Innholdsfortegnelse for Issue 443 i Today's Golfer

There’s one question I keep getting asked at the moment: Who’s going to win the Ryder Cup? It’s a tricky one to answer, especially when we don’t know who’s actually on the teams in Italy yet. To help you draw your own conclusion, Michael Catling has covered every angle you’ll need in the superb 68-page Ryder Cup preview magazine with this issue. He’s spoken to both captains, Matt Fitzpatrick, Europe’s Vice Captain Edoardo Molinari (who created a massive stats pack for the team about Marco Simone), plus the course’s designer and its head greenkeeper. Who does Michael think will win? “Edoardo told me that it will be a lot closer than most people think, and I’m inclined to agree. Home advantage is always the great equaliser for Team Europe and…

LILIA VU America’s new superstar was ranked outside the World’s Top 100 less than 18 months ago. Now she’s officially the best player in the world, with two Major titles to her name this year. ALEX FITZPATRICK Finally broke out of his brother Matt’s shadow by finishing in a tie for 17th on his Open debut. He then won for the first time at the British Challenge two weeks later. A promotion to the DP World Tour beckons. CELINE BOUTIER The French star is in the form of her life right now. She won her home Major at the Evian Championship by six strokes, then backed it up by winning the Scottish Open at Dundonald a week later. Look out, America! JASON DAY The Australian has an unwanted record after…

7.5 MILLION The gap in prize money between the men’s and women’s Open this year. Both were record totals, albeit the men’s purse increased by $2.5m from 2022, to $16.5m, compared to a $1.7m rise for the women, to $9m. The equality gap is widening, not closing! 10 MILLION Adults have taken up golf worldwide* since 2016, according to the R&A. That equates to a 34 percent rise, with 39.6 million on-course golfers now active. 3 Senior golfers hit four holes-in-one in the same competition at The Club at Meyrick Park in Bournemouth. Austin Okoye and Matt Dooley hit their aces on the 1st and 10th holes respectively, but were upstaged by Clive Wingfield, who aced the 12th hole twice in consecutive days. Wingfield went on to win the event…

BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE NEW P.790 IRONS RORY MASTERCLASS In association with Of course we all know about Rory McIlroy’s driving; it’s the part of his game that draws the most attention, and the biggest gasps. But underpinning the incredible consistency shown by the current World No.2 in recent years is a fantastic and underrated irons game. The ballstriking quality he demonstrates week in, week out has taken him to a lofty fourth in the current PGA Tour Strokes Gained: Approach category, gaining him almost a shot a round on the most skilled golfers in the game. Clearly, it’s not just Rory’s driving we should be trying to emulate, then. In this instruction special, TG elite coach Chris Ryan dissects Rory’s organised and compact motion to highlight five attributes that help…

BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE NEW P.790 IRONS GOLD BLEND In its basic form, the golf swing is a blend of body rotation and arm swing. Our core creates the ‘around’ element of our motion, while the arms deliver the ‘up-and-down’ part. To create efficient, repeatable motion and deliver optimal power, the two need to work in harmony with each other… a swing attribute often described as ‘connection’. When we see this in action – as with Rory – we see a swing that looks coordinated, rhythmic and powerful, with every part of the body engaged in hitting the ball. Unfortunately, when that arms-body blend is not there, we see the opposite. The movement is jerky, awkward and weak, giving the appearance and feel of a golfer fighting their swing. Disconnect…

The course is made for matchplay, it’s very strategic with lots of risk and reward holes. We’ve got four par 5s, a few driveable par 4s as well. It’s not the type of course where you’re going to see lots of holes halved in pars. There’s a really good stretch – 12, 13, 14 and 15 – where you could see some swings in some of the matches. When you look at courses in California, like LA Country Club, with the barrancas and the mountains, we have elements of that here. But when we have the golf course firm and you look at the run-offs, the tight lies and the way the greens are designed, I would say it’s more of a linkstype golf course in Scotland. We are close…

Charley Hull has derring-do in her DNA. It runs through her like the word ‘Blackpool’ in a stick of rock. It was obvious when she made her Solheim Cup debut a decade ago as the match’s youngest-ever competitor and, in essence, she hasn’t really changed. As a 17-year-old, she threw herself at every drive with the wild abandon and potency of a catapult, she relished every adventure her ball took her on and she drained birdie putts for fun. Earlier this summer she was at it again, this time carding a superb final round, six-under-par 66 at Pebble Beach to claim a share of second place in the US Women’s Open. When she was stuck behind a tree on the famous final hole, her hopes appeared lost. “Shy kids don’t…

Few club players practise their pitching, and to their cost: a tidy pitcher turns bogeys into pars and pars into birdies, becoming a sharp strokeplay golfer and a formidable matchplayer. In contrast, a poor pitcher is constantly coming out of holes having scored a shot or two worse than they should have done, adding pressure to the long game and creating no shortage of frustration. Different skill levels generally need different things to improve their performance from 50-80 yards, so take a look at all three tips here and choose the one that applies to your game. But whatever your handicap, commit to spending more time working on this range of shots. You’ll find lower scores… and a happier state of mind. YOUR COACH BREAK 100 Double towel drill For…

Don Bradman practised batting with a cricket stump; Jimmy White’s practice snooker table had smaller pockets than the competition tables. History shows us that elite sportsmen make practice more effective by making it more difficult… and this month’s TG Challenge works on a similar theme. Making the hole smaller has the dual benefit of training high levels of accuracy, while making the hole appear gratifyingly large when we get out to the course. Here’s a simple drill to increase the challenge… YOUR COACH Square pegs, round hole You’ll need eight tee pegs for this challenge. Find a straightish putt on the practice green and set the pegs up around the cup. Place them in four groups of two at 3, 6, 9 and 12 o’clock as shown. This leaves four…

ToVii alignment stick Despite the best efforts of TaylorMade, Callaway et al, an iron clubhead remains a curious mix of awkward angles. That special blend of curves, straight lines, lofts and offsets may be familiar, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be confusing. Trying to aim this implement correctly has challenged golfers through the ages… and with launch monitors laying bare the importance of face aim to shot direction, it’s an area we ignore at our peril. This is why every serious golfer should own a magnetic alignment stick. Simplicity itself, it attaches to the clubface to give you a clear, uncomplicated indication of where the face is aiming. There are plenty of them on the market, but ToVii is a few quid cheaper than most and does the job…

TaylorMade have transformed their business over the last 10 years, shifting from being a brand that focused mainly on metalwoods to one that now delivers performance through the bag. A decade ago the brand’s wedges were nowhere in terms of tour usage or sales; zero pros used them and most chose to play competitor products. But on the back of a brilliant family of irons, more and more golfers now see TaylorMade wedges as some of the best available, and you need look no further than the likes of Rory McIlroy, Dustin Johnson and Collin Morikawa for validation of TaylorMade’s tech. TaylorMade revealed the fourth generation of Milled Grind wedges recently, which speaks volumes of how far the company have come; a decade ago very few TM products made it…

Titleist revealed their new four-model T-Series iron family recently. To help you understand which iron will suit you best, and the differences between them, we asked TG test pro Neil Wain to hit them all. With forged heads, fast-faced forged heads and two hollow body models to choose from, there’s an iron within the family to suit us all. TITLEIST T100 £178.50 (s), £192.50 (g) per club, or £1,249.50 (s), £1,347.50 (g) for seven irons Stock shafts: True Temper AMT Tour White (Low Launch, Low Spin – steel), or Mitsubishi Tensei White AM2 (Low Launch, Low Spin – graphite) Category: Players’ Forgiveness: 2/5 Construction: Forged cavity with internal weighting Handicap range: Six and below 7-iron loft: 34° If history is anything to go by, this will be Titleist’s most-played tour…

Galvin Green Daxton £135 If soft, comfy warmth is what you look for in a golf pullover, the Daxton absolutely delivers. It’s made from 100% recycled polyester, is highly breathable, quick drying and super stretchy. Very much the modern cosy golf pullover. Ping Elevation £80 Today there’s almost as much tech and engineering in Ping’s apparel as there is in the brand’s award-winning clubs. The classy new Elevation mid-layer pullover is stretchy, water resistant and comes with built-in thermal properties, making it the perfect choice for golf in the UK this chilly autumn. FootJoy Thermal Hoodie £99.49 It might not quite be time for full on thermal performance sweaters, but if you want to be bang on trend this autumn/winter, FootJoy’s Thermal Hoodie delivers. We like the microfleece-lined pockets and…

Brian Harman’s unexpected Open victory spells out loud and clear that short hitters can still win big. The American ranks a lowly 144th for driving distance on the PGA Tour, 32.1 yards behind Rory, yet he sank all 45 putts inside five feet and only missed one of 15 between five and 10 feet. That’s an incredibly good return at a Major venue. The next time you’re heading to the range for some speed training, remember that if lower scoring is your goal, you might well be better off working on holing out from 10 feet. Here’s what gear Harman had in his bag at Royal Liverpool. Driver: Titleist TSi2 (9°) Graphite Design Tour AD IZ TX shaft Fairway woods: Titleist TSi2 (13.5°) and TS2 (16.5°) D4, Fujikura Evolution II…

This is our first refresh of a ranking we did back in 2020 – during the depths of the Covid pandemic in fact. Since then we have produced one GB&I Courses list and twice ranked the courses of England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland. Those five rankings are now consistent and settled, and form the basis of this Links list. But of course there was still the task of integrating the various links courses of the four nations, both in the Top 100 itself and the Next 50, which was just as competitive and just as packed full of quality. As I compiled the lists and looked down the roll call of 150 courses, the depth in the class and the variety of links encouraged me to make it a celebration…

OFFICIAL TOP 100 SHOE PARTNER GOLF WORLD TOP 100 Scotland has the lion’s share of the World entries, with 17, although England is also well represented with 12. Because England’s overall strength in depth is second to none except the United States, you might think it would dominate the middle third of the links list. That’s not the case, and in fact it is Ireland that does so, with 12 entries. It really is a powerful line-up, starting with epic Dublin links The Island, Tom Simpson’s County Louth and the rumbustious sand hills of aptly-named Carne (Wild Atlantic Dunes). Pat Ruddy’s estimable The European, the big-dune golf of Doonbeg, County Sligo at mystical Rosses Point and recently-improved Tralee maintain the quality. County Donegal is Europe’s rising powerhouse and has an eye-opening…

Name: Francesco Molinari Nationality: Italian Age: 40 Tour: PGA Tour Pro wins: 10 (1 Major) How do you reflect on your five years since winning The Open? I would say 2019 was still a pretty good year, but after that it’s been a bit of a struggle. At the time I couldn’t have foreseen what was coming, but that’s life, that’s golf. Yeah, it’s been a challenging time. Obviously, I’m still trying to work my way through it and find some form. A lot of people focus on what happened at the 2019 Masters, but is there more to it than that, because we know you also relocated to America with your family… That Masters was tough, but I don’t think the impact was as big as people made out.…

I’d like to think it will test all parts of a player’s game. Like nearly all tournament golf, it will be an advantage to drive the ball well, but I wouldn’t say it would suit the bigger hitters more. The course is not overly long, but it has a nice mix of left-to-right and right-to-left dog-legs, up and downhill shots, as well as a good mix in terms of hole lengths. With the elevation changes, one of the trickier aspects to it are the different stances the golfer encounters – there aren’t too many ‘flat’ lies out there, so controlling ball flight will be key. The greens have some undulation to them, and a good putter should do well, but there are definitely some ‘no-go’ misses in and around them.…

BRIAN BARNES v JACK NICKLAUS Laurel Valley After losing 4&2 to Barnes in the morning singles, Nicklaus asked US captain Arnold Palmer to give him another shot at the pipe-smoking Scot. It didn’t work, though the match did at least go one hole further. Barnes won the second encounter 2&1. EAMONN DARCY v BEN CRENSHAW Muirfield Village After missing a short putt on the 6th green, Crenshaw broke his putter in anger en-route to the 7th tee. Using his sand wedge on the greens, he nevertheless took the match to the final green, where the eccentric Irishman with perhaps the game’s most unorthodox swing bravely holed a downhill five-footer to take Europe within one point of their first victory on US soil. COSTANTINO ROCCO v TIGER WOODS Valderrama This 4&2…

Carbon-fire is the go-to material for drivers and shafts. Now it’s also being used to make putters. LA Golf ’s Gen 2 carbon putters are said to feature the largest sweetspot in golf. Two new models, the heel-toe-weighted blade (Bel-Air) and midsize mallet (Malibu), have standard-sized clubheads, whereas the brand’s first-gen carbon putter heads were oversized. “No one had ever made a putter from carbon,” says LA Golf founder Reed Dickens, who counts Bryson DeChambeau, Dustin Johnson and Michelle Wie West as partners. “Carbon gave us a chance to have a much bigger area of forgiveness.” “The density of carbon fibre/ epoxy is more than five times lighter than stainless steel,” adds Jeff Meyer, Chief Design Officer at LA Golf. “Therefore, we have much more discretionary weight to help optimise…

This month I’m in Edinburgh for the Fringe Festival. I’ve been coming most years since 2005 and am a marginally better comedian than I am a golfer. Considering I am less than an hour’s drive from Scotland’s Golf Coast, it is nothing short of scandalous that in all that time I have never ventured out of the city to swing a club. This year, however, one thing is different: I’m off the booze. And that means one thing… LINKS GOLF! Yes, it’s goodbye to nights of knocking back pint after pint until 4am in festival bars, and hello to driving out of the city early enough to catch the last few revellers heading home to enjoy their hangovers. My first stop was Leven Links, to play a round with probably…

BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE NEW P.790 IRONS TRANSITION AND LOW-POINT SHIFT Just for this section, picture the golf swing as a circle, with the clubhead swinging on a circular arc. At address, the base of this arc is pretty much at the ball. But by impact, every elite golfer – with Rory a perfect example – shifts this low point slightly forwards (towards the target) and down (under the ground) when they are hitting irons. We see this in the form of a divot, taken after the ball is struck. Promoting ball-turf contact and a powerful, compressing strike, this shift is an important element of iron technique; and one Rory sets up through the quality of his transition. Double shift Watch Rory from the top and you will see two…

BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE NEW P.790 IRONS PRESSURE-PACKED PUNCH In the first part of this article we looked at how Rory uses his transition to set up a powerful ball-turf strike. But of course the strike still has to be administered… and Rory creates it through ensuring the handle of his golf club leads the head through the strike zone. This builds forward lean into the shaft, which has two important implications for the strike: ■ It guarantees a downward attack angle, promoting a clean, crisp strike and allowing a clubface designed with loft to pile pressure into the ball. ■ It delofts the clubface, effectively turning an 8-iron into a 7-iron. Strike enemy No1: Early release It’s this impact asset that allows Rory to inject so much fizz into…

1 Fitness Finca Cortesin’s hills and long walks between greens and tees will be buggy assisted, but the week will test strength and stamina. 2 Squad depth The nature of the course will also mean that all 12 players will be called upon to avert fatigue. There can be no passengers. 3 Home advantage It’s a factor, but not a huge one. The US have won three times in eight visits to Europe and the away team have won three of the last five matches. 4 Spanish Armada Home nation energy will fuel the galleries and the team. Carlota Ciganda needs a repeat of her debut, when she won all three of her matches. 5 Strength in stars Europe will be dependent on their best players and a repeat performance…

Solheim Cup debuts don’t come any better than Leona Maguire’s. After an impressive if unspectacular rookie LPGA season in 2020, two runnerup finishes and three more top-10s in 2021 were enough to secure a wildcard pick from Europe Captain Catriona Matthew. “It was a big goal this year but I tried not to think about it too much,” said the 26-year-old upon selection, “but it is a big deal. No Irish woman has ever done it before. I’m the first – hopefully I won’t be the last – but yeah, it’s going to be a really special week.” Little did she realise just how quickly she’d become a household name, even among casual golf fans, thanks to her exploits at the Inverness Club in Ohio. It was a mark of…

Lexi Thompson has a hard time believing that it’s been 10 years since she made her debut as a teenager in the Solheim Cup. She’s even more surprised to learn that her fourball included both the European and American captains for this year and next. She laughs hysterically at the reminder, before composing herself long enough to wonder where the time has gone. This September will be her sixth appearance for the United States. There’s also a chance it could be her last. The 28-year-old is taking nothing for granted nowadays and sees little reason to as she speaks glowingly about the next generation of stars coming through. It wasn’t so long ago that she was being talked about in the same way Rose Zhang is now. Thompson was only…

No doubt you’ve heard coaches like us talk about the importance of ‘compressing’ or ‘squeezing’ the ball with your irons. Without a doubt, this type of strike works best with a lofted face: ■ It applies maximum pressure to the ball, helping distance. ■ It reduces face loft at impact, adding penetration. ■ It promotes cleaner contact. It is also true that a strike that squeezes or compresses the ball is the result of a downward attack angle. But this downward angle is much less extreme – and is achieved far more easily – than many club players understand. As soon as we try to hit down, we can run into all manner of problems affecting strike, path and general consistency. Let’s take a look at this in more detail,…

KBS are a brand utterly dedicated to developing the shafts golfers need to play better golf. The brand make 10 different iron shaft models, four wedge shafts and four putter options, and their latest launch sees them expend their graphite hybrid family to two models. Thanks to a lower centre of gravity, the new PG Hybrid, (Players’ Graphite Hybrid) is easier to launch, which makes the shaft a great option for all levels of golfer looking to flight shots higher and with a steeper descent angle, so they hit the green and stop from distance, unlike a long iron. Rumour has it that the brand are currently exploring the possibility of opening a KBS Experience facility in the UK. If that happens, it will allow golfers to try all the…

OFFICIAL TOP 100 SHOE PARTNER GOLF WORLD TOP 100 STOCKISTS ON THIS LIST St Andrews (Old) Royal County Down Turnberry (Ailsa) Royal Dornoch Muirfield Royal Portrush Royal St George’s Royal Birkdale North Berwick Kingsbarns Ballybunion (Old) Portmarnock Carnoustie (Championship) Lahinch (Old) Cruden Bay (Championship) Royal Troon (Championship) Rosapenna (St Patrick’s) Castle Stuart Trump Aberdeen Waterville Skibo Castle Royal Cinque Ports Royal Lytham Royal Liverpool Prestwick Royal Aberdeen Royal Porthcawl Machrihanish St Enodoc Rye Royal West Norfolk The Machrie Formby Silloth Saunton Western Gailes Burnham & Berrow The Island County Louth Carne (Wild Atlantic Dunes) The European Doonbeg Royal St David’s Pennard County Sligo Hunstanton Nairn Gullane (No.1) Hillside Golf writing is not short of romantic prose, but rarely is it felt more keenly than when the subject is links courses. “If you have golf running through your veins and down your fingers, it is inconceivable you will not one day find yourself in Dornoch. And…

OFFICIAL TOP 100 SHOE PARTNER I learned to play golf on a links. It was a nine-hole holiday course in County Cork, called Barley Cove. I don’t suppose my orange wellington boots oozed sartorial elegance but the course was covered in cow pats and electric fencing ringed the greens. Sartorial, no… practical, most definitely. I was five years old. I have no doubt it was back then that I fell in love with links golf. Most mornings my mother would send out a search party (my dad) around 6am because I wasn’t in my room. He had no trouble finding me: by that time I was usually on Barley Cove’s 5th hole. No doubt this article will include a number of responses from golfers highlighting that links golf is the…

101. Archerfield (Fidra) 102. Kilspindie 103. La Moye 104. Seascale 105. Fortrose & Rosemarkie 106. Lundin 107. Askernish 108. Royal Jersey 109. Portmarnock Links 110. Royal Portrush (Valley) 111. Royal County Down (Annesley) 112. Ardglass 113. Crail (Balcomie) 114. Golspie 115. Scotscraig 116. Formby Ladies 117. Porthmadog 118. Royal Dublin 119. Cruit Island 120. Ballybunion (Cashen) 121. Strandhill 122. Dunaverty  123. St Annes Old 124. Bude & North Cornwall 125. St Andrews (Jubilee) 126. Cleveland 127. Dunstanburgh Castle 128. Ceann Sibeal 129. Moray (New) 130. Turnberry (King Robert The Bruce) 131. Leven 132. Monifieth 133. West Kilbride 134. Peterhead 135. Rosslare 136. Tain 137. Archerfield (Dirleton) 138. Weston-super-Mare 139. Royal Troon (Portland) 140. Fairhaven 141. St Andrews (Eden) 142. Irvine (Bogside) 143. West Cornwall 144. Newquay 145. Durness 146. Prestwick St Nicholas 147. Longniddry 148. Kilmarnock (Barassie) 149. Powfoot 150. North Wales…

Thrust into the role at late notice after Henrik Stenson defected to LIV Golf, Luke Donald has spent much of his captaincy dealing with resignations and trying to unite a team fractured by golf ’s civil war. Donald accepts Europe are underdogs, but that was often the case when he was playing in the Ryder Cup and he was on the winning team in each of the four events he competed in. As a student of the game, Donald kept notes on all the captains he played and worked under and is now using them in a bid to right the wrongs of Whistling Straits and uphold a 30-year-old winning record on home soil. As he explains, the pressure is on to get it right… When I was appointed last…

THE 44th RYDER CUP MARCO SIMONE G&CC, ROME | September 29-October 1, 2023 SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER AGE 27 CAREER NUMBERS WR 1 st Pro Wins 8 Majors 1 RYDER CUPS 2021 RYDER CUP RECORD Won 2 Lost 0 Halved 1 TG VERDICT: The World No. 1 is frighteningly good tee to green and tops every relevant strokes-gained statistic. His putting is his only weakness, and he was something of a matchplay specialist prior to his four losses at the Presidents Cup. On his Ryder Cup debut, he was undefeated in three matches. He’s also been a winner, runner-up and semi-finalist in the WGC-Match Play. PATRICK CANTLAY AGE 31 CAREER NUMBERS WR 4 th Pro Wins 9 Majors 0 RYDER CUPS 2021 RYDER CUP RECORD Won 3 Lost 0 Halved 1 TG VERDICT:…

THE 44TH RYDER CUP MARCO SIMONE G&CC, ROME It’s just gone 7am in Denmark and Edoardo Molinari’s phone is already pinging with messages from players and caddies. The Italian is a popular guy on tour but a lot of people depend on him now, including those he is about to compete against in the Made in HimmerLand tournament. The 42-year-old is still playing a full season on the DP World Tour, yet he is just as busy assisting Luke Donald for the Ryder Cup as he is earning ‘extra pocket money’ as one of golf ’s leading statisticians. His to-do list never seems to get any smaller. Once finished on the course and in the gym, he’ll spend the evening sifting through more numbers than you’ve got in your phone book.…

Castello Marco Simone has always specialised in star spotting. In the 16th century, those stars were being observed in the night sky by Galileo Galilei, the father of astronomy who lived in the castle. This year it is stars from the world of golf who will be competing on the fairways and greens that now surround it. In 1980, Laura Biagiotti, founder of one of Italy’s leading fashion brands the House of Biagiotti, fell in love with, and then purchased, the property. “The castle was waiting for me,” she said. “Its restoration was like a madness that possessed me.” Together with her husband Gianni Cigna, she began a renovation project that would revive the 11th century castle and establish a golf course that twists through olive groves and Roman ruins,…

THE 44th RYDER CUP MARCO SIMONE G&CC, ROME It’s the day after The Open Championship and Matt Fitzpatrick is sitting in the snooker room of Hallamshire Golf Club in his hometown of Sheffield, trying to put a positive spin on a rotten Ryder Cup record which almost defies belief. There’s not a great deal the baby-faced Englishman hasn’t done in the game, but failing to register even half a point for the blue and gold brigade ranks among his greatest frustrations. You have to go all the way back to 1963 and Thomas Haliburton, a long-time pro at Wentworth, to find the last golfer to appear in two Ryder Cups and lose all his matches. It’s an unwanted record which Fitzpatrick equalled at Whistling Straits, despite performing well all week. “The…

“We’d lost the Ryder Cup by a point in 1983 at PGA National. We’d gone into the singles tied 8-8 after the foursomes and fourballs over the first two days, so we were broken hearted after losing out in the final two matches. But Seve said, “Come on, 1985, we’ll all be back together again and we’ll win this”. And of course that’s what happened: two years later Seve was proven to be correct. “At the Belfry in 1985, I had an eight-foot putt on 17 to go from one down to all square to give myself the chance to win down 18. That was the hardest putt of my life but I holed it and went to the 18th where my opponent (Andy North) ended up in the water.…

It started in late 2016 at the World Cup in Australia. I got down there and I felt like I’d picked up a bug. It went away but then it came back again. I kept going through these cycles. One week feeling good, the next feeling bad. Tired all the time. I started to realise something was wrong. I went on a hunting trip in the fall of 2016. There’s a good chance that’s where I picked it up. I felt relief once I was diagnosed with Lyme disease. When you figure out what’s wrong, you can be treated. I never saw a tick or a bite. I just couldn’t figure out what was wrong with me. It was a mystery. It took a toll on me physically and mentally.…

GET IN TOUCH As well as email (editorial@todaysgolfer.co.uk) and post (Media House, Lynch Wood, Peterborough, PE2 6EA), you can contact us using any of these social platforms… @Thetodaysgolfer @TodaysGolferBauer @Todaysgolfer @Todaysgolfer PING LETTER OF THE MONTH WINS… A BRAND-NEW PING PUTTER RRP £250 GOLF IS THE BEST COMMUNITY LETTER OF THE MONTH Little did I know, when I reluctantly took up golf in my mid-60s, how much it would enrich my life. I have just returned home after winning the Lady Captain’s Day at my new club. We moved to the area nine months ago, and within a month of arriving I received a shock diagnosis of a rare brain condition. Still feeling well, despite this, I decided to join my local golf club. After having to stop driving, they…

BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE NEW P.790 IRONS PURE FREEDOM It’s not easy to show balance in a photo, but this image of Rory gives us a series of indicators as to its quality and value: ■ His downward centre of pressure remains constant, under the laces; there’s no falling into the heels or toes. ■ He retains his distance from the ball… and his posture through the strike. ■ The sensation of being balanced allows him to swing with confidence… and hit hard. It’s no exaggeration to say that if we want to understand where the wonderful freedom we all associate with Rory’s swing comes from, we need look no further than his marvellous balance. Compensation: The true cost of poor balance We only tend to see the value of…

BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE NEW P.790 IRONS TAKE A LOOK AT THIS IMAGE. NOTE HOW: ■ Rory’s lead knee is lower than his trail knee. ■ His lead shoulder is lower than his trail shoulder. ■ His shoulder angle points just a couple of feet outside the ball. ■ His lead arm is marginally steeper than his shoulder angle. These four elements are all strong signs of a swing that is moving along the ideal, pitched plane or angle. This tilt helps Rory in two key ways: ■ It keeps the club on a sound, neutral path. ■ It helps him control the low point of his action, which improves strike. For the right-handed golfer, a swing that is planed too flat will tend to see the path move to…

Stacy Lewis is surprisingly calm for someone with the weight of a nation on her shoulders. At the age of 38, the two-time Major champion and former World No.1 will become the youngest American captain in Solheim Cup history when she leads the team out in Spain. There’s still an argument that she could (and should) be playing in it, which is why the timing of her appointment was so surprising. Angela Stanford and Cristie Kerr were seen as the more obvious candidates and Lewis even alluded to it moments after she was offered the job by LPGA Commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan. “I think I said at least five or six times, ‘Are you sure? I really don’t want to step on anybody’s toes.” Lewis comes across as a reluctant…

Sibling rivalry is inevitable in a family full of sporting stars, and there are few families in the world that can match the all-round success of the Kordas. At the head of the table is Petr Korda, a Czech-born, former Australian Open tennis champion and World No 2. He married fellow tennis star Regina Rajchrtova, and their union produced three children: Jessica, Nelly and Sebastian. While Sebastian would follow his famous father’s career path into tennis, his two big sisters found golf more to their liking and have amassed 19 professional titles between them, though Nelly’s victory at the 2021 Women’s PGA Championship remains their only Major so far. Their competitive desire could easily have led to a fractious relationship as they battle for honours on the LPGA Tour, but…

I would say my very first Solheim Cup tee shot, in Colorado in 2013, would be one. The other two moments are probably from the same round during my match against Anna Nordqvist in Des Moines in 2017. I holed out on a par 5. I think it was the 11th. I was four down after nine holes and I realised that I had nothing to lose. I ended up making eagle on 11 with a wedge which span back in the hole. I couldn’t even see it going in, but I went off everybody’s reaction – that was definitely a great feeling. The other moment was my putt on 15. I hit a 7-iron into a par 5 and I had about 30 to 35 feet. My putt broke…

Watch hundreds of video tips at www.todays-golfer.com HERE TO HELP YOU SAVE SHOTS PRESENTED BY Shot Scope TRAIN A BETTER STRIKE Club players often struggle to strike their irons well because of how they deliver the club. Typically the body rotation stalls during the downswing, leaving the hands and arms to create all the speed. It leads to a weak, ‘flappy’ feeling at impact, the clubface feeling light and unstable. To address this, pin a club across your chest with your gloved hand. Take your posture, shaft parallel to your ball-target line. Kink your trail arm so the elbow sits near your side. Finally, open up your trail palm to represent the clubface. From here, simply rotate your chest through to face the target, keeping the club against both shoulders.…

YOUR COACH 1 The typical slicer swings across the ball, the club moving from outside to inside the target line. Leaving the face open to avoid sending the ball left (right-handers), they impart a spin axis that sends the ball curving off to the right. This slicing swing path may be incredibly common, but that doesn’t mean it is easy to diagnose or correct. To achieve those goals, we need to target the root cause of that across-the-line delivery – the way we move the club down from the top of the backswing. 2 Swing plane – the angle at which we swing the club – influences the path of the club through the ball, so plays a major role in the slice. Slicers steepen the plane from the top,…

It’s called the hardest shot in golf… and with good reason. Every golfer alive knows how effective sand is at deadening a strike… and while that’s not such a problem when we only have eight or 10 yards of green to cover, sending the ball upwards of 50 yards from a more distant bunker is a different matter entirely. Your chief weapon in tackling this shot is clarity; only when you put a clear plan in place can you swing with the commitment this awkward shot needs. Let these tips guide your 50-yard bunker shot approach. YOUR COACH KEY CONCEPT: TAKE SAND… AND BUILD SPEED Let’s first park any notion of clipping the ball clean from the top of the sand. With even a few grains of sand enough to…

The golf backswing demands a special blend of rotation and stability… but for many club golfers, it tends to be one or the other. We can rotate at the expense of balance and stability, or we can remain nice and solid but without the rotational range of movement we need. To find that elusive blend, we need to train our upper body to rotate through the correct part of the spine while teaching the core, trunk muscles (abs and obliques) how to engage and stabilise this rotation. This simple three-step exercise targets both areas. Always consult your GP before adopting any new fitness regimen 1 Take two clubs. Position them horizontally across your chest, holding them at either end – hands over the top as shown. Take your regular golfing…

Who they're aimed at Pro offers distance and precision, with CB targeting shotmakers who want pure feel and workability. MB is for the best players who want a high level of performance in a modern tour blade, and the UT is a powerful utility iron for those seeking precision. Back weights for a better fit All Pro Series irons feature the same MIM back weight to give fitters more control to dial in swing weight and mix and match the family to create your perfect set. They are placed strategically in the toe to create a perfectly balanced design for enhanced workability and control. New sole design Callaway say they’ve worked extensively with their elite tour staff to create a new Dynamic Sole Design that features on the Apex 24…

Since hitting the market in 2015, PXG’s hollow-body irons have changed the industry. Before 2015, no-one made them; today, we have hollow designs from Ping, Callaway, TaylorMade, Titleist, Srixon and Mizuno. Having seen the impact hollow tech has had on irons, PXG have now done the same thing to putters. They say removing weight from the core of a putter means you get a boost in MOI and forgiveness, which should be music to the ears of anyone wanting to maximise their putting potential. Here’s how they do it. Start with the thinnest face PXG make the thinnest iron faces in golf, which gives their models high ball speeds, brilliant feel and great sound. By removing weight from the face, forgiveness is nudged up, too. Their approach is the same…

TOP 10 LOW - SPIN & DRAW DRIVERS Ping G430 LST | £575 LOW-SPIN TG VERDICT Historically, Ping drivers favour forgiveness over all-out ball speed and distance, but our 2023 data highlights the LST as being a brute. The model was within 0.3mph of producing the fastest ball speed this year, and it posted data significantly better than our test averages for protecting ball speed and tightening dispersion. It was also our longest low-spin driver of 2023, at 282 yards. TaylorMade Stealth 2 Plus | £529 LOW-SPIN TG VERDICT If it’s ball speed you’re after, the Stealth 2 family produced the fastest average ball speed of this year’s entire driver test. This model also gave our test pro his smallest carry distance drop-off (9 yards), the least amount of left-to-right…

With a turnover of more than $4 billion last year, Callaway are out in front as golf’s biggest brand. Over the last couple of years, however, a number of top executives have left the company. Following the off-centre core golf ball debacle, first to go was Dave Bartels, Senior Director of Golf Ball Research and Development. Then it was 24-year Callaway veteran and legendary Senior Vice President of R&D, Dr Alan Hocknell’s turn to exit the building. Most recently, Sean Toulon, who spent seven years at Callaway and Odyssey after 15 years at TaylorMade, announced his decision to step down to focus fully on the Toulon Design putter business he started with his sons. What do these changes mean for consumers? Well, nothing too much in the immediate future, as…

OFFICIAL TOP 100 SHOE PARTNER GOLF WORLD TOP 100 A remarkable 37 courses from this GB&I Links Top 100 are in the World Top 100. That might look like bias on the part of a magazine based in Britain, but be assured the numerous overseas golfers on the panel are the ones driving that number to be so high. Many of them would have a handful more in. These 37 are world famous, world-class golf courses. Even in that stellar company the top seven stand out for me; they are just a smidgen adrift of the rest because they tick every box. St Andrews (Old) and Royal County Down’s Championship course are established at the top of our GB&I list, with Turnberry’s Ailsa just in behind. After that top three, any…

LINKS GOLF AND ME Tom Stenner-Evans Panellist ‘Links golf is uniquely playable and penal in equal measures. A day on the links is a perfect reminder that great golf is an art, and that the course is your rolling, sprawling blank canvas; every round an opportunity to paint a new and different masterpiece. It stirs the imagination in ways that tree-lined courses cannot, whether flighting the ball down in the wind, putting from 50 yards short or escaping from pot bunkers, all in pursuit of par.” LINKS GOLF AND ME Rickie Fowler Tour winner “It’s my favourite style of golf. I love to be creative and it suits that perfectly. I relish playing in the wind and that lets you be creative, but primarily it’s in the second shots and…

OFFICIAL TOP 100 SHOE PARTNER 1. St Andrews (Old) 2. Royal County Down 3. Turnberry (Ailsa) 4. Royal Dornoch 5. Muirfield 6. Royal Portrush 7. Royal St George’s 8. Royal Birkdale 9. North Berwick 10. Kingsbarns 11. Ballybunion (Old) 12. Portmarnock 13. Carnoustie (Championship) 14. Lahinch (Old) 15. Cruden Bay (Championship) 16. Royal Troon (Championship) 17. Rosapenna (St Patrick’s) 18. Castle Stuart 19. Trump Aberdeen 20. Waterville 21. Skibo Castle 22. Royal Cinque Ports 23. Royal Lytham 24. Royal Liverpool 25. Prestwick 26. Royal Aberdeen 27. Royal Porthcawl 28. Machrihanish 29. St Enodoc 30. Rye 31. Royal West Norfolk 32. The Machrie 33. Formby 34. Silloth 35. Saunton 36. Western Gailes 37. Burnham & Berrow 38. The Island 39. County Louth 40. Carne (Wild Atlantic Dunes) 41. The European 42.…

THE 44th RYDER CUP MARCO SIMONE G&CC, ROME | September 29-October 1, 2023 RORY MCILROY AGE 34 CAREER NUMBERS WR 2 nd Pro Wins 37 Majors 4 RYDER CUPS 2010, ’12, ’14, ’16, ’18, ’21 RYDER CUP RECORD Won 12 Lost 12 Halved 4 TG VERDICT: The first name on the team sheet, even if he was pointless through the first two days at Whistling Straits. A tearful interview following his emphatic defeat of Xander Schauffele in the singles was a potent reminder of how much the Ryder Cup means to him. He also has six wins and seven Major Championship top 10s in the last two years. JON RAHM AGE 28 CAREER NUMBERS WR 3 rd Pro Wins 20 Majors 2 RYDER CUPS 2018, ’21 RYDER CUP RECORD Won 4…

1 BE YOUR OWN MAN There’s no one, single way of captaining. To give you two examples, Olazabal and Monty were two very different captains before me. They saw things in a different way, but they both won. When you do what you see fit, you bring integrity to the table. That’s the biggest key to being a captain. You really must believe in yourself and have that authenticity and integrity of message. 2 PICK WISELY I’m a believer in horses for courses. Players are suited to certain tests. The first meeting I had with the stats guys as captain, I asked them to trawl through the last 10 years of the Johnnie Walker Championship, played at Gleneagles, and identify three or four correlations as to who played well and what…

“We have an app which can help you practise more efficiently and help you set up a drill on the putting green or on the range. It gives you results and trends and simple stats about how you’ve been playing. We’re building a new platform now which will be ready at the end of the year and that will be available to amateurs too. The only difference being that I won’t be producing the reports for them, but they’ll be able to use the exact same system as Fitzpatrick, Hovland and other top players.”…