If you’re like most golfers, a bad round leaves you frustrated. But even on bad days there’s always a shot or two that you hit well. These shots seduce you into playing again despite your frustration. They also illustrate a key point about golf: There are two sides to every shot. There’s the mechanical side and the mental side. Both have to be in sync to hit a good shot. In other words, forget about hitting miracle shots when in trouble and play smart golf.
Hitting a miracle shot or a shot you’ve never hit before when you’re in trouble isn’t playing smart golf. More often than not, it gets you deeper into trouble and adds strokes to your score. If you “go for it” all the time, the strategy can inflate your golf handicap. How should you play a tough shot? Weigh the risk-reward of hitting the shot. Then decide on what to hit. If the reward isn’t there, don’t risk the shot. The shots described below, which include golf tips on hitting them, were critical shots in major championships that require a risk/reward decision.
1. Tiger Woods: 2006 Open Championship
Britain’s Royal Liverpool Golf Club is unforgiving. Make a mistake on it and it can cost you dearly. It’s why Tiger Woods left his driver in the bag in favor of his 2-iron during a critical point in the 2006 British Open. Woods wanted to stay out of the hole’s punishing fairway bunkers. He did. His decision provides a key golf lesson for all golfers. Gaining a few extra yards off the tee isn’t always worth the risk taken, especially if there’s danger in front of you and to the sides.
Hitting a long iron off the tee is a safe choice. But you have to be careful. Many players get too wide in their stance when hitting log irons—a common mistake we often see in our golf instruction sessions. For long iron tee shots, setup with your feet slightly outside the width of your shoulders, play the ball about two inches inside your front foot, and tee the ball up about a quarter inch. Then swing away. Try to just brush the grass during the swing and make sure you finish the shot. Finishing well is critical.
2. SeRi Pak: 2006 LPGA Championship
Many professional golfers—like many students that attend our golf instruction sessions—have replaced their long irons with hybrids. Using her 3 hybrid paid off for Se Ri Pak on the first hole of a sudden death playoff with Karrie Webb in LPGA Championship. Pak belted a shot that landed within two inches of the hole. Pak weighed the risk of going for it versus the reward before hitting the shot. Her decision paid off. She won the championship and resurrected her career with the win. Below are some golf tips on hitting hybrids.
Pak hit her hybrid well because she executed the basics. Not executing the basics is something we see from students in our golf lessons all the time. To hit a hybrid solidly you must swing the club as if it were an iron—keep your head at its original address position, shift your lower body forward slightly, and hit down on the ball. Hitting a hybrid solidly turns long distances into scoring opportunities—a must if you’re going to chop strokes off your golf handicap.
3. Phil Mickelson: 2006 U.S. Open
Mickelson was up one going into the Open’s final hole. He blocked his shot left and ended up in the rough with a tough lie. He could go for the green with a 3-iron or punch out on to the fairway. Mickelson went for it. The decision cost him. He missed the shot and double-bogeyed the hole, which cost him the championship. He lost by one stroke. The golf lesson here is that Mickelson took a chance he didn’t have to take.
Mickelson probably regrets his decision that day. He could have punched out to the fairway and still won the tournament. The key to punching out when in deep rough is choosing the right club. You don’t want the club turning over at impact when in the thick rough. How do you choose the right club? Here’s formula that many professional golfers follow after landing in the rough: the thicker the rough, the more loft you’ll need. Also, make sure you pick out a landing spot that gives you a good next shot.
Mickelson didn’t play smart golf in 2006. Weigh the risk and the reward of critical shots before hitting them. Do it for all your tough shots and you’ll not only break 80, you’ll cut strokes from your golf handicap.
