Chasing legacy

For fans of professional golf, the last couple years have been challenging. With the arrival of the LIV Golf tour, golf has struggled with the fans. Television and streaming viewership numbers are down and the uncertainty on the professional golf landscape is troubling.

But as I write this edition of Finding the Tips, there are two professional golfers and one young amateur who are breathing new life into the game at its highest levels.

Winning golf tournaments is incredibly tough anywhere. On the main tours for men and women, though, it’s a monumental accomplishment. That’s why 2024 will be remembered because of these two players.

Nelly Korda has won her last five starts on the LPGA tour, joining World Golf Hall of Famers Annika Sorenstam and Nancy Lopez as the only players to accomplish that feat.

Scottie Sheffler has won four of his last five starts on the PGA tour. The third of those wins was the Masters and the last was the RBC Heritage tournament just a week ago. In the tournament he didn’t win, Scottie finished second.

Surprisingly, several PGA Tour players have won five or more times consecutively:

• Byron Nelson won an astounding 11 consecutive tournaments between March 11 and August 4, 1945. He actually won a 12th tournament, but it was deemed unofficial as the purse was below the PGA tour standards of the day.

• Tiger Woods won seven consecutive tour starts between July 23, 2006, and January 28, 2007.

• Ben Hogan won six in a row starting on June 12, 1948, and continuing through August 22, 1948.

• Woods won six PGA events in a row between August 29, 1999, and February 6, 2000, just before he went on to win the 2000 US Open, British Open and PGA championships, followed by the 2001 Masters. He is the only player to hold all four major titles at the same time. Because the victories straddled a new year, Woods’ accomplishment is forever known as the Tiger Slam.

• Hogan also had a streak of five wins between April 12 and July 10, 1953, just a little more than four years after a car accident nearly ended his career.

• Not to be outdone, Tiger won five starts in a row between September 9, 2007, and March 16, 2008.

Can Sheffler and Korda keep winning? Who knows. But I don’t think anyone will bet against them.

While Nelly and Scottie were winning, 15-year-old amateur Miles Russell made tour history as the youngest player to ever record a top 25 finish in a PGA Tour-sanctioned event.

Miles recorded 17 birdies and three eagles while posting four sub-par rounds at the LECOM Suncoast Classic, a Korn Ferry tour event. With his T20 finish, Miles earned a spot in this week’s Korn Ferry event, the Veritex Bank Championship in Texas.

After a stellar 2023 season, Miles is the reigning American Junior Golf Association Player of the Year, an honor that was once awarded to Tiger Woods, although Tiger was older than Miles when he won.

Will Miles Russell win in Texas? The sky is the limit for this young man, so anything is possible.

Golf needs great players to do great things, now more than ever. Miles, Nelly and Scottie are chasing legacy and not just cash.

With that in mind, let’s chase more distance and a return to golf fundamentals.

In this issue

• Golf swing basics

• Kickstart your golf swing

• Next time in Finding the Tips

Golf swing basics

Rick Shiels is the Grand Poobah of YouTube golf. With more than 2.78 million subscribers on his Rick Shiels PGA channel alone, he practically invented YouTube golf. Just a few months ago, he was named one of the 100 most influential people in all of golf.

So when Rick talks, I’ve learned to listen.

This video covers the basics of the golf swing. It’s a great place for newer golfers to start. It’s also a perfect reminder for experienced players to check these fundamentals:

• Grip

• Posture and setup

• Body rotation and weight movement

Rick first shows us how to grip the club. He recommends the interlocking method, but you can use the overlap or the baseball grip if one of those is your preference.

A key to any good grip is holding the club in your fingers and not the palms. Rick also wants us to have what he calls a neutral grip, as evidenced by the crease formed by the index finger and thumb of each hand pointing to our trail shoulder.

For newer golfers, this grip will feel uncomfortable. But that feeling will go away with time. Just keep at it.

Next Rick shows us how to address the ball correctly. This means having good golf posture (which for me is a challenge, but I’m working at it).

You should feel strong and athletic when you address the ball.

Watch the video so you can emulate Rick’s setup position and posture. Your feet should be shoulder width apart, your back straight(ish) and your knees just slightly flexed or softened.

With the grip and setup in place, now it’s time to swing the club.

Ricks explains that the golf swing is a rotational movement combined with a weight shift. He demonstrates how to practice that movement while placing a club across his chest, parallel to his shoulder line.

Starting your swing, turn and twist your body so that the clubhead points to the ground. Watch how Rick turns his body. His feet, knees, hips, pelvis, and shoulders work together to complete the turn.

On the downswing, Rick unwinds his body. Once again, his shoulders, pelvis, hips, knees and feet turn back so that the grip end of the golf club points to the ground. At the end of the downswing and follow through, his weight is 90% on his lead foot. Just the tip of Rick’s trail foot is touching the ground.

Practice this move slowly -- again and again -- until you are in balance throughout the golf swing. Practice until you can hold the finish position in balance for at least five seconds.

With a good grip and solid setup, you’re ready to rotate the body, move your weight, stay in balance and hit great golf shots!

Kickstart your golf swing

Right now, there is only one golfer dominating men’s professional golf. World number one Scottie Sheffler is the favourite in every tournament he enters.

Alex Elliott gives us instruction to help us emulate the Scottie Sheffler downswing, if not the Sheffler foot shuffle.

The idea is that you push your lead heel into the ground -- as if you are kickstarting a motorcycle -- just as your hands get to about shoulder height in the backswing.

The best players on earth move weight to their lead side before the backswing finishes. This early transfer creates power in the golf swing.

First practice it while slowly swinging the driver like a baseball bat. When your hands get back to your trail shoulder, kick the weight down into your lead heel. Increase your speed gradually until you are swinging near to full speed while maintaining balance.

When you’re comfortable with that, try swinging as if the ball were on a very high tee. Just remember to kick the weight to your lead heel as your hands get even with your trail shoulder. Feel the pressure going down on your heel and pushing down into the ground.

Then hit five to eight balls, but with a very slow backswing. Become comfortable with the timing of the kick down to your lead heel. It may feel odd but keep at it.

When you’re hitting the ball solidly, slowly ramp up the speed of the backswing but be aware of the kick to your left heel.

Try it next time you’re on the range. It works!

And for those of you who want to geek out on the Sheffler swing, early weight shift and even the foot shuffle, click here to see a discussion and swing videos on the Newton Golf Institute discussion board.

Next time in Finding the Tips

Since Finding the Tips was born in November 2023, I’ve scoured YouTube to find the tips that I thought were the most impactful every week. But I want you to have a say in which tips I bring you.

The next issue of the newsletter is in your hands. Just hit the reply button on this email and let me know what part of your game is giving you problems.

I’ll then find tips, instruction and drills that will help you address it. I subscribe to more than 300 YouTube golf channels, and I’ll do my best to find an answer to any issues you have.

I love bringing you Finding the Tips every Friday morning. But I want it to be the newsletter that YOU want it to be. Just hit “Reply” and tell me what you want to know and what you think of the newsletter. If you need to be critical, rest assured that I will take it as an opportunity to make the publication better. And I’ll thank you for it.

In the meantime, please forward this newsletter to any of your golf mates who might benefit from its content. As you know, it’s completely free and always will be.