For the first instalment of this column, I took my first-ever standalone putting lesson—and took a leap by ditching my longtime putting form at the suggestion of my new coach, Bill Smittle. I then shot my lowest score in 15 years in my next round. How ‘bout that?! But while Bill was happy to hear that result, he still wanted to see me again to discuss something else. And it had nothing to do with my stroke.

Bill wanted to go over green reading and how I line up putts. This led to a discussion about AimPoint, the popular, but controversial green-reading method used by a lot of tour pros (even if most pros today adopt a hybrid approach). It may work for them, but I was apprehensive, and even feared the reaction I’d get using it around my buddies. I may as well wear a scarlet “A” on my shirt.

I was relieved when Bill only gave me a quick crash course on how AimPoint works. He knew that it wasn’t for everyone and that even the genial Jim Nantz had recently said he “can’t stand looking at it.” But as Bill explained, feeling the slope with your feet is extremely useful because how a putt breaks is all based on “time and tilt.” The longer a ball is travelling on that tilt, the more it’s going to break. So identifying that slope has become key, which is why you see more and more tour pros straddling their putting line from different distances instead of only bending down behind their ball to read the green.

Anyway, to get proficient at AimPoint would take hours of practice stomping around on the putting green so we moved onto lining up putts. I enjoyed Bill, formerly the head pro at Scarsdale Golf Club for more than 30 years, referring to himself as the “Start-Line King” and I was all ears. But isn’t it easy to line up your putts? Turns out, not so much!

After a few minutes of going through my normal pre-putt routine, we discovered that I was almost always aiming to the right of my intended target. Even on short putts when you can keep the hole in your peripheral vision. It was pretty stunning, not to mention, alarming. All year, I had been worried about my putting form, but perhaps it was what I was doing before making a stroke that was holding me back even more. It also made sense that my old method of putting involved me keeping the putter head slightly closed on the way back and through. That was counteracting with being aimed right, meaning that two wrongs were making a right when I made a putt.

So what was Bill’s suggestion for aiming better? For one, he advised me to use a line on my golf ball, which is something I’ve heard and even tried in the past. But he also said something I had never considered: Use your putter shaft. To do this, you first crouch behind the ball and get the line pointed in the direction you want. Then, using your dominant eye, hold your putter up in front of you to confirm that the line on the ball lines up with the shaft all the way to where you’re aiming by the hole.

When should you go through this process? Bill gave 30 feet as an approximate cutoff point, but it’s really for putts you think you have a realistic chance of holing. One additional thing: Depending on which way you see the putt breaking, use that side of the putter shaft as your guide. So if it’s a right-to-left break, you line it up using the left side of the shaft and if it’s a left-to-right break, you use the right side of the shaft.

As I did after changing my putting stroke, I spent a ton of time over the next couple weeks practising this. I didn’t find it particularly easy to do as it would often take me multiple efforts to get the line lined up where I wanted. And the last thing I want to do is hold up my group. So I’ll continue to practice in order to speed up the process.

If you don’t feel comfortable doing this, there are other ways to line up putts. In fact, our Luke Kerr-Dineen recently offered some suggestions in his Golf IQ newsletter. The bottom line is that you could have the best putting stroke in the world, but it’s not going to help much if you’re not aiming correctly so you should double check what you’re doing is working.

After my two sessions with Bill, I’m feeling more confident about my new putting stroke and my new way of lining up putts. When I miss a putt now, I can usually chalk it up to a bad read. So once I feel more comfortable with both, maybe I’ll experiment more with identifying the slope with my feet. Bill says you don’t have to go full AimPoint, but straddling your line can be an extra tool when assessing your putt.

Bill also suggested picking out a spot on the green about a foot in front that you try to get your putt to roll over once you have it lined up. But I found that by properly being lined up, I didn’t need to add that. Well, for now. Besides, he’s given me enough already to work on this offseason. Hopefully, by spring I’ll be at least on track to earn the title of “Start-Line Prince.”

Main Image: Supplied

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The green-reading method by feeling the slope with one’s feet has become a staple of the PGA Tour over the last few years—we even once called it a “clever loophole”—and it’s safe to say that Nantz is not a fan. The 65-year-old broadcasting icon went off on the system while on John Huggan’s “The Thing About Golf” podcast.

“It really drives me crazy when you see their backs to the hole, and they’re trying to feel the break, and they walk another five feet and they do it again,” Nantz said. “They go through this process [but] where’s the feel in it?

“I know they’re trying to win and trying to find a shot over the course of four days that can make the difference but, to me, if you’re playing a lot of golf and you’re standing over a 20-footer, it’s a cup outside the left, it’s the left edge, play it a cup and a half. I mean, all this, is it really making a difference? Maybe it is. But I can’t stand looking at it.”

Those are strong words, but can you blame him when PGA Tour events slow down to a standstill for … this?

https://twitter.com/GabbyHerzig/status/1801360801686577451

This interpretive dance-esque look may not be the most athletic of acts, but if it works it works. We’re all trying to find small ways to better our games. Can you really blame these top-tier tour pros trying to find an edge? Well, if you’re Jim Nantz you most definitely can. Keep the hot takes coming, Jim.

Main Image: Chris Condon

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It was a big reason why he looked so calm and collected during that back-nine 31 as he pulled away from a packed leaderboard at the Open Championship—not that his caddie, Austin Kaiser, felt the same way.

“I was telling Austin, my caddie, on the 18th hole that I felt pretty calm coming down the stretch,” Schauffele told Sky Sports after. “And he said he was about to puke on the 18th.”

But while the victory at Valhalla was a big factor in Schauffele’s lack of nerves, it also helped that he played about the most stress-free round of golf possible. At least, given the setting of the final round of a major championship.

By now, golf fans are well familiar with Schauffele’s ball-striking clinic that produced 16 greens hit in regulation, but there’s another, wilder stat that tells the story even better. Put simply, he never had to even sweat over a par putt.

https://twitter.com/fried_egg_golf/status/1815074462238474677

That’s right, the longest par putt he faced all day—2 feet, 10 inches—was one you and your buddies would just give each other. Crazy.

That (nearly) three-footer came on the par-5 fourth hole when Schauffele ran his 20-foot birdie attempt past the hole. And despite hitting all those greens, he never left himself more than that for par all day.

In fact, the two times he missed a green, on No. 2 and No. 9, he nearly chipped in. Talk about having total mastery of all facets of your game.

Add it all up, and Schauffele shot a bogey-free 65 that included a back-nine 31. And a fitting final tap-in par on 18.

Main Image: Kevin C. Cox

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The 30-year-old South African ranks 10th in SG: Putting, fourth in one-putt percentage, fourth in three-putt avoidance, and ninth in Approach Putt Performance.

Bezuidenhout is, simply put, an elite putter across the board.

“It’s always been the strong spot in my game,” he says. “I love spending time on putting. I love working on my putting; hitting different putts; reading the greens. It’s something that I enjoy.”

So what can we learn from him? That’s what I asked him at the Travelers Championship last week. Bezuidenhout said learning Aimpoint really helped his green-reading and recommends it to the rest of us, but it’s his daily routine, above all else, that the rest of us can learn from.

Bezuidenhout’s ‘dialed’ drill

Before every round, Bezuidenhout sets up a little putting station:

• He finds a flat six-foot putt
• He draws a chalk line on the ground
• He places two tees outside of the putter head
• He places two more tees a little wider
• He uses the line on his golf ball

https://twitter.com/LukeKerrDineen/status/1806426627447898314

Once he’s all setup, Bezuidenhout spends 10 or 15 minutes simply hitting putts, trying to roll the line on his golf ball down the line on the ground. He’ll also reserve about 30 putts which he hits with only his left hand.

The tees are there to make sure he hits the ball in the sweet spot of the putter, and with a square putter face.

“I use the same setup every day,” he says. “It helps me get my start line dialed, and keeps my stroke consistent day after day.”

A few minutes of this every day, perhaps on a putting green at home, and you’ll come out the other end an improved putter, too.

Main Image: Sean M. Haffey

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Steph Curry is the best shooter in basketball history. He’s also a really good golfer, if that wasn’t enough. Golf Digest’s recent cover star has a golf swing that the rest of us would dream of, but quite incredibly, that isn’t even the true strength of his game.

His true strength is his short game.

Steph says he’s always had a feel for good distance control, which makes sense. There’s a certain level of hand-eye coordination and depth perception which he excels at, that shows up on the greens.

And just as all great athletes do, he’s intuitively figured out an efficient technique which gives him the results he wants.

You can spot it in his putting stroke below.

Specifically, you can see it in his left wrist. Notice how Steph extends his arms a little straighter—a personal preference—but more importantly, keeps the back of his left hand locked in place. This creates a relationship between the back of his left hand, and his putter face.

Steph Curry – Ezra Shaw

Christiaan Bezuidenhout, the 11th-ranked putter on tour, says this is a key move in his own stroke, and something amateurs should copy.

“When you keep that left wrist firm and locked, you’ll have a harder time pulling putts,” Bezuidenhout says. “I want to keep it in that position on the back of my left hand facing the target the entire time.”

Another great putter, Luke Donald, has the same cue, as he demonstrates below.

https://twitter.com/LukeKerrDineen/status/1704505916870013416

It’s not a coincidence an elite cross-sport athlete like Steph figured this out himself. The great ones always do.

Main Image: Isaiah Vazquez

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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 137^th on the DP World Tour putting strokes gained list, to now ranked 5^th 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

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We spend a lot of time trying to hit the ball with the centre of the clubface. But sometimes, a situation on the golf course calls for a part of the club other than the sweet spot to make contact with the ball. Rose Zhang encountered one such scenario during the U.S. Women’s Open at Lancaster Country Club. Her ball came to rest on the fringe, but right up against the collar.

This type of lie can happen when the rough around the green is very dense, says Joanna Coe, a Golf Digest Best Young Teacher and the Director of Instruction at Merion Golf Club. The ball sitting against the longer grass of the rough makes solid center-face contact difficult – even for the pros. So instead of using the centre of the putterface, Zhang used the toe.

To hit this shot, Coe says: “Flip the putter so that the toe is positioned behind the golf ball, with the entire putter in line with the target. The toe will be slightly down, and the heel slightly elevated. Grip the putter as you normally would, even though the top of your grip will be on the side (left side for right-handed players and right side for left-handed players).”

The ball should be in the middle, or slightly forward, in your stance, Coe says. From there, make a normal putting stroke motion.“While this setup may look unconventional, you’ll be surprised at how easily the putter glides through the thick rough with minimal resistance,” Coe says.

By using only the toe of the putter, there’s less material to get caught up in the rough. You’ll get cleaner contact than you would if you tried to use the centre of your putter face. Next time your ball is up against the collar, give Zhang’s trick a try.

Main Image: Getty Images

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You can see it here…

Scott Taetsch/PGA of America

and here…

and also here…

Icon Sportswire

And right here!

If you guessed that the trend had something to do with players’ putting grip, you’re correct. If you guessed that it had something to do specifically with players’ left hand putting grip, then you nailed it.

Traditionally, most golfers putt with a conventional, reverse-overlap grip. They curl their lead finger over the pinky and ring fingers of their right hand. Like you see Gordon Sargent and Rory McIlroy using below…

But more and more players I see on tour seem to ditch the traditional overlap, and extend the lead finger of their lead hand (left finger for right handed golfers) straight down the grip, like you see Matt Fitzpatrick and Matt Wallace demonstrating below.

I’m still workshopping a name for it, but the current clubhouse leader is the “Fitz Grip”, because Matt Fitzpatrick is the first player to use it, and also has my favourite putting stroke of all time.

Look at this thing. It’s like a metronome.

 

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Anyway, here’s a list of players I’ve noticed using the extended left finger “Fitz Grip”

• Matt Fitzpatrick
• Alex Fitzpatrick
• Justin Rose
• Tommy Fleetwood
• Nick Taylor
• Danny Willett
• Matt Wallace
• Megan Khang (left-hand low)

How it helps

The main benefit of the Fitz Grip is that it locks the putter into your left palm, which means your left arm and putter move as one. It can also improve the alignment of your forearms, as Golf Digest Best in State putting coach Bill Smittle explains:

“It tends to firm up that lead wrist, which will reduce hinging and promote better putter face control,” Smittle says. “It also brings both your hands closer together, and your wrist joints into alignment. It means your forearm plane is more neutral. When one hand is lower than the other, whatever hand is lowered is usually more extended. Which then puts your forearms out of alignment.”

I’ve been playing around with the Fitz Grip and it’s the firmness of the left wrist that I’ve noticed the most.

I tend to get a little wristy with my putting stroke, which causes me to pull putts. When your left finger is extended down the grip, it activates the extensor muscles in your left forearm, which makes that wrist breakdown much harder. Your left wrist starts to feel like a wall—you can release your right hand as much as you want, and it’s never in danger of taking over. It’s the left hand that is in control of the stroke.

It’s why, once you have that extended finger left hand grip, you see so many variations in what players do with their right hand. Some adopt a claw. I’ve been clasping my right hand, which is what Fitzpatrick does. But honestly, it doesn’t really matter. Whatever feels most comfy; the right hand is just along for the ride.

Give it a try, and let me know if it works (or doesn’t) for you.

The post The Fitz Grip: Why this putting grip is trending way up on tour appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Though ranking 96th on tour doesn’t sound impressive, it’s a huge jump compared to last year when he ranked 162nd on tour in SG/putting. So it’s no surprise that Scottie Scheffler got emotional on Sunday thanking Phil Kenyon, perhaps the leading putting coach in the world, who has worked with other great players such as Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood, and started working with Scheffler after the Tour Championship last year.

Kenyon was smiling next to the rest of Scheffler’s team during the green-jacket ceremony on Augusta National’s practice putting green in this great moment. It’s possible Kenyon was already thinking about what he might say to dunk on the internet haters who were apparently ruthless.

Well, Kenyon had his revenge on Wednesday—tweeting a simple ‘wave’ emoji as if to say hi to this one specific hater.

It’s clear Kenyon kept receipts!

https://twitter.com/KenyonPutting/status/1780558512201805946

Scheffler was also asked about Kenyon’s influence in his press conference with the media on Sunday after his victory:

“After East Lake last year, ride home on the plane, sitting there talking to [his agent Blake Smith], and we kind of look at each other, and I think we both were thinking the same thing. And we both looked at each other, and I was like, “You know, I want to see a putting coach.

“Blake goes, ‘I think that’s a good idea. Let’s talk to [Blake’s father and Scheffler’s coach, Randy Smith].’

“I had watched [Phil Kenyon] before and watched him coach players. When you’re out here as long as I’ve been, I just see stuff, and I loved the way Phil coached his players. You look at a guy like Fitzy who lines up his putts and uses a putter that has a lot of swing to it, and you look at a guy like Keegan Bradley, doesn’t use a line on the ball, uses a big giant putter cross-handed, and he putts good.

“As I watched Phil, I could tell that he was open-minded, and that’s the type of people I like to work with. And we kind of hit the ground running in the fall. I can’t speak highly enough of the decision that Randy also made to be open-minded, not take an ego to it, sit there, watch us work, watch Phil do his thing.

“Phil is also a guy that doesn’t have a big ego. He just wants what’s best for his players. I’m really, really fortunate to have those two guys as part of my team.

“I can’t — it’s hard to — it’s hard to describe what it’s like, having somebody — Randy had taught me for almost 20 years every single aspect of the game. And so for me to have to bring in somebody else could have been a shot to his ego and he may not have wanted me to do it. But Randy sat there and he said, ‘You know what, I think it’s the right time.’

“We called Phil, and about a week later he came in, had a visit. We worked for a couple days, and, yeah, now we’re here.”

Image: David Cannon

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Thomas is currently ranked 149th on the tour in strokes gained putting. He’s losing .516 strokes on the greens per round, or more than two strokes per tournament. Which is, well, not good.

Not that putting was ever JT’s strength. During the 2016-2017 season in which he won five times and was named PGA Tour Player of the Year, Thomas was 43rd in that stat. But gaining nearly a stroke and a half on the greens over 72 holes like he did that season vs. losing two makes a big difference.

However, on the eve of the Valspar Championship, where Thomas is one of the favourites, the 15-time PGA Tour winner insisted that he’s putting better than what the numbers say. And we have to say that he had a pretty good excuse for those poor stats.

“I think this early in the year it can be pretty skewed, I would say. Also, my first two events of the season were events where Shot Link isn’t even there, just due to the different golf courses,” Thomas told reporters at Innisbrook. “So I had my first in Palm Springs and Torrey Pines, I didn’t putt great on Sunday or Saturday, whatever it was, but, so I have five pretty good rounds that were completely taken out of stats. I think the majority of the time stats can be helpful, but I’m starting to realize that they can just be a little skewed here and there, especially this early in the season.”

He makes a fair point. There were no strokes gained stats for all four rounds at the American Express, where Thomas shot 27 under and finished T-3. And only one of his rounds at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am counted towards the metric. So that’s actually six rounds out of 21 total that didn’t have strokes gained putting. That’s nearly one-third of his rounds thus far.

Meanwhile, arguably his four worst rounds of 2024, missing the cut at both the Genesis Invitational and the Players, counted toward his stats. So it’s an even smaller sample size than most golf fans realize. Still, that doesn’t mean Thomas isn’t aware that he has a lot to improve on in that area.

“But, of course, at the end of the day, I would love to and know that I need to make more putts,” Thomas added, “but I feel like I’m seeing things going the right way and just want that hole to start looking like a bucket one of these days.”

If that ever does happen, hopefully for JT’s stats sake, the tour will be keeping track of strokes gained putting that week.

Image: Douglas P. DeFelice

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