Innholdsfortegnelse for April 2016 i Golf Magazine

DRIVER 1) Ping G LS Tec, 10.5°, Oban Kiyoshi White 65 graphite shaft, X flex, 44.75", 300 yards; $400 HYBRID 2) Ping G Crossover, 19°, Fujikura Motore Speeder 8.8 Tour Spec graphite shaft, X flex, 225 yards; $230 IRONS 3) Ping S55, 4-PW, True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 steel shaft; $1,000 for set of eight 4-iron: 214 yards 5-iron: 203 yards 6-iron: 195 yards 7-iron: 183 yards 8-iron: 173 yards 9-iron: 159 yards PW: 148 yards WEDGES* 4) Ping Tour, 56°/SS bent to 55°, 110 yards; $100; Ping Glide, 60°/TS, 90 yards; $130. Both with True Temper Dynamic Gold S400 steel shaft. PUTTER 5) Ping Scottsdale ZB-S, 34", 2.5° loft; $90 BALL Titleist Pro V1x; $48/dozen FAIRWAY WOODS 6) Ping G, 14.5° set to 14°, 275 yards; 17.5°…

TODAY, IT'S SAID, there are more Tour-caliber players than the game has ever seen. But are fields deeper than ever? Conventional wisdom says yes. To learn the truth, I set out to measure the depth of fields on the PGA Tour since 1983. What I found surprised me: Fields are no deeper today than they were then. They hit their deepest point in 2008 and have since become shallower. A deep field means parity—any player can win in any given week. Parity means fewer superstars. Conversely, in a shallow field, only a small number of players have a good chance to claim the trophy. Here's how I defined the depth of a field. Suppose we know the chances of every player winning a given tournament. (I used a mathematical model…

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FLA. For years, the bad back and bald spot were trying to tell us something. Tiger Woods, listed as 40 in the PGA Tour media guide, is actually 10 years older than we thought, Tour insiders confirmed. "Tiger's career makes much more sense if he's 50," a source said. "The injuries, the high-waisted pants, driving a Buick so young. It was obvious!" Woods has often acted older than his age. His midlife crisis erupted when he was in fact 43, not 33. Says Mayo Clinic gerontologist and Tiger expert Errol Zunt, "From friendships with old guys like Mark O'Meara to all the surgeries, the clues were there. Why else would a young man live in a gated community and hang out at Perkins?" Although Woods was indeed…

Missed the green? It doesn't have to mean an automatic bogey (or worse). You'll be tapping in for par after you learn three easy ways to chip it tight. These are some of the same moves I've taught to more than 40 Tour pros, many of whom are considered the finest finesse wedge players in golf. Turn the page to build a new short game in short order— and show Old Man Par who's boss. WHIP IT GOOD! Like a nutritious meal, a better short game is made from simple ingredients. 43 Proven Ways to Shoot Your Best Score Ever!…

There's more than one way to knock wedges tight. First things first: Locate the flag. Different pin positions demand different wedge-shot trajectories. And even if you're a green-hitting machine with your stock wedge, you'll knock "em even closer by calibrating to the pin location. Congrats—you're about to triple your wedge-shot arsenal! 1 HIT IT HIGH HOW TO ATTACK A FRONT PIN Pin in front? Running it up to the hole won't work, and your standard wedge might roll too far once it lands. So add loft, and use the steepness of the shot's descent to stop the ball in its tracks. Using the highest-lofted wedge that can get you home, set up with an open clubface and play the ball a couple of inches forward of center. Use little wrist…

To me, the Masters represents golf's ideal. The tournament is rooted in the game's traditions—Augusta National is the epitome of inland-style links golf—and yet the course conditions are more routinely flawless than they are anywhere else in the world. Augusta also brings out the best players—and, in the par-3 12th, par-4 third, and par-5 13th, has three perfect holes among many fabulous ones. Golf may not be a game of perfect, but the Masters is as close as it gets. Greatest Shot, Greatest Call Jack Nicklaus's 5-iron at No. 16 on Sunday in 1986 was maybe the most perfect shot I've ever seen. The TV commentary was flawless, too. Jim Nantz knew how much time Jack normally took to get over a shot, and he had prepared remarks that would…

REALLY? Has it been 30 years? Boy, it went by faster than a Sunday afternoon in spring. I remember it vividly. I was in my living room, biting my nails, wearing out the edge of my sofa. Jack Nicklaus was doing the impossible: Firing a back-nine 30 to win his sixth green jacket and 18th major, at age 46. A decade ago, GOLF ranked the greatest moments in the game's history. The Bear's turn-back-the-clock Masters win topped our list, and it's still No. 1 in my book. It always will be, I think, unless someone comes along and wins a calendar-year Grand Slam. Remember, Jack had no chance. He hadn't captured a major in six years or a Tour event in four. That changed during a round so dramatic, Steven…

You've made quite an impression on the pro Tour as an amateur, highlighted by a T2 at the Australian Masters late last year. How encouraged are you by your ability to compete at the game's highest level? Knowing that I can play with some of the best out there is definitely encouraging. Playing with Adam Scott for the first couple days [of the Australian Masters] was an awesome experience. To see a guy who's that successful, and for him to be that respectful as well—that was great to see. And the experience Down Under was awesome. Australia is a great place. It's my second favorite country, other than the U.S., obviously. [Laughs] When you look ahead to turning pro this year, how do you see yourself fitting in? Big expectations?…

Dear Rules Guy: My club championship was played after a night of heavy rain, and a large number of small worms were scattered across the greens. They impacted any putt hit over them. I knew it was legal to pick up the loose worms and move them from my line of play, but some of them had partially burrowed back underground. Are those worms also loose impediments? —TONY BOEING, CINCINNATI, OHIO I can't blame those critters for wanting to go underground. If a white, dimpled boulder was barreling down on me Raiders of the Lost Ark–style, I'd be looking for an escape route too. Under Decision 23/8, the half-burrowed invertebrates still meet the definition of a loose impediment. You may go ahead and remove the ones on your line of…

THIS YEAR MARKS the 30th anniversary of Jack Nicklaus's stunning victory at Augusta. It was his 18th and final major win. He remains the oldest Masters champion ever and the second-oldest major winner. (Julius Boros was 48 when he won the 1968 PGA Championship.) Despite the number of talented older players we see in the Masters every year—guys like Fred Couples, Bernhard Langer, and Vijay Singh—Jack's Masters record has never really been in jeopardy. The reason is clear. The game of golf has changed fairly dramatically over the last two decades. Course design, equipment advancements and the "bigger, stronger, faster" conditioning mantra of today's stars have made power a crucial ingredient to Tour success, especially at the majors. With rare exceptions (Merion in 2013), we don't see the U.S. Open…

THERE'S an art and a science to product introductions. In Titleist's case, new versions of the industry's top-selling golf balls, Pro V1 and Pro V1x, debuted in 2015, 2013, 2011 and so on through earlier odd-numbered years. By contrast, the company has come out with the newest NXT family and Velocity balls in even-numbered years (2014, 2016). And with that, they bring you the reengineered NXT Tour, which offers a viable option for players who want performance at a more affordable price than, say, the Pro V1 or Pro V1x. The ball's engine consists of a dual core— a soft inner one that's 66 percent larger by volume than the 2014 model, plus a firm outer core. The payoff is less spin on full shots, for longer distance. In addition,…

These days, skillful wedge play often takes a backseat to the power game, but it remains the most reliable way to keep your scores in the red. For proof, check out this data. Spieth and Gomez have already notched Tour victories this season, while Reed began his 2016 campaign with four top 10s in his first five events. Solid wedge play puts you in position to birdie par 5s and knock down the pin on short par 4s. The good news? Building the short game of your dreams, and getting up and down from anywhere around the green, boils down to three easy steps. So copy these moves. You'll be scrambling for par while your opponents scramble for answers. 1 SNEAK A PEEK AT THE TARGET Set up with relaxed…

On those days when your driver is as reliable as a Yugo, opt for a stinger. This low, boring fairway finder yields ample distance. Grab a long iron, hybrid or 3-wood and copy the positions at right. The stinger isn't just for tight holes or windy days. It's a secret weapon for finding the short grass and hitting a lot more greens. GET CLOSER Set up a half-step nearer the ball. It will feel different-—like your chest is hanging over the impact zone—but trust it. Narrowing the distance between you and the ball promotes a steeper downswing, leading to crisp, ball-first contact that puts the "sting" in your stinger. CHOKE DOWN Take your normal grip, but place your hands just a few inches above the steel. This makes the clubhead…

Power has never been a problem for Dallas Baptist University freshman Ann Parmerter. "Except when the power turned into a power push," she admits. The culprit was a stiff left arm, which, according to Top 100 Teacher Bill Moretti (The Hills at Lakeway, Austin, Texas), forced her left elbow to point at the target at both address and impact. "When this happens," says Moretti, "you can't help but "hang back" and throw the shot out to the right." "Mr. Moretti asked me to switch to a 10-finger grip," Ann says. "It instantly freed up my backswing. I kept my speed and hit it straighter, to boot." Among other benefits, a 10-finger grip tends to soften the left arm, so the left elbow can point more toward your body, nixing the…

THE PROBLEM Your lie is good, but a bush (or tree limb, or O.B. fence) is interfering with your backswing. With your normal technique, you can only advance the ball a few feet. THE SOLUTION Switch to a hockey-style grip (above) and hit a windup wrist shot down the fairway. Splitting your hands generates greater force in a shorter swing, just what you need here (don't do this on regular swings). Open your stance slightly and play the ball in the middle of your stance. Hinge the club back as far as the obstruction allows. Through impact, feel as though your lower hand is pushing the clubhead toward the target while the other pulls the grip away from the target.…

He saved the best for last, winning his 18th major and sixth green jacket in 1986, at 46. Thirty years later, Jack Nicklaus shares some memories from the greatest moment in Masters history. No. 10 It's said that the Masters begins on the back nine on Sunday afternoon, and that was certainly the case with the greatest Masters of all time. Nicklaus was not one to have caddies read putts for him, but throughout that week in 1986, and especially that Sunday afternoon, his son Jack Nicklaus Jr. was on call. "I might say to Jackie, "Looks like it breaks about four feet," and get confirmation," recalls Nicklaus, who made this 25-footer, his second of three straight birdies. No. 15 Whenever Nicklaus sees photos of this 12-foot eagle putt, which…

Turn to Special Section FORWARD THINKING Here's what we'd change about the Masters: Nothing. It's practically perfect. Of course, complacency isn't the spirit that has made this rite of spring the greatest event in golf, if not sport. Consider a few of its greatest innovations: the use of red numbers for under-par scores and black numbers for over-par marks; the "Live from Amen Corner" Web stream; the Drive, Chip and Putt Championship for kids. The Masters' maestros have always pushed the event, and the game, toward the future, staying relevant while maintaining the tournament's traditional values. To that end, we convened experts across a spectrum of disciplines to suggest fresh ideas for how the Masters might continue its glorious march forward. Green Jacket Just because the most iconic blazer in…

More than $38 million in earnings and 12 PGA Tour victories, thanks to this. I've logged 12 full seasons on Tour. Over all those campaigns, I've never posted an end-of-year scoring average that deviated from my career average of 70.1 by more than a third of a stroke. That consistency comes from developing— and executing— a smart game plan. My strategy is simple: I eliminate shots I'm not comfortable hitting, and I hang tough until better opportunities arise. Give it a try. It leads to stress-free rounds, and it helps to "keep the course in front of you," as I like to say. My mantra? Don't stop moving toward the pin. If your shots go sideways too often, here's how to make smart decisions and play tough from the tee…

CALLAWAY APEX CF 16 $1,200, steel; $1,400, graphite; GOLF.com/callaway WE TESTED: 3-PW with True Temper XP 95 steel shafts PROS \\ PLAYABILITY: One of the best—excellent from everywhere; nimble enough to bend the ball to your will, with plenty of power to clear-cut the tall grass. \\ ACCURACY/FORGIVENESS: Much more forgiving than a player's club and adequate for this category; protects you from your misses without inhibiting creativity; exacting, focused ball flight doesn't wander off line. \\ DISTANCE CONTROL: Among the longest— an uncanny combo of sprinter speed and consistent results; ample spin and stopping power—short irons absolutely pounce on the pin. \\ FEEL: It's like a forged blade with a bigger sweet spot—top-tier refinement for a game-improvement set; rewarding and responsive, the sort of club you want to hit…

ADAMS BLUE $700, steel; $800, graphite; GOLF.com/adams WE TESTED: 3h, 4h with Aldila SlimTech graphite shafts and 5–PW with True Temper Dynalite SlimTech 85 steel shafts PROS \\ PLAYABILITY: Among the top performers in this category; the hybrids are magic from all types of lies; medium-high trajectory is standard but easy to knock down, too; they want to go straight, but our stronger players can move shots in either direction with little difficulty; one of the easier models to get airborne. \\ ACCURACY/FORGIVENESS: Its greatest strength—the whole set is tough to miss; easy to hit straight, even on poor swings; they cover up just about any mistake. \\ DISTANCE CONTROL: Hybrids blend nicely with the irons to fill all the gaps; highly functional in the scoring zone; relatively simple to…

POWER HITTER You hit the ball a long way, but your game needs control and consistency. BE MONEY ON THE GREENS! Here's a great training aid that will give you stroke-saving feedback on your putting motion—and it only costs 50 cents! Take a roll of pennies to the practice green, find a flat section that's about three feet from a hole, and try to putt the roll into the heart of the cup. Repeat this a dozen or so times. What do you notice about your misses? Because the roll of pennies is about the same length as your putterface, it will give you instant stroke feedback that you might not detect by hitting a ball. For example, if the pennies wobble left of the cup, it's probably because you…

WE SEE and we don't. There was old Charlie Coody, last year at Augusta, playing in the casual Wednesday Par-3 tournament. Coody had two kids caddying for him, skinny brothers in borrowed white jumpsuits, confidently taking over putting duties from the 1971 Masters champ on the little course's flying-saucer greens. Their father, fit and trim, watched on his toes in his green club coat. Beside him was his beautiful wife. The man's father, stout and white-haired, a member himself, took it all in too. Three generations, gathered under the pines. The still pond, the manicured grass, all that April promise. A picture. You couldn't know that the handsome couple, Turner and Tara Simkins, were jumpier than cats at midnight. Would Brennan, the older and smaller of the two caddying brothers,…

THIS YEAR I will be covering my 20th Masters. I'm halfway to getting a chunk of the tree—that is, the wooden plaque made from an Augusta National pine that the chairman of the club presents to any scribe who has typed (or pontificated) at 40 Masters. The all-time record for attendance by a reporter is held by Dan Jenkins, 86, who's at 65 and counting. At 42 years of age, I'm essentially one year behind Jenkins's pace. Since I expect the age-less Jenkins to cover the Masters until he's 100, I'll have a shot at his record in 2077. I look forward to commuting to Augusta in a teleportation machine. (It sure beats Delta.) In the two decades that I've spent covering the year's first major, the Masters has managed…

THE PAST FEW YEARS have been tough for Keegan Bradley. The 2011 PGA Champion and Rookie of the Year hasn't won on Tour since 2012. But things are looking up: He notched top 10s in some big events last season (including the Memorial) and has reunited with coach Jim McLean. At 29, Bradley is headed in the right direction. Bradley's technique off the tee remains the envy of his fellow pros. Win or lose, he "loads and explodes" as well as anyone in the game, which helps explain his 301-yard driving average. Copy the way Keegan keeps his head steady, his right foot planted and his right knee flexed (frames 2 to 6) as he swings the club to the top. Maintaining these points of stability will transform your regular…

When practicing breaking putts, focus on speed and starting line, not just your stroke. LAST MONTH, I gave you a tour of the indoor practice facility I helped design at Blessings G.C. in Fayetteville, Ark. I promised more detail in issues to come. Well, here we are. One of the great things about the indoor greens at Blessings is that they mimic what you find on the course, including slopes as severe as four degrees. (Yep, that's a lot!) Moving your practice from flat greens to sloping ones like those at Blessings is a powerful way to learn how to hole breaking putts. In the photo below, I'm practicing three six-foot putts you'll typically face on a sloping green: a downhill left-to-right breaking putt, a downhill right-to-left breaker, and a…

I'm thrilled that we're drinking mojitos. When I first got here [to teach], Joe Roediger, the GM, showed up with a mojito, and I felt like that was the drink of Trump Golf Links at Ferry Point. We're here at Ferry Point in the Bronx, where you recently moved your teaching academy. Donald Trump is the man everyone's been talking about. What are your thoughts on his contributions to the game? He may be one of the most significant people for the game of golf at this point. You hear about course closures all across the country, and Trump is building courses and trying to bring the game to all types of players. He's a very important contributor to the growth of the game. Not many people know it, but…

Gymnasts must stick the landing, football teams must put the ball in the end zone, and golfers must make the putt after hitting a good chip. That's where Top 100 Teacher James Sieckmann comes in. In his new book, Your Putting Solution: A Tour-Proven Approach to Mastering the Greens, the man who just cured your chipping ills distills putting's complexities into four concepts that players of all levels can comprehend, even high-handicappers. "Simplicity breeds clarity, and clarity builds confidence," Sieckmann says. We're confident his new book should be at the top of your spring reading list ($28, available March 1 wherever books are sold). Copyright 2016 Avery, a member of Penguin Group (USA) LLC…

1 Picture your putt from behind the ball using your preferred green-reading technique. Now focus on only the first six inches of this line. Fully commit to starting the ball on this vector, knowing that if you do, the ball will behave correctly the rest of the way. 2 Step into your address position, setting the putterface perpendicular to your six-inch starting line. Look at the line, not the hole! Losing focus at this point in your pre-putt routine will overload your brain, making it difficult to commit to your start line. 3 Give the hole a single look to confirm distance and the speed needed to get the ball to the target. Next, return your gaze to the ball. At this point, forget about your six-inch start line. You've…

1 PLAY A HEAD GAME Wie's head is behind the ball at impact, with her eye line parallel to the ground. This combination allows her arms and right shoulder to work under her instead of working too much around. The result? Ultra-pure impact. 2 GET A LEG UP Wie committed to strengthening her lower body a few years back, and it paid off with a U.S. Open trophy. Swings need leg power. Even doing simple squats while watching television will strengthen your legs and improve your swing. 3 LET'S KICK IT This perfect divot indicates ball-first contact. To turn your mis-hits into pure strikes, copy Wie: Kick your right knee toward your left foot on your downswing. It's a Hogan move that still works wonders. 4 START AT THE BOTTOM…

Heads up, power hitters: If you have a big, Bubba-esque swing, and you often rush to the first tee without a warm-up, you're risking serious shoulder pain. Your delts can absorb only so much stress, no matter how hard you work them at the gym. Ryan Blackburn, a TPI-certified fitness pro at Orlando Golf Performance, suggests making windmills with each arm, forward and back, for a solid minute before you even think about picking up a club. "That'll get you warm," Blackburn says, "but the real trick is to swing within your body's limits and make as smooth a transition as possible without jerking the club down." Preventative medicine works best. Make the exercise at right part of your regular pre-round routine. It's easy, and the stretch it provides may…

270 Spieth's 18-under total tied the 72-hole record set by Tiger Woods in 1997. In defense of Woods's mark, Spieth dominated a statistically easier course. Augusta National played an average of 295.3 strokes in "97, compared with 289.9 strokes last year. WHERE JORDAN RULED Strokes Gained shows that Spieth had almost no edge on the field on his tee shots on par 4s and par 5s. It was on approach shots (non-drives from outside 100 yards) and putting where he proved dominant. Over the four rounds, he gained a total of 8.5 shots on the field on approach shots and 7.8 shots with his putter. To compare, the average PGA Tour event winner typically gains a little more than five strokes with the putter and about five strokes with approach…

This year's shiny new irons have it all: hot faces with great feel, improved sole designs to handle any lie, mass where you need it for better ball flight—plus extra help for those longer, hard-to-hit shots. Which of these 30 models perform best? To find out, 40 ClubTesters smacked thousands of balls during two weeks of testing at World Golf Village Resort in St. Augustine, Fla. Our research partner, Hot Stix Golf, custom-fit each tester and used TrackMan to record ball speeds, launch angles and spin rates. You can get similar, personalized data when you work with qualified fitters. Our reviews fall into three groups: Better Player (most maneuverable), Game Improvement, and Max Game Improvement (most forgiving). And there are bonus videos and 360° club views at GOLF.com. So…let's hit…

CALLAWAY APEX PRO $1,200, steel; $1,400 graphite; GOLF.com/callaway WE TESTED: 3–PW with True Temper Project X steel shafts PROS \\ PLAYABILITY: One of its best features; follows commands—draws, fades, knockdowns, whatever testers want; head powers through rough while the thin sole helps pick balls cleanly off tight lies; more playable than the previous Apex Pro. \\ ACCURACY/FORGIVENESS: Well-struck shots fly on the right track; the short irons are ultra-precise—they make testers feel like surgeons; enough forgiveness baked in to allow mis-hits to get to the fringe rather than the bunker. \\ DISTANCE CONTROL: Well-struck shots repeatedly nail the same yardage; overall length on good and bad contact is in line with the guys' current clubs. \\ FEEL: Top-notch; lively, with enough heft in the head to sense where it is…

• I travel at least 150 days a year. This year, in addition to my regular-season PGA Tour schedule with CBS and Golf Channel, I'll be working the Masters, the Open Championship, the Olympics, the PGA Championship and the Ryder Cup. I also travel to Asia twice a year to work with the players in the Faldo Series, on projects for Faldo Design, for marketing partnerships with Banyan Tree and MasterCard, and six times to Europe. • I most often fly commercial. However, in an effort to get home to my young daughter or make a connection to the next event on the calendar, I'll sometimes fly private. If a flight is only an hour or two, or if it puts me on the best nonstop route, I'll fly coach.…