RYDER CUP 2014 12-PAGE REVIEW
HOW THE
RYDER CUP WAS WON & LOST Although the European team more than lived up to its billing as favourites, this Ryder Cup will be remembered in years to come for the contrasting style of the two captains. Nick Wright watched the drama unfold at Gleneagles.
WINNING SWING
Gain Dubuisson’s easy power
Top sequencing makes the Turkish Airlines Open defender sneaky long, says Stuart Dowsett.
Hours of practice have gone in to looking this good at address. Victor Dubuisson looks balanced and ready to create an athletic movement. Notice how well his shoulders, hips and toes all line up perfectly; many club golfers could learn from this.
At the end of the takeaway and Dubuisson is in a perfect position, with arms comfortably extended and the rotating clubface staying square. The interesting point to note here is, how quiet the lower half of his body is at this stage of his swing.
Dubuisson’s lower half has initiated the move down and the club has slotted into the ideal position with the shaft pointing towards the ball. He can really turn on the power from here. This is proof the club was just perfect for him at the top.
You can tell the weight has shifted to the lead foot as the right heel is able to lift as the body uncoils. The hips point to the left and the shoulders square. Notice how the right arm is still bent, revealing an attack from the inside; this ball isn’t going left.
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TIPS FROM THE TOUR
Be hard to beat
304 66.8 29.5 70.9 yds
DRIVING DISTANCE (6th)
%
GREENS IN REG. (101st)
PUTTS A ROUND (71st)
SCORING AVG. (57th)
Ryder Cup hero Ian Poulter shares five keys that will make you a better match player.
Make your opponent work for everything – even if you think you’re out of the hole.
1 The coil has been completed at the top, the sequence having been a swing of the arms, then a turn of the body. The overall look is compact and although the club is pointing a little right, it can find a good downswing path.
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Get out the blocks fast Switch on a mindset early where you have to win every hole. Winning the opening hole counts for the same as winning the 17th or 18th, so make sure you’re trying to win every hole and make the most of every opportunity early in the round. A lot of this is down to thorough preparation before you tee off and a killer instinct as soon as you get onto the course.
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Never give up on a hole You’re never out of a hole until it’s over and the ball’s in the hole. Keep fighting on every hole because you never know when you’ll hole out from an unlikely position or your opponent will make a mistake that allows you to pick up an unlikely half. Even if you still lose the hole, making your opponent work for it will take more out of them psychologically.
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Play your own game Some people say you should lay back off the tee to hit first into greens in order to put pressure on your opponent. I don’t believe in that. Instead, hit the ball into the spots you want to be on the course and have enough confidence in yourself that, when your opponent hits a good shot, you will be able to execute what you want to do – whether you’re playing first or second.
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Make them hole out Some say you should give a tricky putt or two early on, in the hope your opponent will miss later as they haven’t yet had to hole out. That’s a myth. Always make them work to finish every hole; never be afraid to make them hole a short putt. It’s amazing how often a bit of pressure or annoyance that they’re having to hole out will make them miss.
Dubuisson has maintained perfect balance throughout the swing and it is exemplified here in the finish. The body has fully released as his weight moved completely over to the left. There’s no hitting off the back foot here.
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Tailor your strategy to the situation Some people like to say you’re still just playing against the course; but the bottom line is you have to beat the opponent you’re head-to-head with. You should tailor your strategy to suit the situation late on in a match. There’s no point making solid pars if you’re three down with five to play.
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INTERVIEW
Billy Horschel
THE $10 MILLION MAN Billy Horschel’s FedEx Cup victory may seemingly have come out of the blue but, as Kit Alexander discovered, success has been a long time in the making for the confident American.
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© PICTURE MARK NEWCOMBE
f you’d put money on Billy Horschel winning the FedEx Cup before the play-offs started, you’d be almost as rich as the man himself is now. The fiery 27 year old entered the final four weeks of the season 69th in the rankings, having only recorded two top 10s all season. When he missed the cut at The Barclays, it was doubtful he would even make the third leg of the play-offs. But what followed was an incredible run of form that saw the 2007 Walker Cupper finish as runnerup at the Deutsche Bank Championship and record back-to-back wins at the BMW Championship and Tour Championship. It was a three-week stretch that won the American three trophies, earned him $13.5million and propelled him to number 14 in the world rankings.
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‘I’ve always felt like I’ve been one of the best players in the world, and I have a lot of confidence and belief in my talents’
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MY GAME TOMMY FLEETWOOD
Think about impact and work back from there Any swing that delivers the club in a neutral position through the impact area is a good one in my book. I’m in my third year on the tour now and I’ve worked hard to iron out the areas that made me have to fight hard to get the club square and on the right plane as I struck the ball. I grip down the club a little bit as it gives me a feeling of control and there’s no loss of distance. I used to take the club inside and hit a draw,
but now I’m straighter back and my shots are flying much straighter through the air. People talk about the late hit and pictures of Ben Hogan, but I think that is misleading because they had to work their hands more in those days as the equipment wasn’t as good. They needed a more whippy action to get the ball in the air. With me, it’s about simplifying everything so that mistakes are less likely to happen.
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Players like Adam Scott like to keep the back very straight at address, but I just want to be comfortable. I’m not slouched, but I don’t like rigidity either.
I’ve been working hard on getting more neutral in the takeaway. That means quieter hands and more of a one piece move for the first few feet.
I never really think about where the club is at the top. I know I used to get a little bit across the line. But it’s in a much better position now.
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INSTRUCTION
MY KEY MOVE KEEP THIGHS SOLID AT IMPACT To achieve more stability at impact, I try to hit against a firm left side. I splay my left foot slightly to help my weight move into my left side and I work on the left thigh staying solid at impact. Like hitting against a wall, it helps my bottom half stay square that little bit longer before turning through to the target.
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I put the fact that I can now get into more neutral positions down to practice and hard gym work. You need core strength to work the club properly.
My main thoughts focus on impact. When the club reaches this position, I want it doing as little as possible, so I don’t want the hands working.
My followthrough is sometimes truncated. Other times, I go all the way through. The shorter one is also a great drill for improving your strike.
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4 STEPS TO CONSISTENT
CHIPPING You don’t need the flair of Phil Mickelson to create a great short game. These basics will save your score around the greens.
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itching involves a certain degree of wrist hinge and, therefore, it is considered part of the long game family. Chipping, on the other hand, is non-wristy and, therefore, part of the putting family. Most amateurs run into problems when they get the two confused. Lacking confidence from longer range, they’ll reduce the wrist hinge in their swing when pitching and find they can’t get the ball to the hole. From shorter range, they think they need to incorporate hand action to generate feel and spin, often with disastrous results. My philosophy has always been as follows: ■ If you can putt it, putt it. ■ If you can’t putt it, play a running chip with a medium iron. ■ If you can’t stop a running chip, play a lofted chip. ■ If it’s too far for a lofted chip, then and only then think about pitching. As a general rule, if you’re within 60 yards of the green, chip the ball with minimal wrist action.
BY LUTHER BLACKLOCK Head Professional at Woburn Golf & Country Club
SHORT GAME SPECIAL
1. Turn every iron into a putter at address If you can apply putting mechanics to the nine irons in your bag, all of a sudden you have 10 putters in the bag. That’s a huge help in gaining consistency around greens. Your putter is the shortest club in the bag
with the most upright lie and the flattest face. In order to get your irons to behave similarly to your putter, you’ll need to replicate the address characteristics. Feel you pull the club up your sleeve to create
the steeper shaft angle. You’ll find with the sand wedge you hardly have to go down the grip because the club is short. But with a 5-iron, for example, you’ll find your index finger near the chrome on the shaft.
THE TRUTH ABOUT YOUR LIES
SLIDE THE CLUB UP YOUR SLEEVE To replicate the lie of the putter with your irons, slide the clubhead along the ground towards your feet while raising the shaft angle. The feeling is similar to placing the club up your sleeve.
© PHOTOGRAPHY MARK NEWCOMBE
As you can see here, the putter is the shortest of the three clubs with the steepest shaft angle at address. That means you will need to manipulate the lie of your irons when chipping.
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Callaway Big Bertha Alpha 815 and Callaway’s two new Big Bertha Alpha 815 drivers aim to combine the distance you get from low spin with the forgiveness needed to hit the fairway, without sacrificing one of the other. Continuing the evolution of the
hugely popular Big Bertha franchise, successfully reintroduced in late 2013, these drivers are equipped with a Gravity Core. This enables you to move the centre of gravity up or down so it’s closer to where most
golfers make contact with the ball. The closer the hit is to the centre of gravity, say Callaway, the higher the ball speeds created, and the further the ball will go. Meanwhile, the brand’s RMOTO
Technology saves weight, so the clubhead can be made larger and more forgiving while maintaining a lighter overall club weight. A thinner face transfers energy more efficiently to the ball. The BB Alpha continues to
The Alpha 815 has a Fujikura 53g Speeder Motore 565 shaft as standard; there is no upcharge for any of the other 13 shaft options.
CALLAWAY BIG BERTHA IRONS AND HYBRIDS Callaway has opted to extend the Big Bertha franchise into irons and hybrids and use their metal wood technology to produce super-forgiving and super-long irons that could be
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“up to two clubs longer”. The cast clubheads have a hollow body design that marries the fast ball speeds of Callaway’s existing Variable Face Thickness Technology from its
drivers with a Cup Face that spreads the sweetspot across the whole hitting surface. The Internal Standing Wave pushes centre of gravity lower and further forward to increase MOI
at impact and get the ball high into the air more easily. The Big Bertha hybrids are Callaway’s first ever adjustable utility clubs, and are also built for longer distances. The OptiFit
EQUIPMENT
Double Black Diamond drivers offer full adjustability with OptiFit Technology that lets you choose from a combination of 8 different loft (-1°, S, +1°, +2°) and lie angle (Draw or Neutral) configurations. Adjustable heel and toe weights (1g and 7g) aid shape control.
Callaway describe the second Alpha 815 model – the Double Black Diamond – as their “experts only” driver. It’s made for players who hit the ball in the centre of the face most of the time, enabling them to get the
maximum distance benefit from the ultra low spin without missing the added forgiveness. The shape is slightly different to the standard head with a deeper face and smaller footprint. The Big Bertha Alpha 815 is
available in 9˚, 10.5˚ and 12˚ and the Double Black Diamond in 9˚ and 10.5°. Price: £379 (BB Alpha 815), £399 (BB Alpha 815 Double Black Diamond) Web: www.callawaygolf.com
The Gravity Core is longer in the Double Black Diamond to let you move the CG higher and lower than in the regular model.
hosel allows you to choose from a combination of eight different loft (-1°, S, +1°, +2°) and lie angles (Draw and Neutral). The Speed Frame Face is thin, light and robust so it produces fast ball speeds across the entire face. It also has the Internal Standing Wave that lowers CG
to help golfers who struggle to get enough height with their longer clubs off the deck. The hybrids are available in 3-hybrid (19°), 4-hybrid (22°), 5-hybrid (25°), 6-hybrid (28°), 7-hybrid (31°). Price: £699 (irons), £199 (per hybrid) Web: www.callawaygolf.com