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A few times during the final round of the Travelers Championship, CBS analyst Trevor Immelman highlighted a pretty straightforward tip that can help the rest of us.
The commentary team explained the tip came from Tiger Woods via Butch Harmon, which was relevant at the Travelers Championship because the 54-hole leader Tommy Fleetwood still makes regular visits to see Harmon.
I don’t have the exact quote in front of me, but the paraphrased tip was this:
It’s ok to be aggressive and try to make every putt, as long as you pay attention to what happens when you miss.
Here’s the basics of what that means:
- Being aggressive and trying to make every putt means hitting your ball past the hole.
- Paying attention to what happens next means maintaining focus, keeping your eyes locked on the ball as it rolls past the hole.
The idea is that if you’re going to be aggressive and try to get your putt past the hole, odds are you’re going to miss the putt—but that it’s going to roll by reasonably close. And when it does, you’re effectively getting a preview of your next putt.
So stay focused. A great example came on the fifth hole of Tiger Woods’ final round at the 2019 Masters. Facing a long right-to-left breaking putt, Tiger didn’t turn away or start walking towards the hole disappointedly once he realized his putt wasn’t going in. He stayed locked in.
And as it rolled past, you can actually see him move into a different position to get a better look at the ensuing putt.
The irony is that Tiger ended up missing that comeback putt, and Tommy Fleetwood ended up losing with a three-putt on the 72nd hole on Sunday. But hey, it’s a good tip because it’s simple enough for the rest of us to do.
If your ball is rolling past the hole, stay locked in. You may learn a little something about what happens next.
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Main Image: Sean M. Haffey
