The Golf Guru Show

Wow! Was this the most frustrating U.S. Open Championship to watch (unless you were from Northern Ireland). Poor Dustin Johnson succumbing to the Open pressure, let the entire field back into the tournament with his horrific start. I saw the funniest tweet from one of my golf pro friends (as he was hitting the ball left-handed and shanking another pitch shot in the matter of 30 seconds that read): Somebody tackle that guy! That is when the caddie has to step in and get him to regroup and take some time in between shots that was spiralling out of control. If ever Tiger was going to get a lay up to win his 15th major or Ernie his 3rd Open, this was the time. Continuous mental errors, missed putts and just plain sloppy play allowed Graham McDowell to gut it out and hang in there for his 1st major championship. What a blood bath! If Tiger shoots 72 he is in a playoff. The 3 self-proclaimed mental errors on (#6: wrong club off the tee and a hole that most players were making birdies on with McKeel making an albatross, Tiger makes bogey) and missing the green from 120 yards on #10 on the short side). These are things that the old Tiger never did. So Irishman Graham McDowell plays solid in the early going, as he has to witness the demise of Johnson and holes some key putts to hang on for the one shot lead. As always, I like to see what we can learn from the winners golf swing. This time we have a swing that is not what many call ideal and includes some unusual moves that we can take a look at. As you know I enjoy these types of swings because it shows us golfers that there are many different ways to play great golf. Here is my analysis of our U.S. Open winners, major championship swing

1. His setup is solid

2. As he takes the club away, he doesn’t let the shaft get below his right forearm and sets the club on a little steeper angle which is common for good players

3. Unusual Move: at the top of the backswing, his left wrist bows and he lays the club off (points the shaft to the left of he target). This allows him to get a head start into a solid impact position. As long as he doesn’t let the right hand take over, he can rotate his body as fast as he wants to square up the face.

4 Notice his great lower body movement in the downswing that allows him to keep the face square through impact. This move coupled with the bowed left wrist reminds me of a young Lee Trevino (maybe the best ball striker ever).

Graham mentioned that he worked hard on his short game and it paid off with a win for the ages. Tony Jacklin was very proud as he sent McDowell a text message in congratulations. What a class act to follow

See you on the lesson tee,

Guru