On an average day I probably spend a couple of hours practicing my putting. So, if I’m practising five times a week, it could be up to ten hours of putting practice when I’m at home in Dubai.
When I’m on the road on the DP World Tour or Challenge Tour, I probably push that down to an hour and a half on a Tuesday and a Wednesday, and then on tournament days, it gets pushed down again closer to an hour.
Realistically, I’m probably cutting that time from Dubai to tournament weeks in half. So being diligent with my practice in Dubai helps massively in the long term to when I’m on the road.
Trump International Golf Club Dubai
Obviously, I do a lot of my practice here up at Trump International Dubai. Simon Winzar and his team get the greens running from 11 to 12 on the stimp every day and it’s always in amazing condition, as is the whole course!
With my usual putting practice, it always starts with the fundamentals. Technique, stroke line, and making sure I’m hitting it in the centre of the clubface. I’ll then move on to doing some speed drills which can be anywhere from 30ft to 60ft. Working towards reading the grain and doing drills for that which is a massive aspect that a lot of people forget.
Then finishing off my practice with holing out drills, so anywhere from 15ft and in. Those would be my usual areas that I look towards to work on each day that I’m practising my putting.
At the moment I’m focusing a bit more of my time on my technique. I’ll set the mirror down, put the T-Line at the width of my putter, which helps with set of the strike and do a lot of reps with that through the gate and on a string line to check my eyeline in the mirror.
I might move on to using the mat as well, just to make sure my rotation of the putter face is the same as the path that I’m trying to create. Pace putting is huge part as well. I’ll do a lot of drills and plenty of scoring games where you get points to make sure that your speed’s correct.
T-Line
I do a lot of green reading from four to 12ft, around the holing out area. I’ll set up a semi-circle of tees and while using my T-bar, which tells me exactly where I’m starting the ball and I use an overline two-thirds of the way to the hole.
Doing that on a regular basis has helped me develop that skill of green reading which I lacked before. The biggest thing for me this past year when moving to Dubai has been my green reading. That has come on leaps and bounds.
With the holing out drills, you can find all sorts on social media, you just have to find the ones you like and keep you engaged so you can’t just half-heart it all the time. You’ve really got to be fully engaged and hole the putts. Some drills might be good for a month or so and then you’ll have to switch it up to just keep bringing fresh ideas.
Mat, gate and mirror
Putting is a huge mental battle as well. I think from my background I did a lot of art growing up. I studied art, got a degree in art so I’ve got a very visual mindset. I love to visualise how the ball is going to roll through a certain point, or the speed it’s going to enter the cup at. That would be my mental task that I do to use my eyes to really quieten my mind while pressure putting. It then lets everything flow really well through my stroke so I’m not really trying to steer too much, I’m just trying to execute it over certain points.
But you can’t beat yourself up over it. There are so many impurities in the greens on the golf course that you’ve really just got to not be too perfect with everything.
I think that’s one of the biggest aspects I’ve taken over the years, that is to accept that if you hit a great putt that’s gone over your spot that you’ve picked, you just have to except that it might not go in. I think having that really good feedback of whether it’s pace, line, or stroke is instant feedback to yourself, then you can go and try again on the next green.
With the construction of the greens in Dubai, they are quite undulating, and on Tour you’d see a lot of that. Honestly, Dubai’s condition of every golf course is really good so you are always getting good preparation in.
I know here they are more Bermuda-type greens and a little bit more grain which we might get in say southern Europe like Spain or down in South Africa, so it really helps to develop my green reading with grain, because to be honest I used to not be great at it and I’ve certainly developed that since living over here.
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My putting coach is Andy Paisley, Chris Paisley’s brother, he’s got quite a few guys out on Tour, Dean Burmester who plays on LIV Golf, then you’ve got on the DP World Tour Calum Hill, Connor Syme and David Law who are all noticeably very good putters, so I’m in good hands!
I’ve been working with Andy for near on eight years – it’s been a long time! He is from Newcastle so I know him really well. He does coach the long game, but mainly focuses on putting. He spends a lot of time out on the road with us all and I just have a great relationship with him. Can’t thank him enough, he’s done wonders to my putting!
On Tour, I think you’ve just got to utilise your time as well as you can from Monday to Wednesday. You need to get the speed of the greens when you’re at a tournament, and that’s developed every day because the conditions and the weather dictate how quick or slow the greens can be, so you’ve got to be very adaptive when you’re on the road.
Realistically, you can’t spend as much time as you’d like on putting but you have to get a framework that you can utilise and make sure it will maximize your ability to be ready for the first round. So again, a lot of holing out drills and speed drills, and I will try not to really worry or spend too much time on my technique.
DP World Tour current strokes gained in putting
It’s funny because my putting hasn’t always been a strength of my game. I feel like I’ve always been a bit of a streaky putter. But since moving to Dubai, I can honestly say, it’s gotten miles better. I’ve gone from struggling to putting last year by being ranked 137th on the DP World Tour putting strokes gained list, to now ranked 5th on the list and that’s not a coincidence.
There’s no coincidence that having regular contact on a practice putting green, doing your drills, doing your technique work consistently, there is no substitute for that. Hard work pays off and I feel like that’s where my putting has gone. That’s from moving to Dubai and putting on greens that are world class day-to-day.
Main Image: Harry Grimshaw
