The Golf Guru Show

Jim Furyk wins the Transitions Championship this past week at Innisbrook Resort by one shot over K.J. Choi. With all of the weather delays from rain and high winds, it was a definite grinders paradise and right up Jim Furyk’s ally. As you know, Jim has never been a conventional player. From his unorthodox swing (although it is beautiful in my eyes), his double overlap full swing grip to his cross-handed putting grip.  Normally Furyk wins with his accuracy and steadiness but this week it was his scrambling (leading the field at 80%) and his putting. He also won with an upside down putter grip. Yes, that’s right. His dad turned his putter grip upside down, drilled a bigger hole in the top and put it on his putter backwards. It felt good in his hands and he wins with not only a backwards hand grip style but with an upside down grip, very cool I think. So what can we learn from Mr. Furyk’s putting style?

His Grip: Why I like left hand low– The biggest cause of poor putting is too much clubface rotation. Jim does an excellent job of setting the handle up so it matches his forearms and is more in the palms of his hands. This limits the movement of the club face throughout the stroke. Another huge error that amateurs make in the putting stroke is breaking down the lead wrist through impact. The left hand low style tends to limit this as well. Finally, placing the left hand below the right lowers the lead shoulder and allows the stroke to finish lower through which I think is a big deal in hitting the ball solid.

2. Jim’s Connected Setup: I like how Jim keeps the upper arms connected to his shoulders which power the stoke. refer to my previous putting video for further explanation.

The lesson to be learned is that unconventional can work if it repeats and you believe in it. So if you are doing something that looks funny but the results are there, KEEP DOING IT!  Look for Jim Furyk to win a major this year, see if I am right.

See you on the lesson tee,

Guru