Andrew Rice Golf

Posts Tagged ‘lee westwood’

Lee Westwood

Even though the current world  number one, Lee Westwood,  lost in the Match Play event today he remains a brilliant ball striker and a contender in  almost every major championship.

The interesting part about Lee’s swing, which many regard as somewhat unique, is his impact position. Is that a chicken wing? Surely that cannot be good? Remember that the only factor that matters is the physics (forces and angles) that the golf club imparts on the ball.

Retief Goosen

Retief Goosen is the other premier golfer who gets into this impact position, although to a much lesser degree. In looking at the two pictures above notice that the handle of the club is positioned in front of each golfers left/lead thigh.  This is vital! With the driver, the shaft should be vertical or leaning slightly forward, as in the Westwood image, but with irons there should be at least 10 degrees of shaft lean. Note that the hands should also be in front of the lead thigh.

The moral of the story – get the club in a great position, relative to the ball, at impact and good things will happen for you; chicken wing and all!

Should your chicken wing not be quite as functional as the two players above here is a little help:

John Huggan makes an excellent case for the modern touring golfer being satisfied with second place and a hefty check versus winning trophies and titles. And he uses Lee Westwood as an example!

 He had this from Peter McEvoy, two time British Amateur Champion:

We live in a golfing world that does not breed winners. Part of that is the money, which is the root of all golfing evil. If we created a different competition, one where the pros put their own money in and it was winner-take-all, a very different animal would evolve. He’d be a golfer who took chances and went for his shots. And he wouldn’t be a guy who was happy to churn out yet another eighth place finish and collect a nice cheque. The whole thing is self-perpetuating and has created a system where a high level of mediocrity is over-rewarded

He also had this from Ben Crenshaw on the role of coaching; a man who grew up under the laissez-faire tutelage of famed instructor, the late Harvey Penick:

Ben Crenshaw (Time)

Sometimes I question the teaching of the game. I hate to use the word ’stylised’, but it seems that way to me, everything in the same box. I don’t see some players able to adjust on the course. You have to be able to do that on the course, especially when you are not playing well. It’s no good waiting until you can go back to the range for the answers. They are relying too much on the guys standing behind them.

 

Mickelson is Master again! (AP)

Eighteen of the last nineteen years the winner has come from the final group out on Sunday at the Masters; Tiger has never won a major championship when coming from behind on a Sunday; Phil has three majors while Westwood only has a handful of close calls; we should have seen it all along – this was Phil’s event to win or lose and when he grabbed the event event by the scruff of the neck on the 13th hole Sunday with an emphatic six iron from the trees, he showed he had clearly opted for a courageous and thrilling victory!

While watching the broadcast I could not help but think back to the “old” days when players had legitimate shots at making eagles and birdies on the inward nine that always made for the most exciting finish in golf. The difference this year was that players seemed to have that ability on the front nine as well. I eventually lost track of all the eagles being made in my giddy stupor over how much fun this golf tournament was to watch. From the freak pine stamen event on the second green, to Tiger’s hole out on the 7th, to the most fun sand shot I have ever seen (Westwood, also at the 7th) the front nine gets my vote as the most thrilling nine holes of any major championship in recent memory.

If only the powers that be at Augusta National could comprehend how much the golf community enjoyed seeing Couples, Watson and Langer have a chance; how much we enjoyed watching the youthful passion of Anthony Kim shoot 31 on the back  to be in with a chance; and most of all some of the memorable shots that were played from the most improbable places on the golf course. This course set up, coupled with the near perfect conditions, made for a Masters of old - one where the roars replaced the groans and red replaced black on the large manually operated scoreboards. Please keep this balance between difficulty and achievability because it was so much better than what the last few years have held. Who cares what the winning score is? A week from now no one will remember. You got it right this year (with a little help from Mother Nature!).

Here are a few interesting points I noticed:

Choi and Woods were in sync all week (Tielemans/SI)

• KJ and Tiger played together all four days and matched each other on the scorecard every day. I wonder when the last time that happened was?
• The Phil Mickelson “pine stamen” incident on the 2nd green was the freakiest thing I have ever seen on a putting green – watch the footage here. Bobby Jones always spoke about destiny; what did this mean? Absolutely nothing in the end.
• Jason Dufner birdied the last three holes (16, 17 and 18) on Friday to make the cut at +3!
• When Anthony Kim gets hot lookout! I doubt if there are many players, Tiger included, who can match him shot for shot.
• Sergio Garcia scored 154 (+10) on the weekend in perfect conditions. Whaat? How can a golfer with such talent underachieve so well? It must be due to the fact he is playing against more than just the other golfers in the field each week…. Bad, bad attitude.
• It was good to see Adam Scott and Trevor Immelman hang in over the weekend and both finish in the top twenty.
• Y.E. Yang is a tough customer and never even got a glimpse or a mention – even after a solid 70 and another top ten finish in a major.
• Matteo Manassero is a name that we will be hearing for a very long time time. Not only did he post an excellent final score, but he did exceptionally well in most of the stat categories. He hit the second most fairways for the week!
• I find myself completely unable to root for Tiger Woods.

Stats for the top five finishers: (out of 49 players who made the cut)

Driving Distance

Mickelson 2nd / Westwood 6th / Kim 38th / Choi 42nd / Woods 19th

GIR

Mickelson 5th / Westwood 1st / Kim 10th / Choi 4th / Woods 17th

FIR

Mickelson 45th / Westwood 43rd / Kim 46th / Choi 24th / Woods 38th

Total Putts

Mickelson 13th / Westwood 36th / Kim 6th / Choi 5th / Woods 3rd

Quote of the Day goes to Phil Mickelson when asked about the difference between a great shot and a smart shot:

A great shot is one that you pull off and a smart shot is the one you hit when you don’t have the guts try it!

A Friend in Need..... (Getty)

Complete Final Leaderboard

Putt Like Phil by Dave Stockton Sr. (Phil’s new putting coach)

What’s in Lee Westwood’s bag

This Masters Week was Hard to Beat by John Steinbreder

I received the above information in an email earlier this week and thought it was too good not to share! I think that it beautifully illustrates the way the weight and feet should work throughout the golf swing.

Let’s take a look at each slide and the corresponding position of Lee Westwood.

• Address: I like the way the weight is evenly spread here. The head should be centered between the feet and if this is the case the foot pressure will be matching and thus correct.
• Takeaway: It is interesting to note that there is not a tremendous amount of shift here – notice how the right shoe only has one segment that is absorbing more pressure than the left foot.
• Top Position: While the right foot is clearly under more pressure than the left this is due to the coiling and wind up of the body vs. a huge weight shift or slide. Remember there should be no (or very little) lateral motion as you pivot to the top of the backswing. In fact, if you looked at Ben Hogan’s feet when his club reached the ‘top’ he would clearly have more pressure on the left foot due to his very dynamic swing.
• Impact: What I love about this illustration is how impact only has two more pressure points than the follow through! The weight is clearly on the front foot – just as it should be.
• Follow Through: The weight is all the way up on the front foot, but not significantly more than where it was at address.

The Cover Shot

It has been a long road, but “It’s All About Impact” is finally with the editor and should be ready to go to the printer in 30 days if all goes according to plan.  Cindy Whitman, my editor has encouraged me to take a look at my writing and after she is finished tweaking and “grading” my work this book will be something that every golfer needs to have - a book that is completely true to it’s name, a book that really is all about impact!

This book has been written to show all golfers’ what style elements they can do without and what functional elements are integral to soundly struck golf shots.  What is pretty and what works?  Forget about form and focus all your attention on two simple keys that make all the difference in the world.  The same two keys that every great golfer has had in their golf swing – no matter how different their swings might look!  This book is about ball compression; trapping the ball; squeezing the ball off the turf; ball striking and really not much else!  Yet it will help your iron play, driving, pitching, chipping, sand shots and even putting because the strike and impact is what great golf is all about.  If you can hit the ball correctly, it will go straighter and further, more consistently and I haven’t met a golfer who does not want that in their golf game.

Do you know what makes up a correct impact position?  The same position Padraig Harrington has been working to improve all year.  Do you know what the primary factors that influence impact are?  After reading this book you will have a clear picture and understanding of what is required to hit the ball like some of golf’s all-time greats.

  “It’s All About Impact – The Winners of Over 100 Majors Prove It” will be available as a presale at this website on September 30th, 2009.  All readers who purchase their copy as a presale will receive a signed edition and have their shipping charges (within the USA) covered.

 If you do not have enough time to work on your game; if you are overwhelmed by the amount of technical information about the golf swing; if you regard yourself as a feel player; if you have taken a golf lesson and only regressed and yet you still want to get better then this book has been written on your behalf.

The book will be released online in November 2009.

•  While Tiger is very good for golf I thought it was fantastic to see Y.E. Yang take him down yesterday (in a major and while playing with him!). What a gutsy display!  Congratulations to Y.E., his coach and my former teaching associate, Brian Mogg and all of South Korea!
• I believe the win at Hazeltine will be worth $25 million to Yang!  As the first Asian born golfer to win a major it certainly has the potential to be the most lucrative golf tournament ever won.
• Lee Westwood was the bridesmaid of 2009, similar to what Ernie Els experienced in 2000.  I do believe the nine logos he wears above the waist might pay him enough to get over the agony.
• If only the “Big Uneasy” (Ernie Els) could have made a putt this year. He very well might have won two majors…..
• I still believe that Tiger Woods is a strong-minded, modern day version of Seve Ballesteros.
• What’s the over/ under on days until Hank Haney is shown the door? I do not think he’ll see the light of 2010.

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