BUNKERS & CHIPPING MADE EASY THE OPEN ISSUE 2012, ISSUE 8 VOL 53 THE OPEN PREVIEW ISSUE ■ PHIL MICKELSON INSTRUCTION ■ SERGIO GARCIA ■ WHAT KIND OF GOLFER ARE YOU? ■ NEW PUTTERS
‘Learn the secrets of my game’
WIN
A round at Lytham the day after The Open
By Phil Mickelson PLUS
WHY SERGIO CAN’T PUTT Garcia’s skeletons uncovered
The Open ‘IF I COULD TAKE ONE SHOT AGAIN’ The stars reveal their mulligans
Your ultimate Lytham preview EXCLUSIVE HOLE -BY-HOLE COURSE GUIDE
With Luke Donald and Tom Watson
Seve’s 1979 ‘car park’ win relived Inside Lytham’s iconic clubhouse The best shot in Open history What really happened to David Duval THE OPEN ISSUE 2012
£4.20
123
Golf World November 2012
Tortured soul? He is one of the most naturally gifted players of his generation, but can sergio Garcia ever fulfil his true Words: Tim rosaforte PHoToGrAPHy: Howard Boylan, Getty Images
T
hough he might nominate a Ryder Cup performance, until further notice, Sergio Garcia’s greatest moment as a golfer remains the Players Championship. After winning the 2008 edition on the 17th green of the Stadium Course in a sudden-death play-off against Paul Goydos, Garcia planted a defiant kiss on his putter. The moment resonated because it seemed to be a turning point – the end of the churlish, competitively fragile ‘El Niño’ and the beginning of the tough-minded, good-putting, Major-winning Sergio. But there was a lot to exorcise. There was the would-be winning putt that lipped out on the 72nd hole of The Open at Carnoustie the previous summer, and the sour grapes expressed after losing the play-off to Padraig Harrington. Those with longer memories can recall how Garcia whined about favouritism towards Tiger Woods during the 2002 US Open at Bethpage or when, at an earlier Players, he made an unseemly show of slapping and punching the face of his putter in anger on the practice green.
November 2012 Golf World
123
4th Hole 3
Hole 7
PAR 4 392 YARDS Hole 4
Hole 6 Hole 5
How it plays
The 4th is the shortest twoshotter on the front nine, and turns back, heading northwest towards the clubhouse. The fairway dog-legs left, thereby encouraging golfers to head down the right of the fairway from the tee, yet a new fairway bunker on the right-hand side heightens the need for accuracy, as does heather and gorse beyond that. The green is now better protected too: half-a-dozen greenside bunkers lie in wait, and the front-right bunker has even been relocated closer to the front of the green. The overall effect is that players might not favour N the right side of the 4th hole quite as much as they did in 2001.
N N
N
N
HOW IT PLAYED IN 2001
PAR 4 / YARDS 392 / RANK 8 / AVERAGE 4.16 PARS 288
BIRDIES 51
EAGLES 0
BOGEYS 99
HIGHER 0
D.BOGEYS 12
LUKE DONALD SAYS... N
I may stick around Lytham and play more links golf – such as at Hillside, N Formby and Birkdale – to fine-tune my game for The Open. Or I may go to Ireland. My results have been getting better at The Open. I played solidly over the weekend at Turnberry in 2009 and finished just a couple off the lead, and was 11th at St Andrews. Last year was disappointing, especially going to Sandwich after winning the Scottish Open the week before. Hole 13
Hole 12
8
Golf World The Open Course Guide 2012
N
N
N
Hole 16 Hole 14
Hole 15
SUPER SUBSCRIPTION OFFER FYAA
DON’T
Quote ref: FYAA ■ Yes, sign me up to 13 issues of Golf World for just £24.50 every six months on direct debit and send me ‘The Big Miss’ ■ Yes, sign me up to 13 issues of Golf World for just £54.60 (full price) by credit/debit card and send me ‘The Big Miss’ YOUR DETAILS
Title Address
Initial
Surname
Postcode Email* Telephone
It’s the No.1 golf magazine for serious golfers, and throughout your subscription you will enjoy:
Mobile*
* Please enter this information so that Bauer Consumer Media, the publisher of this magazine, can keep you informed of newsletters, special offers and promotions via email or free text messages. You may unsubscribe from these messages at any time.
■ Big-name interviews from the best writers
DELIVERY DETAILS (if different, i.e. purchased as a gift).
■ Exclusive tuition with the game’s top names
Title Address
■ The latest equipment tested and reviewed
Initial
Surname
■ Superb travel and course reviews and advice
Postcode Email Telephone
Originator’s Identification Number
Please pay Bauer Consumer Media Direct Debits from the account detailed in the instructions (subject to the safeguards of the Direct Debit Guarantee).
7 2 4 0 9 6
■ Definitive Major and Ryder Cup previews, plus more Top 100 course rankings and exclusive supplements in 2012 and 2013
Account Name Account Number Sort Code
Order by direct debit today and get:
Name and Address of Bank Postcode Signature
Date
Direct Debit Guarantee. • This Guarantee is offered by all banks and building societies that accept instructions to pay Direct Debits. • If there are any changes to the amount, date or frequency of your Direct Debit Bauer Consumer Media Ltd will notify you 10 working days in advance of your account being debited or as otherwise agreed. If you request Bauer Consumer Media Ltd to collect a payment, confirmation of the amount and date will be given to you at the time of the request. • If an error is made in the payment of your Direct Debit, by Bauer Consumer Media Ltd or your bank or building society, you are entitled to a full and immediate refund of the amount paid from your bank or building society. • If you receive a refund you are not entitled to, you must pay it back when Bauer Consumer Media Ltd asks you to. • You can cancel a Direct Debit at any time by simply contacting your bank or building society. Written confirmation may be required. Please also notify us.
PAYMENT DETAILS
■ A fantastic gift – “The Big Miss” book
I enclose a cheque/postal order for £ made payable to Bauer Consumer Media Ltd. Please debit £
from my debit/credit card:
Visa
Maestro
Card Number Expiry Date
/
Delta
Valid From
■ Pay only £24.50 every six months
Mastercard
/
OFFER CLOSES JULY 5, 2012
Issue Number Signature
■ 13 issues of your favourite magazine – a fantastic new magazine landing on your doormat every four weeks
Date
Bauer Consumer Media, publishers of this magazine, would also like to keep you informed of special offers and promotions via post or telephone. Please tick the box if you do not wish to receive these from us or carefully selected partners
To view how we store and manage your data go to
www.greatmagazines.co.uk/datapromise SEND TO: Please include completed coupon and cheque (if appropriate) with the magazine name on the back. Magazine Subscriptions, FREE POST, EDO3995, Leicester, LE16 9BR
BauerMagForm.indd 1
60 Golf World The Open issue 2012
5/1/12 09:43:21
STANDARD TERMS AND CONDITIONS Subscriptions will start with the next available issue. The minimum term is 13 issues. This offer is open until July 5, 2012, and is only available to the first 100 new UK subscriptions received across all offer codes starting with FY. Please allow up to 28 days from the date your payment is taken for delivery of your gift. This offer cannot be used in conjunction with any other offer. We reserve the right to send you an alternative gift of similar type/value. We also reserve the right to reclaim the gift/value of the gift if you cancel your subscription before the end of the agreed term as stated above. This offer cannot be used in conjunction with any other offer. Calls from a BT landline will cost no more than 5p a minute. Call charges from other landline providers or mobile phones may vary. Order lines open 8am-9.30pm (Mon-Fri), 8am-4pm (Sat). UK orders only. Overseas? Phone +44 1858 438824. Calls may be monitored or recorded for training purposes.
MISS OUT
BOOK WORTH £17.99
Sign up for 13 issues of Golf World and get your copy of The Big Miss The Big Miss, by Hank Haney The most talked-about book of 2012 chronicles the years Hank Haney, one of the world’s best golf instructors, spent with Tiger Woods. In hardback, worth £17.99, this takes the reader from 2004 to 2010, and is a candid and intimate memoir, both professional and personal. Haney was with Tiger Woods at the time it seemed he could do no wrong, collected six Majors and re-wrote golf history. He observed and dealt with him at tournaments, on the range, at dinner in the Woods’ home, relaxing with friends and wife Elin. The Big Miss takes us from the phone call from Tiger – then 28, and already an icon – asking Haney to coach him through six tumultuous years. It is a look at a world few come close to, written honestly and openly, and sure to appeal to any golfer.
CALL 0844 84 888 72 QUOTE FYAA LINES OPEN 8am-9.30pm (Mon-Fri), 9am-4pm (Sat) OVERSEAS: +44 1858 438824
Visit www.greatmagazines.co.uk/GW or send us the freepost coupon on the left The Open Issue 2012 Golf World 61
141st Open ChampiOnship, ROyal lytham & st annes, July 19-22
A unique host royal Lytham & st Annes is an atypical open venue. We examine its very individual character, reflect on the past encounters it has staged and look ahead to what we might Words: Chris Bertram PHoToGrAPHy: Jonathan Webb, Getty Images
This year’s Open marks the end of an era as the Lancashire club’s professional, Eddie Birchenough, bows out after 25 years of service. So who better to ask about the club and the course than...
Mr Lytham
M
Words: Chris Bertram PHOTOGRAPHy: Ben Duffy
argaret Thatcher was preparing for her third election victory in Britain and Ronald Reagan was midway through his second term as America’s President. Alex Ferguson had been at Manchester United for just five months and Larry Mize was 10 days away from breaking Greg Norman’s heart in the Masters. Ferry Aid was No.1 with ‘Let It Be’ and Inspector Morse had just appeared on our screens for the first time. This was the political, sporting and cultural background as Royal Lytham & St Annes welcomed its new head professional to the club on the first day of April, 1987. Eddie Birchenough has been resident in the iconic pro shop which bears his name above the door ever since. His remarkable tenure will end at the end of this year when he retires after playing his part for the fourth time in Lytham’s hosting of The Open. Secretary Graham Cochrane is stepping down even earlier, the day after The Open in fact. So it is a time of great change for the illustrious Lancashire club. Yet some things may well stay the same. “We have played at 10 o’clock on a Saturday morning for the last 25 years,” Birchenough tells Golf World of his weekend ritual with the equally amiable Cochrane. “And I hope we will continue to do that.” It is difficult to imagine their routine will be interrupted, given their respective service to the club. It will be a first Open for Cochrane, who thought his working days were behind him when he retired as a solicitor. However, as a member since he was 15 and living just across the road, the club asked him to become involved and he “just morphed into the secretary”, as Birchenough puts it. “He has maintained standards superbly, creating what you might call Lytham standards,” he adds. Birchenough has ‘seen off ’ three other secretaries since he moved north from Gog Magog in Cambridgeshire, having developed a love for the game at one of Alister MacKenzie’s
70
Golf World The Open Issue 2012
less heralded courses. “When I was six my family moved into a farm which was 50 yards from the 3rd tee at Cavendish and by the time I was 10 I was caddying there. By the time I was 10 and a half I was hooked on the game. It took me a long time to realise just how good Cavendish was – I think I’d been round the world a few times before I did. “It’s a MacKenzie course from 1925 and you can see all the traits which have been popularised at Augusta; slope on the greens, changes in elevations and so on. Tom Doak is a big fan of it. He said the 9th and 10th were the two best back-to-back par 4s MacKenzie ever created and the 3rd was the best example of a fall-away green he’d built. “It set my outlook for the game; it was all about control and short game. Quite a long way removed from how the game is today, I suppose.” After leaving school in 1961, golf-mad Birchenough – “I think I had read every word that had been printed about golf up to about 1960” – had resolved to be a pro. “When I look back now it’s difficult to imagine why I wanted to be one,” he reflects. “I suppose I wanted to be involved in the golf environment. I was lucky enough to get a job at Romiley GC, earning £3.50 a week. I served five years as an assistant and then got a job at Mellor & Townscliffe in Cheshire. “It was perfect as it was a club which had just extended from 11 to 18 holes so had lots of new members and we went through a learning process together. From there I went to Denton, a city centre club in Manchester. That’s where I learnt about life; the cross-section of people was just amazing. Then it was to Gog Magog, which again was perfect; I am a student of the game and where do you go to learn? Cambridge. The culture is one of study and learning so I spent a lot of time with my head in books and with people such as former Golf Illustrated editor Bill Robertson, RIGHT: That name has been above the door of
Lytham’s characterful pro shop since 1988, but will be replaced after this year’s Open.
Seve The week the legend was born royal Lytham. 1979. A swashbuckling spaniard is playing miraculous golf, getting up and down from everywhere to win his first Major in style. Here, in the words of the men who witnessed it first hand, is the story of seve’s incredible week (including that shot from the car park).
Words: John Huggan PHoToGrAPHy: Getty Images
Colin Montgomerie reacts to the fat 7-iron on the final hole which cost him the 2006 US Open at Winged Foot.
123
Golf World November 2012
Regrets? They’ve had a few Some of the biggest names in the game open up about the mulligans they’d love to take.
R
emember that time on the first hole when, in front of a crowd of onlookers, you dribbled it off the tee? Or that inexplicable shank into the bushes that wrecked your card? Or that pitiful missed tap-in on the last hole that would have brought you all the glory? So many poor shots. If only you could do it again. Take a mulligan. Hit the rewind button. Live life better. Well, you can’t. Screw-ups are part of the game. We’re human, so we forgive ourselves, we forgive others, and then we move on. But if we never reflect on our mistakes, we can’t learn from them, in which case we risk making them all over again. So, in the spirit of catharsis, we asked all kinds of people in golf the simple question: If you could have a mulligan, what would it be? Some had specific shots from long ago that they would love to take another swing at. Some told us deeply personal mistakes that they’d made away from the golf course. Some offered great insight and wisdom. Some just didn’t want to go there and walked away. Tiger Woods stayed silent. What follows is a collection of the best mulligans from some of the most distinguished figures in the game.
The Open Issue 2012 Golf World
111
Phil Mickelson Age 41 PgA TOUR eARnings $66.3 million PgA TOUR wins 40 Key sTAT In May this year, Mickelson ranked 2nd on the PGA Tour in scrambling, getting up and down 67.7 per cent of the time.
1
5-wood blast
Lean forward, break early, hit down. Sometimes a trick for playing a shot is discovered, and it’s so effective it spreads and becomes a trend on tour. That’s the case with a long shot from medium to heavy rough. Instead
120
Golf World The Open Issue 2012
2
of taking a risk with a 3-wood or merely advancing the ball with an iron, guys are blasting away with a 5-wood or hybrid. A combination of modern equipment, high swing speeds and new technique makes the ball come out low, hot and running, dead straight with little spin. To play it, first position the ball forward in a square stance, in line with the toe of your front foot. Open the clubface so it’s aimed
3
slightly wide of your target. Lean radically onto your front foot at address. You should be able to lift your rear foot off the ground without losing balance (1). Place your rear foot back down for stability, keeping 75 per cent of your weight on your front foot (2). On the takeaway, break your wrists early to encourage a steep, downward blow (3). Hit down sharply, taking as little grass behind the ball as possible (4).
4
Above: Pour on the power through impact, unloading the club with all you’ve got. Make the clubhead bottom out just in front of the ball. If hitting the ground restricts your finish, that’s OK.
Drive the clubhead down through impact, shredding the grass beyond the ball. The added loft gets the ball out, and the steep angle sends it low and hot.
The Open Issue 2012 Golf World
121
YOUR GAME
With Thorbjørn Olesen
Hit more fairways One of the best young players on the European Tour shares how he improved.
W
inning the Sicilian Open in April – the first of my European Tour career – was the reward for a great deal of hard work over the last couple of seasons. My results have tended to be very up and down, with three second-place finishes last year mixed in with a host of missed cuts. I’m quite long off the tee, but I soon realised that my accuracy left something to be desired. I needed to hit more fairways with the driver, so set about tightening up my action. You can learn from what I’ve done, too.
THORBJORN OLESEN AGE 22 EUROPEAN TOUR EARNINGS €1,060,166 EUROPEAN TOUR WINS One KEY STAT Made his European Tour breakthrough in April’s Sicilian Open, after a rookie year when he was 48th in The Race to Dubai.
123
Golf World The Open Issue 2012
Don’t get across the line If you look at the three top of the backswing photos here then there is one I don’t like and two that are acceptable.
BAD
NO
YES
Here I’m across the line at the top with the club aiming to the right of the target. This is what I’ve worked on eradicating from my swing. Taking the club away too much on the inside can lead to this position with the right elbow flying much too wide.
Wider in the takeaway
GOOD
My tendency has always been to whip the club too much on the inside in my move away from the ball. I can explain how that leads to errors later, but I knew I needed to take the club away from the ball much straighter. I don’t mind having the clubhead slightly outside the hands as I move back those first three feet or so from address.
I’m very happy with this position at the top, with the club pointing down the line to the target. You can see how my right elbow is now connected to my right side. From here, I can turn back into the ball, keeping my arms in front of the body.
PERFECT
Stay in balance
Square up the shoulders
People say you shouldn’t hit from the top, but I do turn the power on pretty early. Not hitting from the top is really just a reference to where the downswing starts which is in the hips and legs. Balance is fundamental so you can only go at the speed your body will allow. I think power comes as much from the legs as the upper body, but to keep everything working together I put many hours into the gym.
If you get your positions right early in the swing then it’s much easier to get into this great impact pose. The clubhead is following a natural line into the ball, the club is in front of me for the delivery and my shoulders are square to the target. I do believe in a two plane swing. You are steeper and more upright going back before flattening the plane as you move back into the strike.
A lot of people call this ‘laid off’ because the club is pointing left, but I don’t mind this too much. It’s a lot easier for me to drop the club from here into a good position coming down.
The Open Issue 2012 Golf World
125
play the GB&I top 100
East Lothian Recent additions to the area which lies to the east of Edinburgh give further credence to the notion it is the finest in WoRds: Chris Bertram PHoToGRAPHy: david Cannon, Getty
136
Golf World The Open Issue 2012
Courses
The GB&I Top 100
E
ast Lothian has, unlike Ayrshire, just one current Open venue. It can boast of less history than St Andrews. It lacks the notoriety of Angus’ Carnoustie and the romance of Dornoch in the Highlands. Yet there is good reason to believe it is the premier area for a golf break in Scotland. Some may feel it is sacrilegious to make such a suggestion, the Home of Golf being held in justifiably high esteem by many. It is certainly a close call – and Ayrshire is a serious candidate, too – but East Lothian might just have the edge. For a start it has in many people’s eyes, including this observer, the finest course in Scotland. Not the prettiest or the most spectacular, but a relentlessly strategic and scrupulously fair examination of one’s game. It is hardly surprising the pros adore it, none more so than Jack Nicklaus, who rates it so highly he named his own club after it. The list of Open champions produced by Muirfield (4th in the Top 100) is testament to its quality. Muirfield will stage The Open next year and has been duly tightened up; even the most venerable of venues accept they need to stiffen their examination paper to combat the length of today’s drives. It may sound condescending to suggest you need to be a connoisseur to get the most out of playing Muirfield, but it is not without justification. It will not bowl you over with its thrilling terrain or breathtaking views. You only rarely see the sea and the topography is generally fairly flat (the great golf writer Herbert Warren Wind even suggested it is part meadowland and it is true it is less “linksy” than Sandwich or Birkdale). Laid out in two loops – the first nine played clockwise around the perimeter and the back nine anti-clockwise inside it – the direction of play is almost constantly changing, so assessing the wind and adapting club selection and alignment accordingly is a key theme. Muirfield isn’t a course of stand-out holes but the 13th is the pick for many. It was round the slightly raised green of this par 3 that Ernie Els escaped so
Left: Muirfield is a stellar but
unspectacular links which tour pros especially enjoy hosting The Open.
The Open Issue 2012 Golf World
137
top 100 rankings / DEALS / ADVICE / adventure
courses
The world’s best places to play
134
Golf World The Open Issue 2012
The world’s best par-3 course? Designed by renowned duo Ben Crenshaw and Bill Coore, the new Preserve Course at Bandon Dunes in Oregon is a 13-hole layout made for fun. “It’s something everyone in the family can play and enjoy on equal footing – and do so in far less time (and often with far less expense) than if they were to play a regulation course,” said Coore. “By my maths par 3s require about one quarter of the time of a regulation course with 90% or more of the fun.” It will cost $100 to play Bandon Preserve and all proceeds will go to conservation charities on the south coast of Oregon. “This is our attempt to elevate everyone’s concept of what a par 3 is,” said resort owner Mike Keiser. “I don’t think anybody’s ever charged much for a par-3 course; but 13 Pacific ocean views in 13 holes is almost a guarantee people will enjoy it,” he added. www.bandondunesgolf.com
The Open Issue 2012 Golf World
135