Hunter Mahan: 6 Easy Ways to Crush It Down the Fairway

Angus Murray

A smoother backswing leads to a faster downswing.

I love driving. My caddie had better have a very good reason for handing me a 3-wood or hybrid on the tee box, because unless it makes zero sense to hit driver, I’m hitting driver. It’s my favorite club — the one I can count on in the clutch and lean on when other parts of my game are a little off.

This love affair is no accident. I’ve worked hard to not only improve my driver swing but also to understand it. I’ve gotten to the point where I instantly know why I’m driving well on good days and, more importantly, why I’m not driving it well on bad days. It boils down to hitting six key positions that almost automatically deliver speed and accuracy. Use my position-by-position checklist and you’ll realize — maybe for the first time — that driving is fun and easy.

START YOUR SWING SLOW MOTION
Your swing is equal parts backswing and downswing, but the two parts couldn’t be more different. The first one is about creating energy and the second is about expending it. My goal on every swing is to marry the two, but to create enough separation between them so that they don’t blur together. I make my backswing, pause, and then start down. I can’t do this if I whip the club back at 100 mph like a lot of players do.

I’m a big baseball guy. I love the way batters point the bat toward center field as they settle into their stance, slowly bring the bat back as the pitcher starts his windup, and then wait for the pitch. That’s the perfect image of the smoothness you need in your backswing. To get it, swing the club back with your arms and hands in near-slow motion during the first three feet of your swing, and then slowly add your shoulder and hip turn. Try to get your club, arms, shoulders and hips to stop at the same time at the top. This lets you start them at the same time on the way back down so your body doesn’t get too far in front or lag too far behind the clubhead.

Angus Murray

Big hitters “crouch and load” without turning off the ball.

COIL INTO YOUR RIGHT THIGH
The only tangible feeling I want at the top is my right thigh bearing all the pressure of my motion. If I make the ideal slow-and-solid backswing, my right thigh will feel so tight at the top that I could literally jump several feet to the left just by pushing off my right foot. The more intense the feeling in your right thigh, the better. That pressure is swing power!

As you move the club to the top, picture your right leg as a wet rag. Turn into your right side while keeping flex in your right knee and “wring” the water out of the rag. Do it right and you’ll notice that you instinctively crouch down with your hips, increasing the number of wrinkles above your right front pants pocket.

You don’t have to move six inches to the right of the ball, like some instructors teach, to attain this loaded power. Just make a solid, deliberate turn. This is the most important of the six moves, because if your weight isn’t in your right leg, then it’s in your left, and that’s a bad position to be in at the top — you’ll fall back during your downswing and drain all the power out of your motion.

Angus Murray

Keep your shoulders low for a power strike.

USE YOUR NEW DOWNSWING TRIGGER
The most frequently asked question I hear from amateurs is, “How do I start my downswing?” I appreciate their confusion, because I see how out of control they can be at the top of the backswing, and you can’t start a downswing if you don’t know where your backswing ends. The moves on the previous two pages should take care of your backswing-control issues. As far as finding a trigger to jumpstart your motion back to the ball, try turning your right shoulder down instead of across.

Because your upper body is tilted at address, your shoulders turn at an angle, so much so that, at the top, your right shoulder is noticeably higher than your left. Your downswing is nothing more than reversing the arrangement and getting your left shoulder higher than your right at impact. I like the feeling of turning my right shoulder down toward the ball because it helps me stay in the shot. The more you stay down on the ball, the less you’ll rise up, a common error that produces too much of an outside-in swing path — the move that puts your tee shots in the right rough.

Don’t worry about moving your hips or unfolding your right elbow or dropping the club in the “slot.” These things take care of themselves when you swing your right shoulder down.

 

Angus Murray

Move your weight to your left big toe for a powerful attack.

GO TOE-TO-TOE FOR A PERFECT WEIGHT SHIFT
At the top of your swing you should have at least 60 percent of your weight over your right leg. Since you can’t have this much weight on your right leg at impact [unless you like pushed shots or carrying the out-of-bounds stakes on the right], use your right foot to push your weight to your left side. The feeling I like in my downswing is that I’m getting my weight to move from my right leg at the top to my left big toe at impact, sort of diagonally through the ball.

If you practice this move and still can’t hit it straight or far, you’re probably making the subtle mistake of shifting your weight on your downswing to your left heel. I see this all the time in pro-ams, an error that comes from overturning the hips at the start of the downswing. As I mentioned in Move 3, don’t worry about what your hips are doing. Hip turn is vastly overrated — your hips have nothing to do with power.

If you can make this move while keeping your right shoulder low to the ground, you’re on to something. Plus, you’ll feel yourself deliver the clubhead to the ball from slightly inside the target line, the most powerful swing path you can follow.

 

Angus Murray

This will stop you from “spinning out” and help produce a squarer strike.

LINE UP YOUR LEFT HIP AND LEFT FOOT
I constantly monitor my swing to make sure it’s ready to compete at the highest level. I tend to spray it and lose speed when I overturn my hips or shift my weight to my left heel instead of to my left big toe on my downswing. To fix this, I’ll swing in front of a mirror and stop in my release position. Although I believe your release is something that “happens,” not something you make happen, this test reveals the quality of the moves that preceded it.

BAD SWING
If my left hip is ahead of the instep of my left foot, I’ve swung out of sync and have shifted too much weight to my left heel instead of my left big toe.

GOOD SWING
If my left hip is in line with my left foot, then I’ve matched the movement of my upper body with my lower body and transferred the maximum amount of energy to the ball. It’s also a sign that I’ve correctly shifted my weight to my left big toe.

The old “swing in a barrel” theory has merit. Never feel like you’re sliding or swaying in your swing. If you sync your upper and lower body and shift your weight correctly, you’ll feel like your hips are turning directly over your feet.

 

Angus Murray

Good swings are made in balance. Always.

PRACTICE IN SLOW-MO AND HOLD YOUR FINISH
Watch me on the practice tee and you’ll notice that I hit balls using a very slow driver swing to start my warmup. This lets me feel every part of my backswing and every part of my downswing so I can make sure everything is moving correctly. It also allows me to finish my swing in perfect balance, which is something that’s missing from the weekend player’s game. Not only do most amateurs lack balance, many have a hard time just standing up! That’s no way to finish a swing.

It’s a tough pill to swallow, I know, but you must learn how to swing in balance before setting any expectations for your game. Hit balls with a slow-mo swing like I do the next time you visit the range. Don’t swing faster than, say, 50 percent. You’ll be surprised at what you can feel — and fix — compared with when you go full throttle. As soon as you can stand still while holding your finish position, add more speed and keep adding speed until you reach your maximum. A balanced, Tour-style finish will come more quickly than you think, I promise. So will the yards and accuracy that have been missing from your driving game.

 

Culled from Golf.com

‘Mature’ Monty has Senior sulk

BACK TO NORMAL … Colin Montgomerie

COLIN MONTGOMERIE’S pledge to become ‘Mellow Monty’ now that he has joined the Senior Tour lasted just 48 hours.

Montgomerie stormed off the course with a face like thunder after shooting a one-over-par 71 in the second round of the Senior Open at Birkdale, ignoring all requests for interviews.

It was a rapid return to the days when Monty would get upset at the smallest things — it was claimed he could be disturbed by a butterfly landing on a flower two fields away!

Montgomerie became eligible for the Senior Tour after turning 50 last month.

And the day before teeing off at Birkdale he vowed his tantrums were behind him. He said: “I’m much more relaxed, on and off the course, more mellow and laid-back.

“The intensity, desire and ambition have reduced to an extent, allowing me to play possibly better than for a while.

“Tee-to-green I’m playing as well as I have in years and I am more relaxed.

“Winning now would be a bonus, rather than the need it was for all those years when I was trying to win a Major, especially between 1993 and 2000.”

Monty was as good as his word after the first round, stopping for a long chat despite opening with a two-over 72.

His second effort was an improvement but he seemed angry with a bogey on the final hole.

But at three over par he was inside the top 30, eight shots behind leader Bernhard Langer

Mac will be back

POOR FORM … Rory Mcllroy

IAN POULTER wants Rory McIlroy to do things his own way and rediscover his Major-winning form.

McIlroy has yet to win since a controversial multi-million pound move to Nike in January.

He missed the cut at The Open after saying he was “brain dead” following his opening round eight-over-par 79.

And he also damaged his reputation by walking off during his defence of the Honda Classic.

His Ryder Cup team-mate Poulter said: “Stop reading the newspapers, stop listening to other people. Go out there and do your stuff.

“There is a reason Rory was sought after by a new manufacturer and why they pay the big bucks.

“He’s just going to have to settle into the equipment, settle into himself being in a different environment now.

“He knows how good he is. You don’t win two Majors by the age of 23 and disappear.

“Rory is here for a long time and he is going to be back at the top very soon.”

Lefty can do the Slam

SLAM QUEST … Phil Mickelson

PHIL MICKELSON’S coach insists he will become the sixth player in history to complete a career Grand Slam.

Butch Harmon says Lefty will prove himself as one of the greats — after taking the Claret Jug in spectacular fashion for his fifth Major win.

Harmon helped Tiger Woods get the full set — and Mickelson, 46, now needs only the US Open.

Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Ben Hogan and Gene Sarazen also won all four Majors.

Harmon said: “He is going to get even better. Finishing second in the US Open for a sixth time was painful — but Phil will put that right.”

Culled from SUN.UK

PGA Tour Confidential: Phil Mickelson wins the British Open

Thomas Lovelock / Sports Illustrated

Phil Mickelson birdied the 18th hole on Sunday to seal his first career British Open title.

 

1. Where does Phil Mickelson’s 66 at Muirfield on Sunday rank among the finest final rounds in major history?

Joe Passov, senior editor, travel, Golf Magazine: Considering how difficult the course played, as well as the quality and quantity of the other contenders, this ranks awfully high. Johnny Miller’s 63 at Oakmont in ’73 was insane, considering how many long approaches he put to within 10 feet, but Muirfield’s setup was not at all conducive to close approaches, so really impressive stuff. Putting more tricky than difficult (versus Augusta and U.S. Opens, for instance), but bunkers more problematic. Not No. 1, but top 5 for me.

Mark Godich, senior editor, Sports Illustrated: Phil’s 66 ranks with the best of all-time. Especially when you consider that he birdied four of the last six holes during a week when playing those holes in even par was cause for celebration.

Gary Van Sickle, senior writer, Sports Illustrated: It might break into the top 20. Major championship history covers a lot of ground. Phil’s finish was terrific but there have been a lot of great ones before. It was a treat to watch.

Cameron Morfit, senior writer, Golf Magazine: It’s one of the best final rounds I’ve seen him play, I’ll give you that. I’d rank it up there with his final-round 69 to win the ’04 Masters for his first major. I liked how he stuck to his game plan — conservative, which is definitely against type for our Phil. Also, the guy finished his round in shirtsleeves. It was cold out there!

Jeff Ritter, senior producer, Golf.com: Phil’s turned in some great final rounds of his own, and he called this one the best he’s ever had. That automatically places this round in the pantheon. A few years from now, I wouldn’t expect to watch a “Top 10 Countdown” on this topic without see Phil at Muirfield in there somewhere.

Eamon Lynch, managing editor, Golf.com: It’s hard to beat shooting the low round of the week on Sunday afternoon on a brutally difficult course. What stood out to me was how lacking in drama it was. We’re accustomed to seeing highs and lows from him in the final round of a major — wild drives, putts sliding by the hole late — but Mickelson was just impressively steady all day.

Michael Bamberger, senior writer, Sports Illustrated: I don’t know where it ranks, but in the conditions, and given the players he had to leap from, it’s the best final round in a major I’ve ever seen, including Tiger at Pebble in 2000 and Tiger at Augusta in ’97, which were clinics but he didn’t need to do much. Mickelson had no margin for error, despite the three-shot win.

Ryan Reiterman, senior producer, Golf.com: Nothing will ever beat Jack’s final round at the 1986 Masters, but Phil’s 66 Sunday was pretty darn impressive. Especially given how Phil started out the week by bashing the setup after his opening round, you’d think he was talking himself right out of the tournament.

2. Mickelson now has five major championship, 42 wins, a U.S. Amateur and six U.S. Open runner-up finishes. What is his place in golf history now, and where do you think he will finish?

Bamberger: His place in golf is unique, because of the U.S. Open history, because of the personality, because of the autographs, because of the giving nature, because of the family health issues, because of the rumor-mongering he has had to endure. He seems to be living large and loving it and how many can say that these days?

Morfit: Gary Van Sickle addressed this recently, and I think he was right. He said Phil would win two more majors. He’s now won one more. I think he has one more left in him, which will give him a total of six. He’ll then rank up there with Lee Trevino, just a couple majors short of Tom Watson.

Van Sickle: Phil will go down as the second-best player of his generation, overshadowed by Tiger Woods. He’ll have to be considered among the top ten players of all time, but he’ll also be remembered for his close calls in majors — 13 fall into the coulda-shoulda won category. He could be challenging Jack’s record.

Godich: He’s in the top 10 — and climbing. He lives for the majors, and the way he won the Open Championship will only fuel the fire. Remember, this is a guy who wondered whether his game was suited for the links style of play.

Reiterman: If Phil can win a U.S. Open and complete the career slam, I think he’ll be top 10 all-time. Right now I think he’s just outside the top 11 — Woods, Nicklaus, Palmer, Player, Jones, Hogan, Nelson, Snead, Watson, Sarazen and Trevino.

Ritter: He’s the second-best player of this generation, and one of the best of all-time. When Golf Magazine ranked the 20 best players of all time in 2009, Phil landed just outside the top 20. Gotta think he’s moved up at least five spots by now, and probably more.

Lynch: Winning the Open and the third leg of the career slam is huge personally for Mickelson — it’s the one event his detractors said his high trajectory/high spin game couldn’t handle — but it doesn’t really burnish his legacy all that much. He was already far away the second best player of his generation. He still is.

Passov: For way too long, he’s been overlooked as one of history’s greats, due to Tiger’s dominance and to his own run of excruciating losses. He also hasn’t done much on the world stage, and somehow, with his length, short-game genius and shot-making prowess, he’s still one major behind Nick Faldo. This fifth major — and third different one — elevates him to a different level. Honestly, he’s right there in Tom Watson/Arnold Palmer/Gene Sarazen/Lee Trevino/Seve Ballesteros/Walter Hagen territory, just behind Sam Snead and Byron Nelson, though still looking up at the Mount Rushmore of modern golf, Nicklaus, Woods, Jones and Hogan. After his physical and family issues, I never thought he’d accomplish this. As pure as he’s playing right now, he still could climb.

Celebs bag gifts by tweeting brands to fans – #hashswag

Roo’s a good sport … Wayne tweets pic of golf club

exclusive

Culled from The Sun, UK

ENGLAND star Wayne Rooney poses with a new Nike golf club — and couldn’t wait to tell his millions of Twitter fans all about it.

He is among a host of sports aces, entertainers and TV stars found promoting anything from booze to car washes in a Sun investigation.

The Manchester United striker and wife Coleen have both name-checked products to their fans.

Rooney’s post had the words: “Just got my @NikeGolfEU Covert driver. Can’t wait to get out & test it. #getcovert”

Golf Rose told: Yoda man Star Wars pep talk inspired US Open winner

USING THE FORCE … Justin Rose channelled Yoda to beat Phil Mickelson in Philadelphia

Culled from The Sun

 

THE Force was with Justin Rose at the US Open — after his sports psychologist gave him a Star Wars-inspired pep talk.

Gio Valente made his pupil watch the legendary scene from The Empire Strikes Back where Jedi master Yoda tells Luke Skywalker about his destiny.

And he then told Rose: “Your destiny this is. A champion you are.”

Valente, who lives near Rose in Orlando, said: “I made Justin watch that scene between Yoda and Luke because I wanted him to know he was ready, that he was finally mature enough to come into his own.”

Ironically, Rose’s playing partner in Sunday’s final round was countryman Luke Donald, who is greeted by Star Wars-style chants of “Luuuuukke”.

And after becoming England’s first Major winner for 17 years, Rose insisted it may be his pal’s turn soon.

He added: “There’s been a very strong crop of English players for some time now. I really hope this has broken the spell and the other English guys can notch up some wins.”

Lost boy Rory lacking bite

The Sun Golf

ROUGH PATCH … Rory McIlroy

RORY McILROY admits he has lost his way as his problems pile up ahead of next month’s Open.

The world No 2’s hopes of a morale-boosting victory in the Irish Open nosedived yesterday after he stumbled to a 74 in the first round at Carton House in County Kildare.

That left him eight shots behind Swedish leader Oscar Floren, who fired a six-under-par 66.

And McIlroy is now more worried about missing another cut than claiming a first victory since his eye-popping £156million move to Nike.

Miserable McIlroy said: “I just feel a little lost at the moment.

“I really don’t know what the problem is — I just don’t seem to be firing on all cylinders.

“No aspect of my game is standing out as particularly strong. I just couldn’t get anything going out there.

“Whenever I gave myself chances for birdies I didn’t make them and then I made a couple of stupid bogeys on the par fives.

“I’m trying my hardest to play my best golf but it’s just not good enough at the minute.”

McIlroy’s new Nike driver is causing him problems off the tee — a fact even he acknowledged.

The two-time Major winner added: “It all starts because I’m not driving the ball well enough.

“It feels good on the range and I hit all the shots I want to warming up — but when I get on the course it’s not there.”

Women’s world golf rankings

Culled from BBC Sport

Rank	Name	Country
1	Inbee Park	South Korea
2	Stacy Lewis	United States
3	Suzann Pettersen	Norway
4	Na Yeon Choi	South Korea
5	So Yeon Ryu	South Korea
6	Shanshan Feng	China
7	Yani Tseng	Taiwan
8	Karrie Webb	Australia
9	Jiyai Shin	South Korea
10	Ai Miyazato	Japan

Selected others:

Rank	Name	Country
12	Catriona Matthew	Scotland
81	Jodi Ewart Shadoff	England
89	Alison Walshe	Ireland
110	Melissa Reid	England
145	Trish Johnson	England
149	Florentyna Parker	England
154	Charley Hull	England
171	Laura Davies	England
173	Carly Booth	Scotland
181	Karen Stupples	England
185	Becky Morgan	Wales
193	Holly Clyburn	England

The Open 2013: Oliver Fisher leads UK qualifiers for Muirfield

Culled from: BBC Sport

 

By Ged Scott BBC Sport at Sunningdale

England’s Oliver Fisher and three other UK golfers booked their places at the 2013 Open through the International Final Qualifying event at Sunningdale.

The 24-year-old, who missed out in a play-off last year, was one shot behind American winner Brooks Koepka.

Another Englishman Richard McEvoy, Northern Ireland’s Gareth Maybin and Scotsman Scott Jamieson also qualified.

Europe’s 2014 Ryder Cup captain Paul McGinley and predecessor Jose Maria Olazabal failed to make it.

The 23-year-old Koepka carded rounds of 69 and 65 to book his spot at Muirfield next month, while Fisher took second place with a 70 and 65 during the 36-hole event.

The winner’s day began with a 06:30 BST flight from Scotland, less than 12 hours after earning his European Tour card with a third Challenge Tour win of the season in the Highlands at Spey Valley.

Maybin and McEvoy finished a further stroke behind Fisher on three under, along with fellow qualifiers France’s Gregory Bourdy and Spain’s Alvaro Quiros.

Glaswegian Jamieson was on the same two-under mark as veteran Swede Niclas Fasth.

Open qualifying events

• 24 June – International Final Qualifying Europe; Sunningdale
• 2 July – Local Final Qualifying; Dunbar, Gullane No 1, North Berwick, The Musselborough

The ninth and final place was decided by a play-off between four players.

Ross Fisher of England and Scotsman David Drysdale went out at the first extra hole, leaving Argentine Estanislao Goya to secure the ninth place when Spaniard Alejandro Canizares missed a short putt at the second extra hole.

Former Ryder Cup star Paul Casey also missed out along with Frenchman Thomas Levet, who lost in a four-man play-off to Ernie Els in the 2002 Open at Muirfield.

It will be the first Open England’s Casey has missed since his debut 11 years ago.

Of the 96 starters at Sunningdale, 26 failed to finish, the majority of whom pulled out following their morning round.

In Regional Qualifying, held at 14 courses around the country, two names better known for their skills with a bigger ball failed to make progress.

West Ham midfielder Gary O’Neil, trying his luck for the second year running, shot a nine-over 83 at East Sussex National, while former England squad player Jimmy Bullard fared little better at The London, missing out by four shots with a 78.

Qualifiers from the Regional events go through to Local Final Qualifying at four venues in Scotland on 2 July.

The 142nd Open Championship takes place at Muirfield in Scotland from 18-21 July.