A tradition unlike any other

The first round of the 2025 Masters tournament is underway and storylines are starting to appear that give old geezers like me some reason to hope.

Bernhard Langer won his first Masters title 40 years ago, and his second in 1993. Now 67 years old, Langer has announced that this would be his last appearance as a player. And with that out of the way, he proceeded to post a one-under front nine. He stayed in red numbers until he bogeyed both the 12th and the 13th. As I write this, he is playing 17 and remains at one-under. (I’ll update this news in a few minutes when he finishes.)

Freddie Couples, he of the smoothest swing in golf, is another past champion making some noise today. After making a disappointing bogey on the par-five 13th, Freddie holed out his second shot on 14 (a hybrid from 191 yards) to move into red numbers at one-under. Making his 40th Masters appearance this week, Boom Boom has made the cut in five different decades.

There have been rumours that he might make this his final appearance, but I hope he continues to play. Just watching that swing is like taking a lesson.

Updates: Langer made bogey on 17 and finished at two-over. Couples parred after his eagle and he finished at one-under.

In this issue

• The sexiest shot in golf

• Get up and down to shoot lower

• Gentle Ben at the Masters

• This week’s playlist

The sexiest shot in golf

The shot that all of us want to be able to hit from 30-50 yards out flies low, lands on the green, bounces once and then zips to a stop.

Mr. Short Game Golf shows us how to hit it with a high-lofted wedge with at least eight degrees of bounce.

He instructs us to address the ball with the clubface as wide open as possible. He further instructs us not to move the ball back in our stance. That ball position reduces the spin and introduces the chance of chunking the shot.

Instead, position the ball just inside your lead heel. Your hands should be just a hair in front on the ball. Make sure that you keep all your weight on your lead foot and aim just a bit to the left (for a right handed golfer). Then have your swing path match your aim.

The swing is more steep than a normal shot of this length and you should concentrate at delivering the bounce under the ball. That will take some practice but the results are worth it.

Get up and down to shoot lower

Todd Kolb at US Golf TV gives us three proven chipping tips that will help you shoot your lowest scores ever.

First, take a few seconds when you have a chip shot and determine where you want the ball to land and how far it needs to run out to the hole.

If there is a lot of green between your ball and the pin, you might want to hit the ball so it lands just on the green and then rolls the rest of the way. You need less loft for this shot so consider a pitching wedge or even a 9- or 8-iron.

If you don’t have much green between you and the hole, you’ll want to select a more lofted club, like a sand wedge or even a lob wedge.

Todd’s second recommendation is that the backswing on a typical chip should be longer than the follow through. For instance, if you take the club back 60% of the way, only follow through 40% after the ball. This will help you develop feel.

Finally, he recommends that you ensure you cause the butt end of the club to move away from the target when you start your chipping backswing. You do this by moving the club back with your shoulders. You can have a bit of wrist hinge in that backswing, but remember to limit your follow through.

Practice these tips and you will develop feel around the green. The result will be lower scores.

Gentle Ben at the Masters

Smylie Kaufman is a PGA Tour winner, on-course reporter, and the host of The Smylie Show podcast on YouTube. This week he spends time talking with two-time Masters champion Ben Crenshaw.

One of the greatest putters of all time, Crenshaw gives credit to his longtime teacher Harvey Penick. And at Augusta, the greens are very special. Crenshaw says it takes skill to navigate those greens, but it also takes imagination.

Augusta is not only about putting. It’s also about knowing where to hit the ball and where you can afford to miss.

Crenshaw won his second Masters in 1995 and that was long before launch monitors.

When he played the Masters, he and his Augusta caddie, Carl Jackson, “never went by yardages. We went by clubs,” Crenshaw says. “We would say, ‘This looks like a three-iron or a five-iron.’ ”

Ben also recounts the 1995 Masters that occurred just after the death of Mr. Penick. He credits caddy Carl Jackson with fixing his swing that week. While he thought of his coach, he was able to concentrate on each shot with help from Carl who he says could “read me like a book.”

Crenshaw also talks Ryder Cup, putting techniques and Champions Dinner stories.

There’s no real instruction or tips in this video, but listening to Ben Crenshaw is a special opportunity. Enjoy!

This week’s playlist

I watched a lot of videos this week before deciding on what to present in Finding the Tips.

Did I get it right? Here’s the playlist of all the videos. See what you think.

Watch your email early next Friday, April 18 for the next edition.