. Suddenly he shifted up a gear: an absurd closing run of five consecutive birdies, including two chip-ins and three 20-foot putts, gave him a one-stroke 54-hole advantage. Trevino took to telling the locals in the gallery that “if there was such a thing as reincarnation, maybe I was a Scotsman before I was a Mexican!”

Jacklin looked stunned at the smash and grab, though this was nothing compared to what happened at the 71st hole on Saturday. The Englishman was comfortably on the long par 5 in three strokes; Trevino, having faffed around in a fairway bunker, was through the back in four. Convinced he had fatally lost all momentum at exactly the wrong moment, SuperMex dropped a wedge back onto the green without giving the shot any real thought. The ball bumped down the grassy bank and rolled across the rock-hard green on an inexorable journey into the cup for par. Jacklin, thoroughly rattled at Trevino’s jailbreak, three-putted from 15 feet, turning birdie into bogey. What looked like an advantage for Jacklin going up 18 had turned into a two-shot deficit. In a lightning flash. The BBC commentator Henry Longhurst sighed: “Ah well, his turn will come again.” But it never did. Jacklin, convinced the golfing gods were against him, was spent

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Lee Trevino

as a force in the Majors. Trevino ruminated on his good fortune. “You’re going to get good bounces and bad bounces, and hope they average out, that’s how you have to look at it,” he shrugged. “But Tony didn’t look at it that way.” Jacklin might have had the semblance of a point, mind. Just three months later, the pair met again in the semi-final of the Piccadilly World Matchplay at Wentworth. As they teed it up at the start of 36 holes, Jacklin told the effervescent chatterbox that he was going to be concentrating hard on the match and wouldn’t be conversing today. The response? “Tony, that’s fine. All you gotta do is listen.” Jacklin shot a sensational 63 in the afternoon; he still lost by one hole.

Dark clouds gathering

SuperMex went head-to-head with the Golden Bear again during the 1974 PGA Championship at Tanglewood, paired together in the final group on Sunday. Nicklaus birdied 5, then accidentally put his putter in Trevino’s bag, an act which momentarily confused everyone at the next green. A grinning Trevino tried to strike a deal as he handed the flat stick back. “Hey man, you’re tryin’ to give me 15 clubs and a two-stroke penalty! Tell you what, I’ll take the two if you promise not to use that thing for the rest of the round.”

Tanglewood was the bizarro Augusta, a course set up perfectly for Trevino’s fade. A rare exception was the dog-leg left 17th, but he nevertheless hit the shot of his life there en route to the title. Two shots clear of Nicklaus, he decided to go for broke, hooking his drive around the corner. “Nicklaus looked at me as though I had just lost my mind. Hell, I was surprised too. I’ve never been able to draw the ball too well! I got so excited I hit a 4-iron to 20 feet… and then three-putted.” But his latest gamble paid off nonetheless. Trevino argues that Nicklaus was still discombobulated when lining up a 10-foot birdie putt on the green. Nicklaus missed his chance to tie it up, and Trevino closed things out down the last. It was his fifth Major in six seasons.

Who knows how much longer that run would have continued, but for that flash from the Illinois sky the following summer? That lightning bolt wreaked havoc with Trevino’s back. A herniated disc required two surgeries. Meanwhile his nerves were understandably shot, the putter suddenly not so reliable. The glory days appeared over. Yet there was to be one last hurrah. This is Trevino; there simply had to be. In 1984, at the age of 44, he once again found himself in the final group of the PGA. Dark clouds gathered menacingly over Shoal Creek, thunder grumbling ominously mid-round. But this time there would be no brazen tempting of fate, nor would lightning strike twice. Trevino and partners sensibly took shelter in a nearby house, where a midround feast of chocolate-chip cookies, popcorn and iced tea was spread out. When the storm abated, a suitably refreshed Trevino went back out and romped home by four shots. The Wanamaker Trophy was soon swapped for two beers, one in each hand. “You may as well get a funnel, because I won’t even taste the first four!” Nobody begrudged the beloved Trevino a drop.

Not least because, given everything life had thrown at him, he’d had to fight for his right to party.

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COBRA SPEEDZONE DRIVERS ★ PING NORSE JACKETS ★ GOLF PRIDE GRIPS ★ MARKET SNAPSHOT ★ WILSON LAUNCH PAD WOODS ★ ODYSSEY STROKE LAB PUTTERS

F1-STYLE AERODYNAMICS

Aerodynamics is often the difference between winning and losing in Formula One. Cobra hasn’t held back on its search for free speed, either.

A raised crown and low skirt design is optimised with a streamlined top edge which optimises aero resistance and reduces drag no matter what your swing speed.

Entering the Speedzone…

COBRA TOOK A LEAF OUT OF THE F1 PLAYBOOK TO DESIGN ITS NEW DRIVER

The beginning of the year is always the most exciting time for golf equipment aficionados. Just as you are recovering from your Christmas festivities and New Year hangover, the major brands will reveal their most exciting new product lines. First to pull the covers from their new 2020 line up is Cobra. In 2019, the F9 Speedback driver not only won in the hands of Rickie Fowler, Bryson DeChambeau and Lexi Thompson, it was crowned the No.1 selling driver in the UK in the first quarter of the season.

On the back of that success, the company is looking to strengthen its foothold in the super competitive driver category.

Cobra says it took inspiration from some of the world’s fastest supercars when designing two new Speedzone drivers. Every component involved in construction has been decoupled and optimised before making its way back into the new designs. So how did Cobra do it?

WHY TWO DRIVER MODELS? 100% CNC MILLED INFINITY FACE The previous F9 Speedback was milled, but only on the clubface. On the new model, the marks spill over the edges onto the perimeter of the head. Cobra says its milling tech is five-times more precise than hand polishing and means it can precisely control thicknesses over a larger area. The big benefit, though, is that the face’s ‘hot zone’ has expanded by 22%, which preserves ball speed on off centre hits.

ENHANCED CHASSIS CONSTRUCTION A new T-Bar chassis construction removes extra titanium from the head’s skeleton. A new carbon fibre wrap around crown, which now accounts for 50% of the club’s body weight, saves some 25g of mass over the previous model. It has enabled Cobra to create two F9s – a lower spinning (Speedzone) and higher forgiveness (Speedzone Xtreme).

Research has proven that it’s currently impossible to create a driver that is simultaneously low spinning and forgiving. But while Tour pros and elite players often want to chase lower spin to add distance, most club golfers are better suited to a more forgiving backweighted model. It makes sense to make two models and aim at both the lower spin and forgiveness markets.

KINGSPEEDZONE£349 The SZ is a low CG model for tour and elite players looking to lower spin. It has a traditional head shape with 14g of movable weight that can be flipped between front and back ports to increase or lower shot trajectory. More weight towards the face lowers spin and provides the highest ball flight for maximum energy transfer.

KING SPEEDZONE XTREME £349

WHAT WE LIKE

Cobra’s F9 Speedback was the best value for money driver in 2019.

It was a top performer but was priced around £100 less than Callaway and TaylorMade’s leading models, while also featuring Arccos’ shot tracker in the grip. Cobra is admirably holding the price for Speedzone in 2020, which will turn some heads.

The Xtreme has a slightly bigger footprint and wider profile at address.

Its 17g of weight is positioned in the back exhausts. An additional 6g sole weight creates extreme MOI and forgiveness, which means more ball speed protection when shots are hit off centre. Cobra says the Xtreme could be the most forgiving driver you’ll hit in 2020.

COBRA SPEEDZONE DRIVERS ★ PING NORSE JACKETS ★ GOLF PRIDE GRIPS ★ MARKET SNAPSHOT ★ WILSON LAUNCH

//PING NORSE PRIMALOFT II JACKET

Space-age design for winter warmth These days, there’s so much more to keeping warm on the course than simply grabbing the thickest lambswool sweater you can find.

Insulating technology has advanced dramatically in recent years. In fact, Ping has used fabrics designed

by NASA in the creation of its latest winter weather collection. The tech is so

good you can now realistically expect to stay warm in sub-zero temperatures, swing freely without restrictions and stay dry in strong showers – all with one single garment.

Ping’s 2020 multi insulation jacket line up has all the answers to keep you cosy on the golf course. Our favourites are

the full-sleeved Norse PrimaLoft II, which has Silver Active rated insulation. And because the filling’s hydrophobic, which means it hates water, it will keep you dry in a shower. For those that prefer a sleeveless jacket, there’s also a Norse PrimaLoft Vest with Gold rated insulation. Ping says the filling is 95% air, which

makes it ultra-lightweight.

However, it has a higher warmth-to-weight ratio than any garment Ping has ever produced before.

Ping Norse PrimaLoft Jacket II Price: £150 Ping Norse PrimaLoft Vest Price: £110 www.pingcollection.co.uk

Ping’s new Norse PrimaLoft II jacket has been engineered to provide lightweight warmth without bulk.

It also water resistant.

The reversible PrimaLoft vest stretches to accommodate your swing and is lightweight, water resistant and breathable.

GOLF PRIDE PRO ONLY PUTTER GRIPS TRADITIONAL-SIZED GRIPS BASED ON TIGER STYLE!

Fat, jumbo and oversized grips have all had their day in the sun, but some 70 percent of the world’s best players are now reverting to more traditional sized models. Market leader Golf Pride spotted this trend early and has revealed three new Pro Only models to ensure golfers get the feel to fit their hands.

Tiger Woods has used a Golf Pride putter grip for all 15 of his major wins. And it’s no coincidence that the new Pro Only Red Star, the smallest in the new range at 71cc, is very similar in shape to Tiger’s preferred grip model. The Blue Star (81cc) has a V-shape back, while the Green Star (88cc) is oval-shaped with a flared back.

Each model is created from soft rubber to heighten feel and improve distance control. With winter being the perfect opportunity for refreshing old grips, there couldn’t be a better time to regrip an old putter ready for 2020. www.golfpride.co.uk £19.95

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PAD WOODS ★ ODYSSEY STROKE LAB PUTTERS

GEAR

PXG Operator Gen 2 £435

HIGH

PXG Gen 2 putters are ingenious in that all nine models are available in three different hosel options. It means you choose whether you want a plumber’s neck, double bend or slanting heel shaft set up, which isn’t an option from any other brand. Each model also comes in either a black or chrome finish.

TaylorMade SpiderX£299

MOI (FORGIVENESS)

Amazingly, TaylorMade Spider putters have been around for a decade and the X is the latest incarnation. DJ, Rory and countless others are fans, as the short slant hosel now means the model suits slightly arcing strokes. A very compact, stable MOI model, which traditionally would have been face balanced.

Bettinardi Studio Stock #38 £369

Bob Bettinardi is an absolute master when it comes to CNC milling putters. The Studio Stock #38 is the height of simplicity and tradition. The beautifully shaped head is perfectly detailed while the F.I.T face pattern gives the softest feel you‘ll find on any Bettinardi putter.

Odyssey Stroke Lab Seven£239

One of Odyssey’s most popular putter shapes. The #7 has won everything from majors to monthly medals and it’s as good today as it was when it was first introduced. Available as both a slant neck (slight toe hang) or double bend hosel (face balanced), the new Stroke Lab shaft improves stroke consistency by up to 25%.

We love the look of wide blade putters. The ER 2.2, which was new for 2019, is one of our favourites. Sweet Face technology, developed

by Evnroll’s owner Guerin Rife, ensures on- and offcentre hits travel the same distance, which means your speed control and pace should be more consistent.

The Ping Anser shape has spurned more clones than any other golf club in history.

The real beauty, though, of all the Sigma 2 putters is how they come with adjustable length shafts. It means you can switch length anywhere between 32” - 36” just with a few flicks of a wrench. Perfect if you like toying with length.

LOW

With high definition alignment aids all the rage, the Marxman is right up there as one of the boldest available. We like how the wide sight line focuses attention on your takeaway path but also on the point where you’re trying to impact putts. Available as both a slant neck and double bend option.

Evnroll ER 2.2 £309

Ping Sigma 2 Anser £200

SMALLER

OdysseyStroke Lab Marxman £239

SIZE

BIGGER

MARKET SNAPSHOT

AN AT-A-GLANCE GUIDE TO HELP YOU CHOOSE THE BEST PUTTER FOR YOUR GAME There’s never an excuse for not being able to find a putter that suits your eye. There are literally thousands of different colours, shapes, sizes, weights and hosel styles from which to choose. Alignment aids and stability may be trending right now, but you’ve got to hand it to short slant hosels. They’ve played a massive role recently in making forgiving mallet and MOI models more palatable options for blade-loving tour pros and elite amateurs. So if you’re looking for a putter change in 2020, hosel designs are a great place to start. Here are some of our favourite flatsticks together with an explanation of why they should be on your radar.

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COBRA SPEEDZONE DRIVERS ★ PING NORSE JACKETS ★ GOLF PRIDE GRIPS ★ MARKET SNAPSHOT ★ WILSON LAUNCH

//WILSON LAUNCH PAD WOODS Take the right side out of play!

Is no secret that the average age of golfers is slowly creeping up. But did you realise that once you hit the big 6-0, you typically lose 0.5 mph of swing speed each year? Within a decade, you’re dropping 5mph, which equates to 15 – 25 yards depending on your launch characteristics!

Not surprisingly, many of the top brands see the lightweight super gameimprovement market as a significant area for growth.

Wilson is joining the party with its new Launch Pad – and its whole idea is centred around helping golfers avoid the need to shout, ‘Fore! Right!’.

Within the Launch Pad, Wilson has created a whole new tool box of ‘no going right’ technologies and crammed them into a design that doesn’t shout game improver. Woods have a large heel weight (13g) to naturally help square the face at impact while there’s also extra loft and a forward centre of gravity to launch shots high with less backspin. To disguise the closed face angle at address, there’s extra face radius while an offset hosel and upright lie all help keep a slice in check.

Launch Pad fairway woods (15° and 18° lofts, RRP 149) and FYbrid (20.5° loft, RRP £129) all come with similar slice busting tech.

Price: £269 www.wilson.com/golf

THE TRUE COST OF YOUR SLICE In the development of Launch Pad Wilson researched slicers and found the typical swing path was 5.5 degrees from outside to in, with a threedegree open clubface at impact. This combination not only greatly reduces ball speed and carry distance, it also means that shots consistently finish on the right side of the golf course. Wilson’s research showed that, at an average swing speed of 95mph, the testers sliced almost 50% of their shots.

For each slice, ball speed dropped by 0.9mph, backspin increased by 740 RPM (which robs distance) and shots curved 18.7 yards in the air. All in all, Wilson claims a slice costs an average of seven yards in carry distance, which is almost a club more for the subsequent approach shot.

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PAD WOODS ★ ODYSSEY STROKE LAB PUTTERS

GEAR

//ODYSSEY STROKE LAB BLACK PUTTERS High MOIandhighdefinition Alignment and stability are hot putter topics. Whereas a decade ago Tour pros swore by narrow bodied blades, many have now switched to higher MOI stability and alignment models. So great is the trend that more than 60% of tour players use mallet models these days.

And when pros make the switch, regular club golfers feel they need to change, too. Not wanting to miss out on the MOI party, ex-TaylorMade man Sean Toulon, who lists the

TaylorMade Spider (which was one of the original high MOI models) as one of his favourite projects, has taken the decision to drive Odyssey down the stability route, too.

Odyssey has revealed two new Stroke Lab Black putters – Ten and Bird of Prey – both of which are high MOI with high-definition alignment graphics. Odyssey says the MOI numbers produced by the pair reduce dispersion patterns on putts by as much as 73% over

conventional mallet designs.

Both Ten and Bird of Prey have a new “Microhinge Star” insert to give a firmer feel but maintain the same roll characteristics as the super popular White Hot Microhinge. They both come with the excellent Stroke Lab steel and graphite shaft, which helps improve stroke consistency too.

Price: £299 www.odysseygolf.com

3 MORE MOI MONSTERS TO CONSIDER

TaylorMade Spider X

A cracking compact-headed MOI model. A carbon fibre core allows extra weight to be positioned around the Spider’s frame, increasing stability. The Y-shaped sightline was designed in conjunction with optical specialists at Indiana University. £299

BIRD OF PREY Housed in an all-new head shape, Odyssey says the MOI of the Bird of Prey is 5712, which is significantly higher than its competitors.

PingSigma2 Fetch

Not only the best ball retriever ever, Fetch has sneaky high MOI stability, too. Two long, narrow sightlines frame the golf ball at address, while a Dual-Durometer insert means softer feel on must-make shorties and firmer feedback from distance. £200

TEN

Although similar in geometry to the TaylorMade Spider, Odyssey claims the design was actually influenced by its popular No.7 and Indianapolis head shapes.

Odyssey EXO StrokeLab Seven

A super premium CNC Milled head with a lightweight aluminium centre and heavy steel surround. Expect a boost in off centre hit forgiveness. Shows how complex putters have become to help you hole more. £349

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T O S C A N A R E S O R T C A S T E L F A L F I ★ A N D E R M AT T ★ S H E E P R A N C H ★ M A C H R I H A N I S H ★ C O R N W A L L ★ D O R S E T

THE ROUNDS OF YOUR LIFE

TH D TAI Toscana Resort Castelfalfi lies an hour and 45 minutes’ drive west of Tuscany’s capital city, Florence, and just under an hour east of Pisa, both of which will charm you if you decide to leave the luxurious resort. The best times to visit are either side of summer – April and May or September and October – when the heat and the numbers are a little lighter.

// ITALY

Toscana Resort Castelfalfi A sun-drenched idyll of hill-top towns and frescoed churches, olive groves and vineyards, of historic art and culinary masterpieces, Tuscany has more than enough reasons to want to be there before you factor in any golf.

But when you take all of the above and stir in 27 holes of golf – played out around the grounds of a luxury resort perched high on the Tuscan hills – you have some serious dolce vita.

The resort in question is Toscana Resort Castelfalfi, pictured here in all its sunkissed glory. A medieval jewel set in the heart of Tuscany, just west of Florence and very close to the Italy of your imagination.

Abandoned during the 1960s, this 800-year-old estate has been brought gloriously back to life in recent years and now offers everything the travelling golfer’s heart could yearn for.

You’re staying in the four-star Hotel La Tabaccaia, a former factory where tobacco was dried for Tuscan cigars, or if you’d prefer the five-star spa hotel Il Castelfalfi, or whichever of the many luxury villas or apartments you opt for should you want a pool and privacy.

Whichever you choose, you’ll be surrounded by olive groves and vineyards for which the region is celebrated – those olives and grapes helping elevate the dining experience to dangerously decadent levels. The aforementioned spa is arguably Italy’s finest and the weather remains at the very least mild all year round.

That final point is key because Golf Club Castelfalfi is the main reason you are here; to combine Tuscan luxury with as much golf as you can humanly squeeze in. The Lake Course is a gentle affair over nine holes and significantly easier than the main event Mountain Course, played out around much water and, as the name suggests, up and down some steep slopes.

If the elevation takes it out of you, the chianti, the tiramisu and all that dolce vita will bring you happily back to life. // www.castelfalfi.com

// switzerland

Andermatt While a pair of skis are the traditional oversize baggage check-in before flying to the Swiss Alps, the opening of a new championship golf course in Andermatt in 2016 has given golfers a reason to pack up their clubs and experience golf in the breathtaking surroundings of a glorious alpine summer. It’s an experience distinct from most other golfing excursions, like teeing it up in the middle of The Sound of Music – and it’s absolutely fantastic.

Andermatt has already been voted as the country’s best 18-hole course at the 2018 Swiss Golf Awards – and it’s very easy to see why. The design and facilities have all the hallmarks of a proper championship experience in one of the most spectacular settings you could imagine.

The village of Andermatt is located in a valley in the Uri canton, one of the four original cantons of Switzerland. The course lies just outside, nestled into a relatively flat parcel of land that is surrounded by imposing mountains and crisscrossed by streams and ponds that come into play on 15 holes.

It’s a subtly clever design that forces strategic decisions off the tee, so you can have the optimum approach into some inventive and testing green complexes. The conditioning is excellent, especially considering the course spends the winter under deep snow.

The layout stretches to 6,927 yards off the tips, but most visitors will choose to play it off the whites at 6,701 or yellows at 6,390. It’s also worth remembering that your ball will fly a good club or more farther at this altitude.

Watching your almost luminous white ball soar against the alpine green of the stunning mountain backdrops that surround you is a glorious sight – particularly when it flies further than ever before. The hot chocolate and fondue in the 19th are pretty special, too. // andermatt-swissalps.ch

Travel

THE DETAILS Andermatt is a village in the Swiss Alps, at an altitude of 1,437 metres above sea level. The nearest airport is Zurich, which is about a one hour and 40-minute drive.

Milan Malpensa airport in Italy is a two-hour drive.

The golf season typically starts in late May and runs until the snow begins to fall in late October.

THE DETAILS For the uninitiated, Oregon is way west, all the way to the far side of the US, above San Francisco and below Portland. While the latter option is closer (240 miles), the quickest route is to fly into San Francisco or Denver and get a connecting flight into Southwest Oregon Regional Airport, which is a 35-minute drive away from this golfing nirvana.

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// USA

Sheep Ranch The cat is out the bag, or perhaps that should be the sheep. Whichever beast is out of the bag, it’s now running free, for what was one of golf’s greatest secrets is a secret no more. On June 1 this year, the Bandon Dunes Resort in Oregon officially opens its fifth 18-hole course, Sheep Ranch, a place that was for the best part of two decades whispered about behind closed hands.

Sheep Ranch is a course they first started creating almost two decades ago, a secret set out on 140 acres of untouched meadow on the ocean’s edge.

Tom Doak took time out from designing Pacific Dunes in 2001 to lay out 13 unirrigated greens played by those in the know who knew who to know.

Many years later, having designed Bandon Trails at the resort in 2005, Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw were invited back to complete the project.

Several years later, in 2020, the results are spectacular.

Because it’s soil beneath the ground and not sand, Sheep Ranch is not a links, but it plays like one. Laid out on what was once a wind farm, until the wind blew the windmills down, it’s more wide open and exposed than the resort’s other courses, with fewer trees, far smaller dunes and not a single sand bunker. Notably, clustered tees have allowed Coore and Crenshaw to set holes off running at unexpected angles.

But what sets Sheep Ranch apart is the use of the shoreline, with nine greens perched atop the cliffs and the holes designed to encourage you to fire across the cliffs and the ocean.

In isolation, Sheep Ranch would be worth the air fare, despite the number of miles involved in getting from here to there. But as part of the whole Bandon Dunes Resort, it’s a fitting and spectacular addition, and one that should be on the do list of every right-minded golfer in 2020. // sheepranch.golf

T

The route to the 1st tee at Machrihanish is guarded by an aptly craggy monolith on which is etched the club’s crest – complete with oyster catcher – and a legend reading ‘Best opening hole of golf in the world’. Now it is, of course, entirely possible the club is biased on this score. It is, however, equally plausible it is not. For while the first hole at Ardglass demands a stunning and similar coastal carry, Portstewart’s Strand layout kicks off with a gorgeous, dramatic plunge and the Old Course at St Andrews imbues a unique visceral thrill, there is nothing quite like the 1st at Machrihanish.

Forget the golfing challenge for a moment (see Signature Hole) and drink in the scene. The tee itself is perched a short pitch from the rocks that defend this slender strip of Scotland from the might of the Northern Atlantic. Just a few steps in front of you, the teeing grounds fall away to the start of a glorious sweep of white-gold sand. Arcing left, the beach leads your gaze round and beyond to the tawny outlines of Islay, Jura and Gigha across the bay. The air is a salty perfume of sea water and seaweed, and larksong fills the hemisphere above.

Beyond the beach, seemingly five yards further away each time you look, is the angled fairway you are trying to find, and beyond that, some 420 yards distant, the green. It’s a spellbinding scene, and it is almost with reluctance that you pull your focus away from it and on to the relatively mundane subject of which club to pull.

The hole was envisioned and created by none other than Old Tom Morris, brought in to show the locals how it was done three years after their first stab at building a golf course in 1876. By all accounts a gentle and kindly man off the course, Old Tom’s uncompromising character on it clearly extended to his architecture; this was, after all, the man who saw fit to built a 578-yard opener at Prestwick when 200 yards was considered a mighty blow.

The 1st at Machrihanish measures only 424 yards, but to say it is challenging is a bit like saying a tiger can give you a nasty nip. The first task is to pick your line – no easy feat over the beach to a flat and fairly featureless landscape. The more beach you carry, the shorter and simpler the approach. Your bravery can be boosted by the fact the beach is in play and the prevailing wind tends to push your ball inland… but even this causes problems, with four bunkers to the right of the fairway, known as the Specs, waiting to catch anything pushed too safe.

The challenge was certainly too much for

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A view from behind the green on the 6th hole, a mid-length par 4 called ‘Balaclava’ by virtue of its clever elements of disguise.

Prince Andrew who, in simpler times for the Duke, was asked to hit a ceremonial tee shot to open a new Blue tee, excitingly sited right on the coastline. “The Prince got a ball from the pro shop, which he signed ‘HRH A’,” recalls club captain Willie Ross. “All the juniors were down on the fairway, waiting to claim it.

However, he hooked the ball down on to the beach, and all the kids clambered down there after it. Prince Andrew called for a second ball, and signed it again.

When he looked up he saw all the kids down on the beach, anticipating a second hooked drive. This kind of annoyed him, and he asked for them to be moved back up to the fairway. Sure enough, his second ball disappeared back down to the beach… followed by a stampede of juniors.”

If you do manage to get your drive away you’ll see that the second part of the hole hugs the coastline, rising gently through two cheeky bunkers – 30 yards short of the green to foreshorten the approach – to a neatly-sited green, with plenty of movement in it.

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‘It conjures the same, special sense of being given over to golf that you find in St Andrews’ Enticing, exciting and enriching, it’s a quite majestic start. ‘The best opening hole in golf’ will always be a subjective title; but as you leave the green, you cannot escape the feeling that of the world’s 40,000 1st holes, you might just have played the best.

Enigma variations

Maybe the hardest thing about Machrihanish’s 1st hole is getting to it in the first place. A small and remote collection of dwellings near the south-western tip of the beautiful Kintyre Peninsula, Machrihanish is reached for most via Glasgow – either by hopper flight into nearby Campbeltown, 140-mile road trip north past Loch Lomond then south down the peninsula, or ferry via Ardrossan.

You are, though, rewarded for your perseverance; this may only be a hamlet, but it somehow conjures the same, special sense of being given over to golf that you find in St Andrews, Dornoch or North Berwick. People only come here to play golf.

Indeed, the one road into the village takes you right past the 18th hole and 1st tee to the clubhouse – or rather it would, had the clubhouse not burned down just before Christmas last year. Mercifully, no one was injured and the club’s plans for rebuilding are well under way.

Such is the informality at Machrihanish that, if the tee times allow, you could be out of your car and off the 1st tee within minutes… and with that opening shot in store, it’s hard not to. But despite

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SIGNATURE HOLE

1ST | PAR 4 | 424 YARDS While Machrihanish is not short of memorable holes – the 5th, 8th or 12t could all be covered here – the sheer statement of the opener sees it take t honours. “I’d say the drive looks more daunting than it is,” says head pro Jennie Dunn. “There is plenty of room out there, but like every hole here you are at the mercy of the wind, which ensures it plays differently every day.

You can bail out right towards the 18t fairway but it’s a long way in from the and you bring four fairway bunkers in play. The ideal drive is a draw, which catch a fairway ridge that helps your run down into position. This leaves a shorter, cleaner approach from a leve stance and makes clearing the bunke 30 yards short of the green, much ea “It feels instinctive to avoid the beach all costs, but it is in bounds and you c give yourself a shot at par from down there,” adds club captain Willie Ross. you play too safe, you turn the hole in par 5 anyway and it becomes a false economy. That’s why I believe the bes policy is to go for it every time.”

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the magnificence of the opener – and a sporty par-4 2nd, complete with burn at driving distance and blind, uphill approach – the course really starts to kick into gear at the 3rd. This is where the landscape moves from downland nto the duneland that apparently prompted Old Tom to tter “Eh mon! The Almichty had gowf in his e’e when e made this place.” A shortish par 4, the 3rd itself is a mouthwatering appetiser to future delights. A blind tee hot gives way to a delicious pitch into a semi-punchbowl reen apparently protected by a fleet of flying saucers – he ominous shadows of five pot bunkers – with a small une and ocean behind. Already, you have been asked to trike a level, uphill and downhill approach.

So begins a superb run of authentic duneland golf, eading north up the coastline. The short par-3 4th is mplicity itself, a short iron across a swale from one une to another, with just one front trap needed and a evious run-off behind. For many the pick of the lot, the ar-4 5th sweeps left over a rumpled and tapering airway to a 40-yard green that features something of a Machrihanish trademark – a sharp, rejecting drop at the ront and a subtle, awkward run-off behind.

But on a front nine that constantly delights, the short ar-4 8th takes things up a level. Dog-legging slightly eft, it demands a precise tee shot into a dell before the round rises up to an elevated green, behind which is the ull glory of the southern Inner Hebrides. At only 341 ards, it encapsulates why Machrihanish plays so much onger and tougher than its modest 6,200-yard length.

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‘The course constantly asks you to create a shot that works for the unique set of conditions in front of you’ While the coast is constantly visible throughout the front nine, the holes do not rub against it. Indeed, at times there is enough duneland between the holes and the beach for two or three more fairway corridors. Why Old Tom didn’t choose to structure his course through this area we will never know, but we should be grateful; it has safeguarded the course from the perils of erosion.

Cutting east, the 9th finally takes us inland. But while the holes from hereon in offer more in the way of inland, downland backdrops, you are still in dune country and the fascinating landforms do not relent. Indeed, as the round continues, it starts to hit home how the joy of this course is found in its rugged, natural contours. Rather like Portrush, just 40 or so miles distant across the Irish Sea, Machrihanish is only sparsely bunkered, the job of defence left to the rough and the formidable swales that characterise its fairways and greens. The questions the course poses are consequently complex: a 5-iron with the ball 12 inches below your feet and the wind hard off the left; a pitch to a perched green downwind with the pin cut at the front; a bunker shot that demands height to escape the lip, even though you need to chase the ball up a step. The fact you can’t always find an answer in no way detracts from the pleasure of trying.

“Ultimately you need to play a ground game here,” insists head professional Jennie Dunn. “Getting the ball all the way to the back of the very long green on the 3rd, mastering the false fronts on greens like the 13th, which rises before falling away from you… the course is constantly making you think how to create a shot that works for the unique set of conditions in front of you.

And with the wind constantly changing, yesterday’s solution won’t work today.”

The course continues to set its Enigma-machine riddles into the back nine, potential birdie opportunities masterfully mingling with tough pars. Two marvellous par 5s at the 10th and 12th present chances for progress, though the terrific 437-yard 14th and 230-yard 16th will doubtless balance the leger.

It is the par-4 17th, though, that pulls you finally out of the dunes, back across the burn and into the course’s flat finale. After such an intense delivery of natural curls and swirls, the straight line of white OB markers hard to the fairway’s left is both a shock and a smack, and it’s a feeling that makes it tough to appreciate a final pair of holes that, on any other course, would be considered solid enough. That said, a rather bland close is a small price to pay for a course that supplies a rare blend of

The par-4 3rd hole, ‘Islay’, where the courses landscape moves from downland into the duneland.

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The 4th, the first short hole at Machrihanish, is called ‘Jura’ after the tiny island that sits to the west of Kintyre.

history, beauty, challenge, excitement and, above all, fun.

And yet, after surviving the winds, dunes and undulations of Machrihanish, it comes as something of a shock to discover that raw and rugged test may, in fact, have been watered down.

In The Spirit of St Andrews, written in the 1930s, Alister MacKenzie laments a taming of Old Tom Morris’ original holes. Some of the natural greens were so undulating that at times one had to putt 20 or 30 yards round to lay dead at a hole only five yards away, he wrote. These greens have all gone and today one loses the joy of outwitting an opponent by making spectacular putts of this description. And in an effort to eliminate unfairness, many of the natural hazards have been destroyed, undulations shaved off and alternate routes to holes done away with, and the interest and strategy of the course has disappeared.

If MacKenzie’s observations are to be believed, one can only goggle at just how tumultuous Machrihanish may once have been. Certainly there are enough swells and swales today to satisfy even the fussiest links purists.

Nevertheless, MacKenzie’s comments do raise the question of just how much of the great man’s original design remains in place. Certainly JH Taylor made some modifications in 1914 and further alterations were made

by Sir Guy Campbell some three decades later. But it is generally accepted that no major earth-moving was performed by either. Given Scotland’s respect for the Grand Old Man and the enduring splendour of the landscape and the golfing experience, this is perhaps an avenue that does not need to be explored.

Dressed to impress

So answer this: what has golf course top-dressing got in

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‘It comes as something of a shock to discover that raw and rugged test may, in fact, have been watered down’ common with Viagra, Corn Flakes and LSD? The somewhat anticlimactic answer is they were all discovered by accident. According to legend, Old Tom Morris spilled a barrowful of sand onto the 10th green at Prestwick shortly after he laid out its original 12-hole course. The next spring he was amazed to find the sand replaced by a silky sward. It is, then, a rather delicious coincidence that, 150 years later, the same treatment is saving his Kintyre classic.

“It is fair to say we were starting to get more negative comments about the condition of the course,” admits Ross. “We even had one society request discounted green fees because they were so disappointed with it. The greens were having quite a lot of coring and they were bumpy and slow, with lots of wee indentations.”

The club quickly took action, installing a new irrigation system and appointing Craig Barr, greenkeeper at neighbouring Machrihanish Dunes, in August 2018.

“We’ve gone back to the way things were done before artificial fertilisers,” Barr informs. “That’s included straightforward top-dressing with sand, which helps the bacteria in the ground, but also using organic compost tea brews to improve the roots and soil. So far, it’s

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How we ranked MacHriHanisH Design Wonderful use of contours and dune corridors sets a rugged yet mostly visible challenge; large, muscular greens throw an emphasis on short-game touch.

25.7

out of 30

seTTing

PLAyAbiLiTy

The course runs through stunning duneland that allows the entire front nine to track the coast.

Under 6,000 yards off yellow tees, but wind makes yardage irrelevant. Inscrutable at times, but rewards the classic linksland ground game.

17.5

12.5

out of 20

working well; the greens are very healthy and holding up.”

With the bunker revetting looking tired and several traps becoming smaller and more circular, the club has also embarked on a comprehensive bunker improvement programme. Bunkers at the front of the 13th and 15th have at least doubled in size, becoming more playable if easier to find. While the programme will create some short-term inconsistency, the quality of the new traps constructed by Barr and his team show how valuable this work will be to the course’s presentation and playing experience.

These works have helped Machrihanish climb six places to 43rd in GW’s last Top 100 GB&I, but with the work ongoing, it appears set to rise even higher. But despite these improvements to the course’s conditioning, the playing experience remains pleasingly raw, in keeping with the sense of history and the captivating, native gradients across which Machrihanish’s fairways flow. These works have helped the course enhance its status at the hub of a southern Kintyre golfing experience that also offers Mach Dunes and Dunaverty, a glorious sub-5,000yard clifftop track some five miles to the south.

“The fact this is an Old Tom Morris course altered very little, the stunning scenery, the sense of remoteness… these are the things that make Machrihanish special, and they explain why we get people coming back to visit us year after year,” asserts Ross. “But also we are a friendly, informal club, the green fee is just £75, and in 40 years of being a member here, and I can honestly say that I can’t remember the course ever having played better. I doubt there’s ever been a better time for a golfing pilgrimage.”

out of 15

TOTAL Starts with a bang, ends with a whimper but the magnificent setting, added to the fun challenge, ensures this is a pilgrimage worth making.

80.8

out of 100

HOLes

PresenTATiOn

Awesome opener gives way to some wonderful linksland through the first 12, with the 3rd, 5th and 8th standout par 4s.

Last two make for a bland finale.

Improving due to an upgraded irrigation system, a bunker upgrade programme and an increased focus on top dressing and organic feeds.

8.5

10.4

out of 10

out of 15

COnsisTenCy A new revetting programme is tidying up somewhat ragged bunkering. Some tees need attention, but greens evenly coloured and paced.

6.2

out of 10

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72 hourS Cornwall Deep into England’s far southwest corner, Tony Dear uncovers five supreme courses and one epic long weekend.

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hen plotting our next regional guide, we’d have very much liked to have done as so many have before us and grouped Cornwall and Devon into a single article. We considered this for a while, then came to our senses and realised again that there is far too much world-class golf spread across those two counties to squeeze it all into one. So it is to Cornwall we head first, home to four courses inside our Top 100 England ranking. Despite that concentration of quality, the far southwest of the country really hasn’t quite received the love or attention it deserves for the quality of its golf. Distant from Britain’s acknowledged golfing centres – Southwest London, the Lancashire, Kent and Norfolk coasts, Lothian, Fife and Ayrshire, Cornwall is perceived as a little… lightweight perhaps – great for a family holiday but maybe not the sort of place you’d consider for a golfing escape. Big mistake. Here’s how to show the county the respect it deserves and experience a long weekend of rare quality.

Where to Stay

Four of the five courses we’re suggesting you cram into this thrilling and hectic 72 hours lie within 25 miles of each other on the north Cornish coast. The outlier, St Mellion, is located in the southeast of the county and is a fine place to start. We suggest heading for Cornwall as soon as you can get away from the office on Friday, and spending the night at the excellent St Mellion International Resort, 11 miles northwest of Plymouth on the edge of the Tamar Valley. Golf begins the next morning on the resort’s Jack Nicklaus-designed course, after which you can enjoy a leisurely drive west. Because the four courses you play over the next couple of days are

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so close to each other, you have a choice of where your second base should be – Padstow/Rock, Trevose, or Newquay. In Rock, you can’t go wrong at the stylish, family-owned St Enodoc Hotel overlooking the Camel Estuary and just half a mile from St Enodoc GC. You’ll be playing at Trevose Golf and Country Club, so you could stay at the club which has a range of accommodation types to suit all budgets. Or you could choose the handsome and renowned Headland Hotel in Newquay, which opened in June 1900 and offers not only hotel rooms but also one-, two-, and three-bedroom cottages. Whatever you opt for, the next two days will include some of the most enjoyable golf you’ll ever play.

Where to Play

Coming in at No. 53 in our ranking of English courses, St Mellion is Jack Nicklaus’ debut European design which opened in 1988 and hosted six Benson and Hedges International Opens on the European Tour between 1990 and 1995 – winners included Seve Ballesteros, Bernhard Langer, and Jose Maria Olazabal. Part of the Crown Golf portfolio, St Mellion International Resort underwent a £100m redevelopment in 2008/2009 that restored the Nicklaus Course to its very best, transformed the property’s original course, built in 1976, into the new Kernow Course, and saw major updates to the 80-room, four-star hotel. Always regarded as a particularly tough test, the average winning score on the Nicklaus Course at those B&H International opens was a shade under 282 (-6).

Pick the right tees, though, and you’ll no doubt enjoy a number of really attractive holes, none prettier than the gorgeous, 203-yard, downhill 11th where the great Golden Bear shanked his tee shot during the opening day exhibition. The green fee starts from £80 (£40 Kernow).

See www.st-mellion.co.uk for details.

Full disclosure here – St Enodoc’s Church course has been this writer’s favourite course in the world for well over 30 years, so forgive me if the following few paragraphs begin to gush superlatives. Records show that golf was first played on the dunes around the 12th Century church (Enodoc, a hermit from South Wales who lived in a cave, had come to Cornwall around 500AD) and nearby Daymer Bay in 1888, though the club wasn’t established until 1890. Ten years later, a Dr Theophilus Hoskin bought 300 acres around Trenain Farm and Brea Hill and leased part of his property to the golf club which hired James Braid, then a three-time Open champion, to lay out 18 holes in 1907.

Though the firm of (Herbert) Fowler & (Tom) Simpson made some changes in the early 1920s,

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building the par-3 8th in 1922, St Enodoc was really Braid’s baby, and he cherished it much like Donald Ross did Pinehurst No. 2 in America.

Some will tell you the King’s Course at Gleneagles was Braid’s masterpiece and while they certainly have an argument, surely nothing beats the charm, beauty, and variety of St Enodoc. The Scot made his final changes to the course in 1937 when the fabulous 17th and 18th holes were added following construction of a new clubhouse.

In 1949, the Duchy of Cornwall bought the land following Dr Hoskin’s death and leased it to the club, a situation that remained in place until 1987 when the club purchased the freehold. Two-time Amateur Championship winner Peter McEvoy added length, bunkers, and a new 13th green in 2004, and three years later the 16th was extended to 560 yards.

The course, number six in our England ranking, is still essentially that which Braid devised, however, and there are far too many notable holes to describe them all here. Just play the mesmerising opener with its beautifully-rippled fairway, the superb 2nd with its enthralling approach between the dunes, and the blind drive, downhill 3rd and you’ll know exactly what we mean. It’s a quirky start to be sure, but in the best possible way.

Actually, why stop there? The 4th is Braid’s most brilliant short par 4, the 6th features the (in) famous ‘Himalaya’ bunker dug into a sand hill 40 yards short of the green, the demanding par 4 10th sweeps to the left with the church (in whose graveyard Sir John Betjeman – Poet Laureate from 1972 until his death in 1984 – is buried) on the right, the wonderful par-3 15th brings you back to the dunes after a brief absence at the 13th and 14th, and the finish is full of drama, challenge, and fun.

“The golf (at St Enodoc) had been described as eminently natural, amusing, and dramatic in a country of glorious and terrific sand hills,” said Bernard Darwin after visiting the course for the first time. “All this proved to be perfectly true, and yet when I saw it I felt that full justice had not been done.” The green fee is £95 in the summer, half that in the winter. You may not have time to play the club’s 4,082-yard, par 63 Holywell Course, but it’s a blast. See www.st-enodoc.co.uk for details.

Trevose GC is a Harry Colt design that opened in 1925 on sandy ground a couple of miles south of Trevose Head with great views over Constantine and Booby’s bays, and which has played host to numerous elite amateur championships – it’s as solid a list of ingredients as can be imagined. And yet, Trevose has never been held in quite the same esteem as St Enodoc, less than five miles to the east as the kittiwake flies, or a 17-mile drive.

After a rollicking start culminating with the fantastic, left-curving, par-5 4th hole, the course turns inland and, though the ground remains firm

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requiring crisp iron-play, the features become more subdued, the outlook a little less romantic. Opinion seems split over Trevose which has been owned by the Gammon Family for three generations now.

Some believe it to be a little bland in places, others believe that the challenge is wonderfully subtle and that Colt showed the architect’s most underappreciated characteristic – restraint. “Golf needs more Trevoses,” says Canadian course architect and a big fan of the course, Jeff Mingay.

Over the last four years, architect and master renovator Tom Mackenzie (of Mackenzie & Ebert), has exercised subtlety, restraint, flair and good common sense in making improvements to Trevose that are sure to see its ranking improve in the coming years (it’s currently 83rd). Mackenzie has restored all the bunkers to the original rugged style (many had revetted faces), built new greens at the 4th, 11th, and 13th, and added fairway bunkers at numerous holes to increase strategy and interest.

“We felt the bunkers’ natural style would be more in keeping with Trevose’s wild and rugged setting,” says Mackenzie. “It is not a crisp, clean, polished environment. Our aim throughout has been to make the course more fun and playable for the average player, but toughen it up as a driving test for better players.”

Another dramatic change, Mackenzie adds, has been the removal of rose scrub across the course which has opened up sand, creating dune slacks and new dunes. “This improves the ecology of the site,” he explains. “The combination of all these measures has transformed the look of the course.”

An always welcoming and enjoyable seaside course is now that much better as a result of Mackenzie’s input, and we can’t recommend it highly enough.

It’s also worth pointing out, the nine-hole Peter Alliss-designed Headland Course is an enjoyable stroll with some great views and the Short Course is ideal for kids and beginners. Very comfortable accommodation is available in the form of cottages, apartments, self-catering lodges, and ensuite bedrooms and, as a country club, tennis and swimming are also available to non-members.

You’ll pay £77 in the summer, £40 in the winter and find full details at www.trevose-gc.co.uk Although Newquay GC didn’t quite make it into our Top 100 England, given its location and quality, you really should consider a detour.

Thirteen miles south of Trevose and eight miles north of Perranporth, it would be a terrible shame to miss out on this excellent Harry Colt design about which the words ‘highly underrated’ and ‘flies under the radar’ are frequently heard.

The club was established in 1890, but Colt didn’t arrive until 1908 after new land had been leased from the Treffry Estate. Thanks to Colt, the original 4,325-yard course blossomed into a 6,000-yarder (6,141 yards today) that plays to a stingy par of 69. The highly-acclaimed Headland

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Hotel, and Fistral Beach, the celebrated surfing spot, lie just to the north and west. The green fee is £34. See www.newquaygolfclub.co.uk for details.

It is a dour and dismal golfer who, during the planning process, visits Perranporth GC’s website, sees the amazing aerial of the course on the home page, and doesn’t immediately start daydreaming.

How could you watch the opening slideshow and not picture yourself hitting mighty drives over daunting sand hills, pinching wind-piercing irons off springy turf, and putting out on greens surrounded by dunes, all overlooking the golden sands of Perranporth Beach and ominous waters of Perran Bay? It is all rather intoxicating, and James Braid’s wild 1927 design – with blind shots at almost every turn – is apt to get the golfer’s head spinning. The course is so quirky it makes St Enodoc look rather plain. Of course it’s all well and good being quirky, but the golf course would be a gross waste of space were it not a worthy test of basic golfing skills, and Perranporth is most certainly that. Braid would have known the course was unconventional certainly, but he wouldn’t have sullied his reputation building a novelty course that just didn’t work. Perranporth, 67th in England, is probably unlike anything you’ve seen before, but it most certainly works. The summer green fee is £40, as it is in winter, but then it also gets you a bacon bap, tea/coffee, and lunch. For full details, see www.perranporthgolfclub.co.uk On a long weekend, you’re not going to have time to visit any other courses, but how could we write about Cornish golf without mentioning a stellar supporting cast of Mullion, Bude & North Cornwall, or West Cornwall (Lelant). Clifftop Mullion is among the most exhilarating places to play golf in Britain, while Bude and Lelant are terrific links you can’t help but enjoy. Extend your stay to squeeze them in, or save them all for another trip.

Where to eat/Drink

By the time you arrive at St Mellion on the first evening, you’ll probably be tight on time to eat out.

No bother, the resort has a couple of excellent dining choices – the two AA-Rosette An Boesti, and the more informal No. 18 Bistro. Both remain open until 9.30pm.

If you choose to stay in Rock, you can eat well at the St Enodoc Hotel or, for something really special, try the Dining Room on Rock Road or head across the estuary to Padstow for Paul Ainsworth at No. 6 on Middle Street, or any of Rick Stein’s five locations. And, if you get the chance, be sure to stop for a delicious crepe at the Cornish Crepe Company at South Quay. Stay at Trevose GCC and the excellent Constantine Restaurant is on hand, but

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PLOT YOUR TOP 100 TRIP 1. ST MELLION GC Top 100 England #53

2. ST ENODOC GC Top 100 England #6, GB&I #23 3. TREVOSE GC Top 100 England #83 4. NEWQUAY GC N/A 5. PERRANPORTH GC Top 100 England #67 2 3 4

5

N R O C

A W

L L

1

Padstow is just a 10-minute drive east.

In Newquay, the Headland Hotel has a number of dining choices, most notably the highlyacclaimed, two AA-Rosette Samphire Restaurant, but there are several great options elsewhere. Paul Haywood’s casual but incredibly popular Fish House on Fistral Beach is a must-visit.

WHAT ELSE TO DO

As with all our ‘72 Hours in…’ itineraries, the emphasis is very much on playing great golf courses.

Like the Vegas casino that makes it difficult to ever exit the building, we want to show you so much great golf there’s precious little time for anything else. And we make no apologies for that.

That said, if you can somehow find time for other pursuits, you don’t want to come all this way and not see at least one beautiful Cornish fishing village.

Port Isaac, nine miles east of Rock, is ideal and it’s the setting for TV’s Doc Martin. Beautiful Boscastle, 13 miles further up the coast, Tintagel Castle, and the hamlet and cove at Port Quin are also beautiful stops. And if there’s time before or after your round at Newquay, why not try something a little more vigorous than golf by waxing up a surfboard and hitting the waves at Fistral Beach?

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// PLAY 18 WHEN YOU’RE IN...

DORSET

If you find yourself in Thomas Hardy Country, these are the four key Top 100 courses you should look to be playing.

Ferndown (Old) (#36)

BEST FOR GREENS

A mile or so north of Bournemouth, Ferndown’s Old course opened in 1913 and boasted Percy Alliss as its club pro for more than a quarter of a century – this is also the course on which his son Peter learnt his trade. Relatively short by modern standards, at less than 6,500 yards from the medal tees, immaculate greens combine with pine trees, heather and springy, sandy turf to create an immensely pleasurable golf experience. www.ferndowngolfclub.co.uk

BEST FOR BUNKERING

Broadstone Golf Club (#37) Founded in 1898 and later redesigned by Harry Colt, who added seven new holes, Frank Pont’s more recent renovations have seen Broadstone rise further up our rankings. A quintessential heathland affair laid out on gloriously rolling terrain, the homeward nine climbs and offers glorious views of Poole Harbour and the Purbeck Hills.

Colt’s dramatic bunkering and delicious heather-banked runoffs are among the many delightful features. www.broadstonegolfclub.com

WHERE TO STAY

The bright lights and relatively big city of Bournemouth makes it a sensible base.

Parkstone GC is practically on your doorstep and the furthest of the four courses is a 30-minute drive north. Awash with night options, The Green House and Hilton Bournemouth are two good options.

SEE & DO

A holiday hot spot, Dorset offers numerous attractions for the non-golfer.

Its shoreline is one of the best in Britain and includes the Jurassic Coast, a World Heritage Site full of beaches and bays. The New Forest is on your doorstep and a million miles from life’s chatter and clatter, while Iron Age hill forts and countless museums offer options for all ages.

THE FULL SET

Parkstone GC (#38)

BEST FOR VARIATION

The highest of the county’s risers in our most recent Top 100 (up six places), Parkstone was laid out by Willie Park in 1909 and revised by James Braid in 1932. Their combined creativity remains largely intact to this day and Parkstone offers an engaging mix of holes – from driveable par 4s to a brutal uphill par 5 – over varied heathland and is further embellished by interesting changes in elevation, lakes and mature pines. www.parkstonegolfclub.com

BEST FOR CONDITION

Remedy Oak GC (#54) Despite only opening for play in late 2005, Remedy Oak appears mature far beyond its years thanks in no small part to 250 acres of ancient woodland in which it’s set. It’s very different in setting and design to the other Dorset courses on our Top 100 list, but a strong woodland layout that’s always in excellent condition. While we marked Remedy Oak down slightly, noting that “more could have been done with the land”, it remains a must play if you’re even close to passing by. www.remedyoak.com

If time allows, and you’re in a completist frame of mind, factor in one final round.

The lowest of the five Dorset courses in our Top 100 England, Isle of Purbeck weighs in at number 69 on the list. It’s a fun heathland layout set in a nature reserve overlooking the Solent and Poole Harbour and worth a visit for the views alone. Better conditioning would have seen it rank higher.

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TOP 100 GOLF RESORTS IN BRITAIN & IRELAND

2019

W

hat is your earliest memory?

My mum is a pre-school teacher and I remember running around the playground with my friends when I was three or four years old. My mum was actually my teacher.

What was it like?

I was a bit of a troublemaker because I thought I could get away with a few more things. We were living in Cape Town at the time, but she wasn’t my teacher anymore when we moved to Pretoria and I got put back into line pretty early on. But it was quite fun while it lasted.

Have you ever had a close brush with death?

Yes, my family all surf and bodyboard. We were surfing at this one spot where my dad grew up surfing when I was 10 years old. I decided to go back into shore and I got caught in a very strong current and couldn’t make it back out. My big brother and a few guys from shore had to run out and rescue me from the water. I wasn’t really drowning at that point, but if no one had seen me it would have been close.

What scares you the most?

No real fears, but heights get me a little bit. My wife and I went skydiving and I was terrified. I faced my fears.

What is your most annoying trait or habit?

Can I ask my wife? No, I don’t need to. I know that I’m pretty stubborn and hard-headed, which can be annoying.

Which superpower would you most like to have?

I don’t know if you’ve read Harry Potter, but I’d like to be able to ‘apparate’ – literally be able to vanish and pop up somewhere else. I think with all the travelling we do, and my wife’s American so we’ve got family split all around the world. I’d like to be able to be in America for Christmas and also pop over to Africa.

Bare my soul Erik van Rooyen

What animal best represents your character?

Funny you should ask me that because my dad asked me what animal I’d like to be a couple of nights ago.

I said a lion. I like that they’re top of the food chain in their environment, but at the same time brothers form quite a close bond at a young age and I’ve got a close bond with my family and brother and sister.

If you could travel back in time, where would you go and why?

I’d go back to when I was at primary school playing cricket. I really, really enjoyed my cricket growing up. We were living in Pretoria at the

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time and I was a fast bowler and taking all these wickets. At that time we actually moved away and that’s really when my golf picked up.

Obviously I don’t have any regrets because I play golf for a living now, but I really loved cricket when I was growing up.

If you could change anything in the world, what would it be?

Probably poverty, especially growing up in South Africa there is a massive gap between the rich and middle class to the poor. I’d like to be able to provide people with proper education and the opportunity to chase their dreams like I’m doing right now. It’s sad for me when I’ve had all the opportunities in the world and literally across the road from me there are people living in townships who have no hope. I’d like to give everyone a proper education, and with that eradicate poverty.

Have you got any hidden talents or party tricks?

I’ve played the guitar since I was 14. I’m not exactly the songbird of my generation, but I can hold a tune or two.

Who are your favourite artists?

The Foo Fighters, Biffy Clyro, Muse, Green Day. There are so many.

‘If I was an animal I’d have to be a lion. I like the fact they’re top of the food chain’

What is your main passion outside golf?

Definitely music, but if I didn’t play golf, I’d want to play rugby. Watching the Springboks play is what makes me the most emotional – I yell and scream and shout.

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