Chip and putt for dough

The fastest way to lower golf scores is to work on your short game. But don’t take my word for it. Gary Player says: “I cannot put enough emphasis on how important it is to be good from 50 yards in. Take a weekend golfer who's a 14 handicapper. If he hit every drive and every second shot and I played the rest, he's a three handicap tomorrow. That gives you food for thought.”

This edition of Finding the Tips focuses on improving your putting and chipping. Player, a nine-time major champion, shows us how to hit a pitch from 70 yards, emphasizing ball first contact and speed through impact.

Another winner of multiple major titles helps us learn how to approach putting, how to sink more putts and how to get up and down more often.

In this issue

• Pitching from 70 yards

• Meet Dave Stockton

• Don’t care if you make or miss the putt

• Read putts from the low side

• Chipping – only the toe hits the ground

Pitch with speed at impact

One of the most challenging wedge shots is the pitch that requires you to use less than a full swing. Gary Player exhorts us to hit the ball with a downward angle of attack after we have cocked our wrists early.

I don’t know about you, but I always listen to the Black Knight!

Short game guru Dave Stockton

Dave Stockton became a professional golfer in 1964. His first PGA Tour victory was at the Colonial tournament in 1967. Stockton won 10 times on the big tour, including two PGA Championships (1970 and 1976). He also played on two winning Ryder Cup teams (1971 and 1977) and was the non-playing captain of the victorious US side in 1991. Stockton joined the Champions Tour where he won 14 times, including three senior major tournaments -- the US Senior Open in 1996 and the Senior Players Championship in both 1992 and 1994.

Throughout his career, he was considered to have one of the best short games in all of golf. That was key because, after Stockton injured his back in a surfing accident as a teenager, ball striking was never his strength.

When he arrived on the PGA Tour, Stockton was hitting just eight greens in regulation per round. But an average round on the greens included just 23 putts. Stockton was so good a putter that he once went 950 holes on the tour without a three-putt. That’s more than 52 18-hole rounds!

Stockton is convinced that putting is a mental challenge. If you believe you’re a good putter, you will make more putts than if you don’t. Once a good putter is over the ball, he says, “he's not actively trying to make it. He's just letting it go and rolling it. I mean, putting is at least 80% mental.”

His outlook on chipping is the same. Decide on the shot you want to hit, follow your pre-shot routine, concentrate on the target and then let the shot go.

After retiring from professional golf, Stockton became a short game coach for such notables as Phil Mickelson, Yani Tseng, Michelle Wie, Mike Weir and many more.

These days, Stockton is the leader of a golf instruction company called Stockton Golf, working alongside his sons Dave Jr. and Ron. They are located at the Redlands Country Club in Redlands, CA.

Here are three videos that articulate some of his short game philosophies.

Putt as if you don’t care

How many times have you hit a putt, just wanting to get it over with and not really caring if it goes in or not? Surprisingly, a significant number of those putts go in. I call those putts “my best I-don’t-give-a-sh*t strokes.”

That’s exactly the mindset Dave Stockton wants you to espouse. Just pick your line and let it go.

Let the ball die into the hole

Stockton walks us through the pre-putt routine he uses and that he wants you to incorporate. While the art of putting is all about feel, Dave wants you to give yourself the best chance to hit your target line every time.

“I roll the ball over my spot and by the time I look up, the ball is going to be right in the hole,” he says.

Stand tall to chip

Stockton wants you to stand as tall as possible when you’re chipping. All your weight should be on your lead foot.

To keep your posture, he recommends you give your shoulders a shake to loosen them up as you move in to address the ball. Then concentrate on standing so upright that only the toe of the club will contact the ground.

Want more from Dave Stockton?

You can find these books on Amazon:

• Unconscious Putting: Dave Stockton’s guide to unlocking your signature stroke

• Unconscious Scoring: Dave Stockton’s guide to saving shots around the green

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