Rickie and Rory

I deliberately put Rickie's name before Rory's in the title of this post.

Rory McIlroy is on a tear, and he won his second successive major and third successive tournament on the PGA tour. How often has a player won two consecutive golf majors? How often has a player won two golf majors in a year? The answer is that both of these feats are rare, but have been accomplished several times over the years by a number of golfers.

Here is a list of all major winners. 

Rickie Fowler did something this year that is much, much rarer. He finished in the top-5 in all four major tournaments. This has happened only 5 times since 1934 - a span of 81 years. The only other golfers to have accomplished this feat are Jack Niklaus and Tiger Woods and they have done it twice each.

Golf is not a sport that can be dominated by one or two players the way other individual sports like tennis can be. Therefore Rickie's feat is quite astonishing. The fact that he did not convert one of these top-5 finishes is disappointing, but takes nothing away from the consistency he has demonstrated. Well done Rickie - I hope you get a big one soon.

Hinge and hold for chipping and pitching

When it comes to golf technique, there are millions of videos and other resources available to the golfer. If you google for "golf chipping video", you get more than 2 million search results!

Like the average golfer I often look at videos to seek help and improve my game. Every now and then I come across a tip or video which provides a mental or physical cue so clear, that it is very easy to identify with it. Some time ago, I had posted a video to fix the "coming over the top" problem with a similar cue.

A few days ago I came across a video made by the short game magician Phil Mickelson. Phil is big on the "hinge and hold" technique for chips and short pitch shots. This video provides a physical cue that is very easy to understand.

One can immediately see a big difference in how a chip shot "looks" when played by a very good player versus when it is played by a mid to high handicap club golfer. I think the key to this difference is the "hinge and hold".

Here is an illustration of some Tiger Woods shots with the same technique.


If you have used this technique, please share your experiences in the comments here.

Tiger Woods - early signs of greatness

I got this video of Tiger Woods in my email a few days ago. It was shot when he was 14, and it is quite amazing the way his father and Tiger talk about his future in the world of golf.

A few things grabbed my attention in this video

• Tiger was a scratch golfer at 14 years old, and according to his dad his short game at that age was as good as a touring professional - wow!
• There was no doubt in their minds that Tiger would win on the tour
• Tiger's game was built from green-to-tee. No wonder he is one of the best short game players on the PGA tour