Putting: The Art of Rolling the Rock
This chapter is one of the most important in the book. Statistically, putting is 68 percent of the game of golf, so you may want to take notes. You'd be smart to keep a "reminder book" full of putting tips from this chapter, because you can't score well if you can't putt — it's that simple. If you want proof, look at the top professionals on tour who average about 29 putts per round. In other words, these professionals are one-putting at least 7 of the 18 greens in a round of golf. The average score on tour isn't 7 under par, so even these folks are missing their fair share of greens. And where are they retrieving their mistakes? That's right: with their short games and putting.
Golfers often say they're rolling the rock on the green, rather than rolling the ball. Don't ask me why. I suspect it has to do with the difficulty of rolling a hard, irregular object that can hurt you. Or maybe rock and roll just go together.
No other part of golf induces as much heartache and conversation as putting. Many fine strikers of the ball have literally been driven from the sport because they couldn't finish holes as well as they started them. Why? Because putting messes with your internal organs. Every putt has only two possibilities: You either miss it or hole it. Accept that and you won't have nightmares about the ones that "should" have gone in.
You Gotta Be You
Putting is the most individual part of this individual game. You can putt — and putt successfully — in myriad ways. You can break all the rules with a putter in your hands as long as the ball goes in the hole. Believe me, you can get the job done by using any number of methods. You can make long, flowing strokes like Phil Mickelson and Ben Crenshaw. Or shorter, firmer, "pop" strokes like Corey Pavin and Gary Player. Or you can create the necessary momentum in the clubhead with your wrists — the great Billy Casper proved how well that can work. Or if none of these styles appeals to you, you can switch to a "belly putter" — Vijay Singh tried that — or go to a long, "witch's broom-handle" putter. Golfers from PGA Tour star Tom Lehman to former president George H. Bush have had success with long putters.
Putting is more about those ghostly intangibles — feel, touch, and nerve — than about mechanics. My feeling is that getting too involved with putting mechanics is a mistake. You can have the most technically perfect stroke in the world and still be like an orangutan kicking a football on the greens — if you don't have the touch, that is.
Even more than the rhythm and tempo of your full swing, your putting stroke should reflect your own personality. Your hands probably shouldn't be "behind" the ball at impact, but other than that, your style is up to you.
Be aware that if any aspect of this often-infuriating game were ever designed to drive you to distraction, it's putting. Putting may look simple — and sometimes it is — but on some days you just know that little ball at your feet will never make its way into that hole. You know it, your playing partners know it, your financial consultant knows it, everyone knows it. Putting is mystical; it comes and goes like the tide.
Because most women can't physically drive the ball hundreds of yards, they should focus on refining their short-game skills, such as chipping, pitching, and putting. Remember: A solid putt counts the same on the score card as a 200-yard drive.
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