Golf Editorials

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Last week during the WM Phoenix Open I wrote about the golf swing of Matthew Wolff. The “Keyboard Warriors” took to social media to denounce the 19 year old’s swing. Just a quick question… what PGA Tour event were you playing in at the tender age of 19? Personally speaking, golf wasn’t even on my radar yet.

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One day… before I die. (Photo Credit: PebbleBeach.com)

This week the stop is in the ever-so beautiful Monterrey Peninsula at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. Ah yes… Pebble Beach where Bing Crosby himself hosted his Clambake. The tournament is special because you have celebrities (some of which are hardly celebrities Fortune 500 CEO’s etc) playing with the pro’s. Some of the legit celebrities include Aaron Rodgers, Bill Murray, Huey Lewis, and Wayne Gretzky to name a few. But the PGA Tour also welcomed a newcomer to the event. On a sponsor’s exemption from South Korea is Ho-sung Choi.

Choi as you may know is the owner of what some call the craziest golf swing in golf. As “crazy” as his golf swing might be it’s a swing that has won professional golf events. Most recently as 2018 on the Japan Golf Tour at the Casio World Open. But is it really that crazy? Are there others that know much more than me about the golf swing? Yes. But having taught golf I know a thing or two about the swing as well and know what to look for. So, please allow me to entertain you as I break this down this “Gyrating Wonder”.

 

  1. On the takeaway Choi takes the club back a little to the outside much like guys that I touched on last week. (Wolff, Moore and Furyk)
  2. Choi releases his left heel (lead heel). Great for turn, tempo, transition and saving his lower back.
  3. He’s relatively steep about halfway back but he starts to flatten everything out as he approaches the top.
  4. At the top, note how the back of his top hand matches the clubface.
  5. Choi stops just short of parallel before starting his transition.
  6. To kickstart the down swing his lead heel plants and he has definitely started his downswing from the ground up. You can see “the squat” as well (How much do you wanna bet he wasn’t a bad Little League baseball player? If he played)
  7. He has created pretty good lag prior to impact.
  8. At impact he’s clearly “down and through” the shot and fully extends down his line.
  9. The ball is traveling down the fairway… he then “walks through” the shot in a way that Gary Player did and does.

It’s after this where thing’s get a little crazy I suppose. I feel that the rest of it is theatrics and just a little bit extra. Which is fine. If everyone was the same than life would be boring right? Golf Oatmeal Sucks! You know that he’s been doing it a long time and that’s his niche. It’s how he identifies with fans and how he markets himself (Note the bag logo).

In conclusion, there’s nothing crazy about this golf swing. It’s fundamentally and mechanically sound. Is there a bit that’s “extra”? In my opinion.. yes! But it’s who he is and real golf fans will accept it. Bear in mind that there’s a difference between accept and watch. What he does well after the ball is gone is much more extra than Mr. Palmer’s “Helicopter Finish” or Jim Thorpe’s for that matter.  I’ll admit though… it got old on me in a hurry and I couldn’t watch him for 18 holes. At the time of writing Choi was at  -1 (T-88).

Until The Next Tee!!

#SeeUOnTheNextTee #FightAndGrind

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This week’s PGA Tour stop was the Waste Management Phoenix Open. The hole of “The People’s Tournament” where the rowdiest, rocking, raucous fans gather around the 16th Hole. It’s a stadium atmosphere that by no accident happens to be on the same weekend as the Super Bowl. Honestly, I wish golf had more of this but this is what makes this tournament so special. It’s their baby… it’s the very entity of this event. What often is forgotten about the WM Phoenix Open is the fact that this tournament has raised $122 M USD for Arizona Charities.

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The Thunderbirds do their thing… one day I will be there too. (Photo Credit: WM Phoenix Open)

This week was different as well because we saw the PGA TOUR debut of Matthew Wolff. Wolff, is a 19 year old amateur who plays collegiate golf at Oklahoma State University (yes… the same OSU as alum Rickie Fowler). He was a First Team All-American as a freshman and won his final three events last fall. A swing that can win quite obviously… right?!

According to the “Golf Twitterverse” Wolff’s swing as unorthodox as it “seems” drew the ire of the “keyboard warriors” that are all “PGA Professionals” amongst us. Some of the comments that I read were things like

  • “I have seen better swings in my golf league”.
  • “That swing is just yuck”.
  • “That’s a gross swing FR”.

Basically, there were plenty of people insinuating that his swing was trash. A total “Dumpster Fire”. Basically, if you think that this swing is trash you must also think that Jim Furyk and Ryan Moore are also trash and have no idea of the golf swing in general.The first thing that you need to consider is this. It doesn’t matter how you get to the top… it’s how you get to the bottom. The swing is the most important in the approximately 24″ before and post impact. When I work with students I ask a couple of questions the first time that I work with someone. The first is “Do you have any health impediments?”. The second question is this.

“What do these swings have in common with each other. Annika Sorenstam, 2000 Tiger Woods, Jim Furyk, Bobby Jones, Jack Nicklaus, Phil Mickelson, Adam Scott and Ryan Moore have in common?”

The answer is almost always “No idea”. So I enlighten them with the easy answer. It’s where they’re at pre-impact, impact and post-impact”. There is NO ONE correct way to swing a golf club. All of those swings proves the point.

Here’s my take on his swing.

  1. His waggle is a mechanism to get things rolling. I’ve never met him but maybe there’s a hint that he has to keep moving.
  2. He takes the golf club outside a little bit like Jim Furyk or Ryan Moore. In a way that is sort of similar to elements of Leadbetter’s “A-Swing”. Note the downturn of his lead shoulder.
  3. Notice the left heel. Hi lead heel. He lifts it like so many of the greats. For that reason his swing will last through the years and will likely prevent him from major back issues.
  4. He plants the heel… stimulating the transition.
  5. As steep as it is… he flattens his plane with lag to burn. Pause at .02.
  6. Wolff extends great thru impact and down the line

Essentially, there’s a ton of good going on in his swing… and it clearly displays the power and why he’s won.

The long and short of this is to simply… “Swing your swing”. Oh… he also made the cut too!

***I will elaborate on Ho Sung Choi in the near future

Until The Next Tee!!

#FightAndGrind #SeeUOnTheNextTee

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Even though it’s the middle of another week on the PGA Tour.. The “People’s Tournament” (WMO Phoenix Open) I just wanted to take a quick look back at what happened this past week. First there was dominance in the desert of Dubai. Then several hours later there was “terrificness” at Torrey (I know terrificness isn’t a word in the English language).

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Photo Credit: Getty Images

Bryson DeChambeau continued his meteoric rise to the top of the golfing world this past weekend in Dubai at the Dubai Desert Classic. Dechambeau blew the field away besting the runner-up by a mere 7 strokes. Powered by Cobra Golf KING F9 driver (third win for the driver in 2019-2019), Cobra Golf ONE Length Forged irons and of course his Bridgestone Golf Tour B X golf ball. The genius, scientist or whatever you choose to call him has seemingly silenced his critics. Having watched him on social media being harrassed by “keyboard warriors” as recently as last year all has gone quiet. I said it before and I’ll say it again. He’s great for golf… he’s different and fresh. If you look at his last several finishes the numbers are astonishing. I grabbed this list from the Bridgestone Golf Twitter feed.

  • WIN 🏆

  • T10

  • 7th

  • T12

  • WIN 🏆

  • 19th

  • T19

  • WIN 🏆

  • WIN 🏆

Is there really a hotter player in golf at the moment? Well…

PGA: Farmers Insurance Open - Final Round
Jan 27, 2019; San Diego, CA, USA; Justin Rose poses with the winner’s trophy following the Farmers Insurance Open golf tournament at Torrey Pines Municipal Golf Course – South Course. Mandatory Credit: Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports

So as the dust or shall I say sand settled in Dubai, on this side of the Atlantic the Farmers Insurance Open was being played alongside the para-gliders and pristine waters of the Pacific Ocean. Torrey Pines. I’ve always enjoyed watching this tournament mostly because it is played on a public golf course and I can relate to it via many rounds played there by way of Tiger Woods PGA Tour video games. That said, generally speaking there’s always a solid field at this event. While many golf fans were tuning in for Tiger I was more intrigued by watching the current World #1 Justin Rose play with his new clubs. Honma Golf. Just remember, Rose didn’t just get up and leave TaylorMade Golf… his contract expired and he chose to move on. If you haven’t made swings with Honma Golf products… find some and swing them. You’ll understand. At any rate, Justin Rose is the last golfer in the world that would need to quantify or validate his switch. This past week however… he did. At the Farmers Insurance Open he claimed victory less than a month after the “official” change-up. It was only his second official start playing “The Mole” (Honma’s logo). When I think about all of this I think of one of his quotes…

“I switched to Honma to get better” – Justin Rose

That’s a scary thought!

In case you were wondering what his WITB looked like here it is.

Driver: Honma TW747 460 9.5 w/ Honma Vizard FD-7X shaft

3-wood: TaylorMade M6, 15˚(Mitsubishi Tensei CK 80TX)

#2 Iron: Honma TW-U2

#4-9 Irons: Honma T//World 747

Proto Wedges: Honma Rose Proto 48, 52, 56

Putter: Axis1

Ball: TaylorMade Golf TP5

****Photo Credits belong to Honma Golf EU and Axis1****

It’s just the beginning of this 2019 PGA TOUR season but this is going to be fun. Could Rose and DeChambeau be on a collision course? Time will tell.

 

Until The Next Tee!!

#FightAndGrind #SeeUOnTheNextTee