Pro Swings

This story on Matthew Wolff was updated July 7, 2019

While the PGA Tour is far more loaded with look-alike swings than it was even a decade ago, once in a while a truly unusual move will come into view. Latest case in point? The big-bashing, left-foot-raising, way-past-parallel swing of Oklahoma State phenom Matthew Wolff, who just won his first PGA tournament, the 3M Open in Blaine, Minnesota, by outlasting fellow rookie Collin Morikawa and veteran Bryson DeChambeau with an eagle on the final hole of TPC Twin Cities.

We recently asked Golf Tips’ Top 25 Instructors to analyze the young man’s homemade action, overseen by iconoclastic Southern California teaching guru George Gankas.

DALE ABRAHAM

I like his swing.  Too many people and coaches are rating and looking at swings only through the lens of aesthetics.  His backswing is unusual, makes me wonder if he grew up playing racquet ball, but his downswing is great.  He has tons of power moves and has proven he can perform under pressure.  If you can repeat it and it hold up under pressure then it will work.

WARREN BOTTKE

ALISON CURDT

The ball only knows impact, so what happens in the backswing can be deceiving. His unique move in the backswing sets up an awesome moment at impact allowing him to maximize distance and ensure accuracy. Fun to watch for sure!

MIKE DIFFLEY

BARRY GOLDSTEIN

Personally, I love it … the only goal of the golf swing is to repeat under pressure so you can shoot good scores and win golf tournaments. When my daughter was playing for the LSU Tigers she had a teammate with a very funky swing who is a great player. I thought to myself, how many people probably tried to change that swing over the years, much like Jim Furyk. And I bet people with unique swings feel like they looks totally normal. I cringe when I hear teachers say a flying right elbow is a bad thing. Sure worked for Jack Nicklaus and Fred Couples. I like watching this kid’s golf swing — he hits it hard and straight.

GAIL GRAHAM

His motion is “unorthodox” by the standards we, as instructors and coaches, follow — however, it is HIS. He gets back to impact with flair but his swing speed and the quality of his ball striking proves that a unique swing motion is not a bad thing — it just is his. 

#jimfuryk #leetrevino #bubbawatson 

BOB GRISSETT

Matthew Wolff has been successful at every level that he’s played. Throughout the history of golf we’ve seen many successful unique swings on the tour. Some that come to mind are Jim Furyk, Gay Brewer, Miller Barber, Calvin Pete, and Ed Furgol to name a few. All of these players one major championships and had very successful careers. 

One of the things that I like most about Matthew is his routine. I’m a big believer in the importance of having a consistent routine. He begins his swing the same way every time. It looks a bit nervous, but he is just breaking up any tension. It is unique and it works. I see nothing wrong with unique.

The goal in golf is to shoot the lowest score. The last time I looked the score board has no space to write how. It doesn’t reward you for pretty. In this game the rewards go to the players who shoot the lowest scores. 

Today’s game is also a power game, and there’s no question he has that to spare. I give his instructor George Gankas a lot of props for not trying to rebuild Matthew’s swing but rather work on enhancing pieces to match up with his natural motion. 

If Matthew has the career I expect, the big winner will be the game we all love. Great golfing, Matthew. All of us here with Golf Tips Magazine wish you nothing but the best! 

JOHN HUGHES

This is not the first unique swing we’ve seen on tour, and will definitely not be the last. Although unique, so long as impact repeats, what does it matter what the swing looks like?

According to Wolfe, the swing is homemade, made to get the club face to work for him each and every swing.  His set-up does the same, allows his unique capabilities to repeat, while staying in dynamic balance. And according to FlightScope, the numbers are as good if not better than most when it comes to a solid impact position.

Nothing wrong with unique, especially when it continues to advance your career and your increase your achievement list.  I hope he remains his own person, drowns out the noise of critics, and shows that nonconformity has its privileges.

ROB LABRITZ

There’s many ways to get it done especially when you are young and flexible. It will be interesting to see the longevity of the body more than the swing. As you get older, your body breaks down and changes. The question is how will the body hold up with the forces being put on the frame, joints, ligaments over time and if there will be any injuries. It’s great to see different players get it done with different techniques. Keeps us all employed … and learning.

CINDY MILLER

Matthew Wolff’s golf swing may be different. If you notice, he loops it back to the inside, then the clubhead returns to the same place it started. Does it really matter how he does it? I think not. Good for him for doing what works.

TOM PATRI

Genius comes in many forms — Chi Chi, Gay Brewer, Arnie, Furyk, Daly, Bubba, Ho-Sung Choi, Azinger, Calvin Pete and Hubert Green, just to name a few. Keep in mind I just rattled off the winners of 15 majors, well over 100 victories and countless wheel barrows full of cash! 

Young Mr. Wolff, although still an unproven commodity as a professional, certainly thus far carries a resume’ that would imply there are promising times ahead.

JIM ROY

I too am looking forward to watching Matthew get started with his career. I really like watching his swing. I love the consistency of his routine. You get the impression that during his routine he’s totally into his target and not worrying about his swing. I love how he slings that club with no fear!

TOM STICKNEY

First of all I cannot give George Gankas enough credit for NOT pushing this fine young player into a specific mold or swing model that many teachers have!  Of course we all have our thoughts on positioning that makes more sense for certain swing types, body types, practice times, and coordination levels, but when it comes to the scratch and better players you must work with what they have already done so successfully.  In my opinion Wolff has the mental freedom and full belief in what he is doing mechanically and that is the buy-in that any teacher needs to help a player at this level reach his full potential.

Certainly, George is helping him tighten a few things up, but in addition he is continuing to make Matthew believe he is moving in the right direction — and like Butch Harmon what only matters in instruction is what you do that makes the player play better — not what his swing looks like overall.

TINA TOMBS

Unique, individual and successful!

DEB VANGELLOW

Swings don’t win tournaments…people do! With this being said, I am excited to see this young man succeed as he has at every level he has played, with his individual/unique golf swing motion that produces such good speed … this long hitter has a wonderful pivot that allows him to “throw the clubhead” into the ball as if he is skipping a stone. Personally, I love his order of movement and feel like everything he does works great for him! Different is OK … and good … and proven over and over again with tournament winners on all the Tours.  He’s fun to watch. #StepAndThrow!

Photo: pgatour.com/Getty Images

If you’re a beginning golfer looking to improve your golf game, there are several options to choose from. One is through self-assessment alone, and while that may be easier than hiring a coach, that certainly leaves room for multiple mistakes to occur and for your game to get progressively worse.

Another option is to choose a coach and take private lessons. This option can be successful but also takes a great deal of money and time to happen. So what do you do if you are stuck in the middle between coaching and self-reflection?

One great option is to mimic the best the PGA has to offer. The business of elite golfers showing amateurs how to better their game through tips and lessons has always been a great place to start for the golfer who’s run out of answers.

Here are several tips from the Top 20 PGA Tour golfers that should instantly improve your playing performance.

Bubba Watson’s Tip for Having Fun with Golf

The stories about how Bubba Watson never took a lesson growing up are legendary at this point. The two-time Masters winner grew up trying to challenge himself with his golf practice time. Watson intentionally found creative ways to make practice tougher.

For example, he routinely hit golf balls around trees working to learn how to shape and control his shots. Watson’s tip of always practicing by looking for the most fun way to play is excellent advice for any amateur.

Justin Thomas’ High Hands Tip for Longer Drives

Justin Thomas is not a big man. At 145 pounds, the 2017 PGA Tour Player of the Year, needs every inch of his body to hit the 300-yard drives he blasts routinely during PGA tournaments. So what is his secret? Well, its a tip he learned from watching Tiger Woods.

On the backswing, Thomas likes to get his hands high, like Tiger, to take the driver to parallel. Thomas believes that the full width of his swing generates additional power, getting the most out of his smaller frame.

Thomas encourages keeping the left arm straight, and your wrists flat as the club goes back to parallel. What you always want to make an emphasis not to do with this swing tip is fold your right arm past 90-degrees. Your yardage will undoubtedly suffer.

Bryson DeChambeau’s Tip for a Fuller Shoulder Turn

DeChambeau, a 2018 U.S. Ryder Cup member, is an adopter of the single plane method. Simply put, DeChambeau draws the club back and swings through the ball on the same plane. Most golfers drawback on one plane then shift the club to another plane on the downswing.

The trick for DeChambeau in making the single plane swing work is by maximizing the rotation of his body to reduce shifting his weight. DeChambeau’s tip for good rotation is to use your head as a center point, making sure that as the body turns, the head stays in the same location. Weight doesn’t shift to the back inside leg but instead stays level over both feet. Making this change will have your swing feeling more centered and steady.

Tiger Woods’ Tight Wrist Technique to Great Chip Shots

14-time major winner Tiger Woods has made his fair share of chips off the green. One of his secrets is keeping the wrists firm through impact. Tiger believes that amateurs try to scoop the ball in the air causing thin shots and off-center strikes.

Quiet wrists don’t mean you strangle the grip of the club. Instead, keep the grip snug in your hands along with locking the wrists. You also want to eliminate a breakdown of the takeaway. Along with working on firm wrists, Tiger says using a shorter and more compact backswing is a must to better pitch shots.

The problem with a long backswing is that it promotes a deceleration of the club which results in weak and ineffective chip shots. So, next time you hit the practice green, work on chipping using Tiger’s firm wrists and short backswing tip. You’ll be sliding balls close to the cup in no time.

Jordan Spieth’s Three-R’s Checklist to Perfect Putting

The 2015 PGA Tour Player of Year, Jordan Spieth is known to be deadly on the greens. His method for finding the bottom of the cup on putts from any range involves a secret checklist that Spieth runs through every time he strikes a putt.

The first R in his three-R checklist is determining the path of the putt through reading the green. By finding the right line, Spieth gains the confidence to hit the perfect putt. Spieth starts behind the ball to see the line, then walks to the side of the putt to look for any slope. He finishes his read by going behind the cup and making one last assessment for the break of the green.

The next step involves the routine before hitting the putt. Jordan addresses the ball by getting his putter online with his right hand only. As his feet get into position, he places the left hand on the club to form his standard grip — this is especially beneficial for beginners with new clubs. Spieth checks to make sure he feels balanced, and once he feels right, he pushes the putter toward the hole with a bit of forward press.

Once, Spieth moves the putter forward he engages the last step which is rolling the ball. Spieth wants to accelerate through the golf ball, so the hands and lead shoulder are ahead of the golf ball. His perfect putt has a low and strong finish to make sure that the ball is consistent and on the line.

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It’s Masters Week, and with Tiger Woods back in contention alongside perhaps the strongest field in a generation, the 2018 edition shapes up as a must-view. Not that most golf fans would miss it anyway. So, to celebrate the year’s first major, we recount a handful of great shots in Masters history — then shows how to hit those shots, including this biting chip from Tiger Woods, via great professional instruction from the Golf Tips archives.

THE SHOT

Tiger Woods, Hole 16, 2005

“In your LIFE have you seen anything like that!?”

With three green jackets already in his closet, Tiger Woods was still the No. 1 player in the world for several years running when he arrived at Augusta for the eighth time as a pro. Phil Mickelson had finally broken through with his first major at the Masters the previous year, so Tiger was plenty motivated to find his way back to the winner’s circle. Going into the final day Tiger held a three-shot lead over Chris DiMarco after firing a third-round 65, with the rest of the field several shots back. It was essentially a two-horse race, and DiMarco grinded to get just a shot behind after 15 holes. He put his tee shot safely on the green on the par-3 16^th, while Tiger pulled his iron just a bit, into a bowl just behind the green, up against the collar of what passes for “rough” at Augusta. Then came perhaps the greatest shot of the many he has manufactured in his 14 major wins.

He pulled out his sand wedge, picked a spot well left of the pin as his aiming point, then spied a spot beyond it as the apex of what would be a nearly 90-degree check-and-run chip. After rehearsing a crisp downward blow he settled in, set his wrists in his backswing and came firmly into the ball, sending it low into the green. It checked beautifully, settled onto the circuitous path and rolled ever-so-slowly to the cup, where it perched on the edge for a couple seconds, then disappeared. What a lot of people forget is that Tiger bogeyed both 17 and 18, allowing DiMarco to force a playoff with pars, but Woods notched the W anyway.

YOUR SHOT: THE BITING CHIP

Tiger in his prime was easily one of the greatest chippers and pitchers of the golf ball that the game has ever seen. “Up and down” was his middle name. But this particular chip, in the cauldron of Augusta, from that lie, in that situation, was beyond belief. Not that it was technically all that difficult; to make it work, such a chip needs serious backspin for that first biting bounce, and that means catching the ball perfectly with the wedge’s leading edge. And that takes a few simple set-up and swing musts, including weight forward at address and firm hands at impact. PGA teachers Rick Sessinghaus shows why keeping it simple can yield Tiger-like results.

Make Crisp Chipping Contact

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It’s Masters Week, and with Tiger Woods back in contention alongside perhaps the strongest field in a generation, the 2018 edition shapes up as a must-view. Not that most golf fans would miss it anyway. So, to celebrate the year’s first major, we recount a handful of the greatest shots in Masters history — then show how to hit those shots via great professional instruction from the Golf Tips archives.

THE SHOT

Larry Mize, Hole 11 (Playoff), 1987

Mize was the local kid who once worked the scoreboard on the 3^rd hole during his favorite tournament. In 1987 played his way into a Masters tee time, and by Sunday his local knowledge had clearly reaped benefits, setting him up in a playoff with two of the game’s greatest names, Seve Ballesteros and Greg Norman. Seve bogeyed the first playoff hole, No. 10, to leave the stage, so it was down to The Shark and the virtually unknown Mize as they came to the tee of the downhill par 4 that kicks off Amen Corner and has caused many a pro to bail to the right on his second shot to avoid the pond fronting the green on the left.

That’s exactly what Mize did, only he left the blade of his iron a little too open at impact. His ball came to rest hole-high but some 150 feet to the right, well off the green. He faced a brutal downhill pitch with no margin of error — strike it too strong and it could go all the way to the drink, too light and it would hang above the hole with a nasty downhill putt for par.

So what does he do? Manages one of the finest long pitches of all time, landing the ball on a dime-sized target just short of the green, then rolling it down the hill and into the cup. It was yet another blow to Norman’s chances at a green jacket, which, as we all know, would never materialize. He had a putt from just off the surface to force another playoff hole, but it didn’t happen.

YOUR SHOT: THE LONG PITCH

Sure, the short game accounts 70 percent of a golfer’s score, but even then the type of long, delicate pitch that Mize faced in 1987 isn’t something that most amateurs practice. Putting and shorter pitches and chips seem to take precedence, but this shot turns up more often than we think, simply because high-handicappers just aren’t that accurate on the approach. With that in mind, here are two great lessons on mastering the middle-distance to long pitch. The first, from award-winning PGA teacher Tom Patri, deals with how to be creative and use the wedge’s “bounce” properly, while the second, by Arizona pro Jeff Yurkiewicz, is a detailed guide to the mechanics involved in three different pitches.

The PhD Of Golf Wedge Play

Pitch Mechanics: Three Ways To Score

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It’s Masters Week, and with Tiger Woods back in contention alongside perhaps the strongest field in a generation, the 2018 edition shapes up as a must-view. Not that most golf fans would miss it anyway. So, to celebrate the year’s first major, we recount a handful of great Masters golf shots from its eight decades of competition — then shows how to hit those shots via great professional instruction from the Golf Tips archives.

THE SHOTS

Gene Sarazen, Hole 15, 1935

Louis Oosthuizen, Hole 2, 2012

One was struck with a persimmon 4-wood, the other with a modern 4-iron, but both yielded the same number — the rarest one, a double-eagle 2, on their respective par 5s.

Sarazen’s “shot heard ’round the world” was easily the most famous strike in the fledgling invitational event that would morph into the most popular tournament in the game, by far. In many ways Sarazen was the first “modern” player in that he pretty much invented the sand wedge and embraced what were then newfangled steel shafts; here he pulled an old-fashioned 4-wood, took dead aim over the 15^th hole’s daunting pond and smoked a perfect shot that flew the water, took a couple bounces and dove into the cup. There are no photos of this feat, but it only gains in legend as the decades pass. He went on to win in a 36-hole playoff with Craig Wood.

Oosthuizen’s shot was actually 20 yards longer than Sarazen’s, about 253 downhill yards, but in a nod to today’s supercharged equipment, he used a 4-iron to accomplish his albatross, launching a dead-straight shot that caught the front edge of No. 2’s wide, left-to-right canting green. The ball then began a slow and tantalizing trip toward the tucked-right pin, sliding nearly 90 degrees and following a gentle ridge before falling into the hole at perfect speed. The shot helped Oosty get into a playoff with Bubba Watson, which he lost after Bubba’s epic wedge recovery from the trees on No. 10.

YOUR SHOTS: THE LONG APPROACH

Every golfer is faced with the choice at some point: Go for it in two on a par 5, or lay up for an easy wedge shot? If we opt for the former, nothing is more important than clean contact whether the club in question is a 3-metal or a long iron.

These two instructional articles have you covered in both cases. If you’ve got a the “wood” in your hands, go with Southern California-based PGA teacher Brady Riggs’ simple method for hitting that club with confidence. If it’s a long iron, check out brothers Ron and Michael Castillo, both PGA teachers who offer their five top tips for crisp and strong shots.

Fairway Metal Mastery

5 Fundamentals Of Iron Play

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It’s Masters Week, and with Tiger Woods back in contention alongside perhaps the strongest field in a generation, the 2018 edition shapes up as a must-view. Not that most golf fans would miss it anyway. So, to celebrate the year’s first major, we recount a handful of great Masters shots from its eight decades of competition — then shows how to hit those shots via great professional instruction from the Golf Tips archives.

THE SHOT

Jack Nicklaus, Hole 16, 1975

The Golden Bear was hunting for his fifth Masters title after knocking out three of them in the 1960s and his fourth three years earlier, in 1972. But in the way stood several of the era’s greatest players including Johnny Miller, who carded a final round 66 to grab a sniff of the leader, and third-round leader Tom Weiskopf. Nicklaus was still a shot behind Weiskopf when he came to the famed 16^th, a mid-distance par 3 over water. The traditional pin of the time was tucked back-right, on a ledge, and Nicklaus put his tee shot short and safe, leaving a 40-foot uphiller. As Weiskopf watched from the tee, Jack did his thing, grinding through his pre-shot routine, spying the angles, and finally stepped into his familiar open-stance crouch, which allowed him to get a good look at the line with his dominant right eye. He stroked a beauty that died in the hole and shook Augusta to its core — and rattled Weiskopf into a bogey on the hole, which put Nicklaus up by a shot. Two pars were enough to get him that record No. 5, which he’d better 11 years later at age 46.

YOUR SHOT: THE LONG FEEL PUTT

Some would call it a “lag” putt — anything over, say, 20 feet that’s struck with just the right combination of speed and line to have a chance to drop, or at the very least leave an easy tap-in. With his powers of concentration and God-given feel, Nicklaus was a genius at such strokes.

How to find that feel and add some technical expertise for good measure?

We have a couple of great putting lessons that will point you in the right direction — the first by Augusta resident Andy Walters, whose EGOS putting system will have you reading greens like an expert, and the second by Arizona teacher Donald Crawley, who dials in a great technique for tackling long, big-breaking putts.

EGOS: Green-Reading Revolution

See and Feel Those Breaking Putts

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It’s Masters Week, and with Tiger Woods back in contention (some booking sites have him as the favorite, believe it or not) alongside perhaps the strongest field in a generation, the 2018 edition shapes up as a must-view. Not that most golf fans would miss it anyway. So, to celebrate the year’s first major, we recount a handful of great Masters shots from its eight decades of competition — then shows how to hit those shots via great professional instruction from the Golf Tips archives.

THE GREAT MASTERS SHOTS

Phil Mickelson, Hole 13, 2010 (Final Round)

Bubba Watson, Hole 10, 2012 (Playoff)

Both of these world-class lefties left themselves in precarious positions off the tee, pulling their drives into the trees with few options to get to the green. What they did next nearly defied physics and caused Augusta National to rumble with cheers — with both relying on that much-valued shot shape, the draw, to pull off epochal recoveries.

Mickelson was in contention for his third green jacket when he came to the par 5 13^th and attempted to hit a cut around the corner, only to pull it slightly into the pine straw, with a stout loblolly pine between him and the pin more than 200 yards away. Instead of pitching out he pulled a 6-iron and pounded a towering draw over Rae’s Creek to four feet. He missed the eagle putt but his birdie led to a final round 67 and his Masters hat trick.

Watson, who was seeking his first major, was in even worse shape on the first hole of his playoff with Louis Oosthuizen, hooking his drive so far into the bushes and trees about 140 yards from the 10^th green that there seemed no chance for him to get home in two. But after surveying his options, visualizing a wicked boomerang that he hoped would land him somewhere on the green and stepping up to his ball nestled in straw, he gave it a mighty, exaggerated in-to-out lash and caught it cleanly. After hooking through a tunnel of trees and whooping patrons, the ball landed in line with the hole, rolled to within 20 feet and allowed Bubba to take the green jacket with a two-putt par.

YOUR SHOT: THE DRAW

Sure, both of these examples are extreme, but without the ability to “turn the ball over” in a big way, neither Mickelson nor Watson could have manufactured such near-miracles. Good thing we’ve got a full goods on how to hit a draw in this great five-part series from PGA teachers Scott Yurgalevicz and Steve Sieracki.

How To Hit A Draw: Following The Grid To Your Destination

How To Hit A Draw: Turn Your Hips

How To Hit A Draw: Hinging Your Wrist During The Backswing

How To Hit A Draw: The Lateral Slide To Start The Downswing

How To Hit A Draw: Extend Your Arms Through The Follow-Through