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A stunning double as Ireland’s finest claim golf’s biggest prizes

Peter AllissRobert Green

Jeremy ChapmanJohn Hopkins

Tom CoxClive AgranDan Davies

Dominic PedlerDr Felix ShankThe Major!

TOP WRITINGyour

Jonathan Yarwood reveals tour-proventechniques for crisper, straighter & longer irons

Dan Frost How to max your speedMelissa Reid My keys to greater power

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A very warm welcome to what must surely rank as the most auspicious issue of

this magazine to have been published in its 14-year history as we celebrate not one

but two home-grown major champions in as many months. Outstanding achieve-

ments both – and all the more remarkable for the wider context and manner in

which they were individually won.

I first encountered Rory McIlroy when, at 14, he won his way onto a coaching week

in Orlando as one of the elite stars of the Faldo Junior Series. Small for his age, and

yet already marked for great things, he kept himself amused challenging anyone car-

rying loose change to chipping and putting contests – fleecing even Sir Nick himself

on more than one occasion. Barely two years later McIlroy was the silver medallist in

the 2007 Open at Carnoustie (what was all that nonsense at Sandwich about not hav-

ing the nouse to play links golf?) and his rise to the top of the professional game has

been effortless. Anyone who witnessed that closing round of 62 to secure a maiden

PGA Tour victory at Quail Hollow last year caught a glimpse of the future as the boy

from Holywood showed just what he was capable of. Twelve months down the road

and the 22 year-old humbled the mighty US Open layout at Congressional with what

amounted to an exhibition, laying waste to all who dared to challenge him before

cruising – yes, cruising – to an eight-shot victory.

It was a sublime four days' golf that laid bare just what a player of McIlroy's calibre

can do with a golf ball when his mind is parked quietly in neutral – and all the more

remarkable for that in light of what had appeared to be a crushing meltdown suf-

fered only a handful of weeks previously at Augusta.

By a similar token, Darren Clarke's awakening at Royal St George’s was so profound

that the world at large could appreciate, at last, the skills of a true master of the links

genre plying his trade without hint or fear of self distraction. This was Clarke’s 20th

appearance in golf’s greatest championship – and quite possibly the first in which he

was on his own side throughout as he strode to the challenge over four quite punish-

ing days on the Kent coast. “I’ve seen Tiger at his best and I’ve seen Darren at his,”

says long-time friend and mentor Ewen Murray, interviewed for the 19th Hole Q&A

inside this issue. “And I can honestly say there’s nothing much to choose between

them. As his best Darren is a genius – and what we saw at Sandwich was that genius

enjoying the freedom of expression.”

I’ll drink to that - enjoy the issue.

editor: richard simmons [email protected]

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GOLFINTERNATIONALMAGAZINE

ESSENTIAL READING FROM THE BEST IN THE GAME

ISSUE 104 • AUG/SEPT 2011

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FIRST UP

RICHARDSIMMONS

Pure genius from Ireland’s finest

6 fIrsT uPcelebrating not one but two new home-grown major champions in as many months, editorRichard Simmons tees up the latest issue...

40 And AnoTHer THInG...rory’s performance at congressional raised toohigh the expectations of him at sandwich, butthe manner of his victory in the us open wasexceptional, writes Robert Green

42 on THe AIrThis year celebrating 50 years service behindthe microphone, Peter Alliss reflects on aterrific week at royal st George’s

44 19TH HoLeWhy, ponders Clive Agran, does the r&A insiston the open championship always beingstaged on a windswept links

46 oPen BeTTInGYet again royal st George’s turned out to be asprofitable for the bookies as it did for the long-shot winner. Jeremy Chapman reports

168 ToM coXThere was much to celebrate at sandwich – notleast Peter Alliss’ 50th anniversary behind themicrophone. Tom Cox lapped it up

178 THe LAsT sHoTGolf is not short on glorious spectacle but forJohn Hopkins the Walker cup us the best ofthe very best events in the sport

Essential readingfrom the best in the game

12 LeTTersdo you have an opinion you’d like to share? Whynot email us? You could win the latest footJoyshoes and wind-shirts

17 PLAneT GoLf19th Hole Q&A with ewen Murray...The finestThings in Golf - dan davies’ Top 10...latestequipment news with Gi’s dominic Pedler... chi-Power Golf...more advice from dr felix shank...dave stockton’s top putting tips...The Major!...The rules office – how’s your generalknowledge?...divots...!

84 THe AMATeur sceneAn example for the way all golf clubs should belooking to introduce and nurture youngsters hasbeen set down at royal north devon, as DanDavies reports. Plus we bring you a round-up ofthe very latest amateur tournament news, whileColin Callander reflects on Tom Lewis’performance at sandwich

170 WorLd TournAMenT neWsAndy Farrell has all the latest news from theworld of professional tournament golf, includingrory McIlroy’s epic us open triumph and Lukedonald’s scottish open masterclass at castlestuart. Plus our regular round-up of results, statsand money-lists

Regulars Columns54 cAreer VIcTorY

for one of the great exponents of links golf, darren clarke, this year’s open championship was when it all came together. Andy Farrell watched him all the way

64 cALM In THe eYe of A sTorMIn at times tempestuous conditions at royal stGeorge’s, darren clarke came through to turnhis fine career into an excellent one reportsRobert Green

68 eLeMenTArY, deAr WATsonTom Watson had yet another open to remember – and not only for the hole-in-one he made on Thursday. John Hopkins salutes a genuine legend of the game

117 THe IJP InVITATIonALGolf International is proud to be a media partnerto one of the greatest days of the year in thejunior calendar – Ian Poulter’s uniquetournament at Woburn

126 dIsTAnce MeAsurInG deVIcesToday’s golfing dMds embrace a wealth oftechnology from laser-based rangefinders toGPs devices sporting a variety of graphics,interactive features and game analysis gizmos.We invited roehampton assistant professional,Richard Weeks, to take some of the latestmodels for a test drive while equipment editorDominic Pedler guides you through a glossaryof the essential technical terms

144 PoeTrY In MoTIonfollowing its success on tour, the TaylorMadePerformance Lab is now available as arguablythe ultimate custom-fitting experience for golfersof all standards. Dominic Pedler visited thebrand new facility at one of his all-time favouritevenues – Turnberry

FeaturesISSUE #104 // AUGUST 2011

THIS IS A SAMPLE OF OUR LATEST ISSUE

AUGUST 2011 / #104FEATURING:THE OPEN, POWER INSTRUCTION, US OPEN, DISTANCE MEASURING DEVICES, SWING SPEED, PRACTISE DRILLS, NEW ZEALAND,LA MANGA AND MUCH, MUCH MORE...








AUGUST 2011 GOLFINTERNATIONALMAG.COM 103

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54 kIWI fruITfor sports fans the world over the forthcoming rugby World cup promises a mouth-watering spectacle; for golfers especially, the prospect of a trip to new Zealand is laced with opportunity, as Martin Davidson reports

64 eVerYTHInG under THe sunLooking for 5-star luxury and service with greatgolf on the doorstep? Look no further than thequintessential resort of La Manga says radio2’s Tim Smith

126 Your GoLf TrAVeLIn association with our travel partners at YourGolf Travel our showcase destinations thisissue include the Mazagan Beach resort,Morrocco, Valderamma & sotogrande and GaryPlayer’s new Thracian cliffs design in Bulgaria

Travel

103 BIrdIe-fesT AT VILAMourAMark Oakley is never shortof a high birdie count in around of golf – andspectacularly so across theverdant wetlands ofVilamoura in the Algarve

108 MeMorABILIAWhat’s on the wish-list? Gi’sKevin McGimpsey revealsthe top items of golfingephemera he’d love to own

114 ProPerTYA Thai Pad in Phuket: Peter Swain looks at thegolf and the propert dealstempting many to Thailand

120 MoTorInGAnthony ffrench-Constantgives his verdict on thePeugeot 508

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Rory, the timing couldn’thave been any betterWe have celebrated the life of Seve

Ballesteros with all our hearts – quite

devastating that he was taken away

from us. In a career littered with

incredible feats of shot-making bril-

liance, he amazed us with his daring,

his vision and invention. He was sim-

ply a delight to watch and the most

charismatic golfer of his generation.

And now – as if decreed from

above – along comes another young,

gifted European, Rory McIlroy. We all

watched in anguish as he let slip a

handsome lead at Augusta, but the

young Irishman took a lot of positives

from that experience – and how he

used them at Congressional in what

was one of the greatest maiden major

victories in history. Watching him hit

that incredible tee-shot to the par-

three 10th hole on Sunday – how did

it not go in? – it was if he was saying

to the golfing world: ‘Look, I’m back,

and this time I’m in total control.’

If Seve could of wished the

Europeans the next chapter in golf

surely this would of been it? As one

master leaves the stage another has

arrived. I am sure I am not alone in

being fascinated to see how our new

superstar squares up to Tiger in the

months and years ahead.

Ian Carroll, via email

Srixon Z-Star isthe ace in the hole!After almost 20 years of playing golf,

on Saturday 11th June I achieved my

first ever hole in one! I was playing in

a club match for Peterborough Milton

against Ramsey, Cambs. The hole in

one came at the 13th, 170 yards from

the back tees. A gently fading 7-iron

landed on the front edge of the green,

releasing perfectly and rolling dead-

weight into the hole. The ball? A

Srixon Z-Star provided by your good-

selves when I subscribed to your mag-

azine earlier this year.

So thank you to Golf International!

Thanks also for such a well construct-

ed and thought out magazine. Some

of your competitors are all pictures

and puff, but your magazine has alto-

gether more depth. Interesting articles

from different perspectives, sharing

the game we all love.

I especially enjoyed your recent

Top-10 features and would love that

to become a regular feature with inter-

esting guests sharing their special

memories.

Adrian James Mackenzie,

Cambridgeshire

Wasted ace!Picture the scene: a Saturday morning

competition and our three-ball is play-

ing the 16th, a short hole of just over

180 yards into a stiff breeze to a green

guarded by half a dozen bunkers. Two

of us played and wound up short in

the slightly less thick stuff. Number

three in our group hit a high balloon-

ing fade that might as well have

waved goodbye as it disappeared

towards the heather and scrub.

Having reloaded, and with a change

of club, the provisional ball was

despatched – a shot of pefection; a

gentle draw that bounced twice on the

green before caressing the pin and

disappearing from view. An ace! Or,

more accurately, a pretty good three!

As we strolled towards the green

the obvious temptation was to forget

about the first ball – however this was

GOLFINTERNATIONALMAG.COM AUGUST 20116

Write to The Editor, Golf International Magazine, 10 Buckingham Place, London, SW1E 6HX. Alternatively, you can email us at: [email protected] or visit our website – www.golfinternationalmag.com – and click on LETTERS to submit your letter online

[email protected]

Star Letter*Having just watched the Open I

had to write in and congratulate

Darren Clarke on his win, it is tes-

tament to the man and his family

after all they have been through.

The way he won also reminded

me of probably the best piece of

advice I ever received, golf is not

about your best shot but worst

shot. Dustin Johnson was perhaps

the closest anyone came to Darren

in that final round but his shot on

14 ended his challenge, it

appeared to me that Darren played

within himself and always seemed

he had another gear in reserve if

he needed it – in the final round in

particular his course management

was excellent, he played the per-

centage golf.

We are all capable of pulling off

those miracle shots from time to

time, only Seve seemed able to pull

them off at will, however for the

majority of professional golfers it

is the quality of their worst shots

that sets them apart from the aver-

age club golfer. I urge all club

golfers the next round they play to

consider their options for each

shot and select the shot that they

know they could successfully play

8 times out of 10, not as most do

select the one that might come off

1 out of 20 times.

This advice was one of the fac-

tors that enabled me to get to sin-

gle figures and when I walk off the

course my thoughts are not about

the one or two exceptional shots

I’ve played they are more about

how steady I’ve played. Good

course management can knock

more shots off your handicap than

all the latest equipment and tech-

nology put together, and more

importantly it’s free.

Paul Butler, Chester-le-Street

A lesson for all – percentage golf is the art of course management

WRITE TO US ON: facebook.com/GolfInternationalMagazine twitter.com/#!/GiMagOnline

tempered not only by our integrity but

also by No.3’s disappointment at

potentially losing a relatively new ball.

So we decided to have a look for

it...and yes, well within the five min-

utes, we found it.

Three swipes and two putts later a

six was pencilled in on the card – and

the hole-in-one that never was became

a talking point throughout lunch and

probably will for a few more to come.

Ian Wishart

Open to but a few...With golf membership and participa-

tion in decline we need the clubs in

the spotlight to be providing the kind

of example that might reverse this

trend. They have to be convincing peo-

ple that golf is a game that can be

enjoyed by all.

The Open was the biggest golfing

event of this year, and with more TV

coverage and newspaper column inch-

es than any other it had the ability to

reach those not ordinarily enticed by

golf. So where was The Open being

held? At a course that doesn’t allow

female members! There’s 50% of the

population immediately alienated.

My mother, sister, wife and daughter

are four of the finest people I have ever

met. Any club that wouldn’t allow them

as a member has no interest for me.

On the BBC Peter Dawson, the chief

exec of the R&A, attempted to make a

defence for individual clubs being

allowed their own choices. But sorry

Peter, you merely came across as

some kind of sleazy politician side-

stepping an issue you don’t have the

guts or power to address. And to say

these words in response to Hazel

Irvine’s question with Suzanne

Peterson sitting beside you in her new

role to encourage inclusion within the

game was doubly disingenuous!

So what about other high profile

clubs? Well, Walton Heath held

the Senior Open and Carnoustie

the Women’s. Both having sum-

mer green fees well in excess of

£100. In a time of recession,

continuing redundancies and

cuts to health, education and

the welfare state, is paying

out that sort of sum for 18

holes justifiable? It certainly

won’t tempt any youngster

who is struggling to make

ends meet into thinking

they might one day expe-

rience walking in the foot-

steps of the pros.

To summarise, in the face of dwin-

dling interest from the public, golf’s

profile remains sexist and elitist.

Would I want my young daughter to

follow me into golf? Knowing the

camaraderie, the etiquette and the fun

in playing, yes. Knowing golf is stuck

(at best) in the 1980s, emphatically no.

N Horwood, via email

The benefits of ‘slo-mo’It was very interesting to me to read

the essay by Dr Karl Morris (writing in

Issue 102) on the benefits of the Tai

Chi swing, where the student makes

ultra slow motion swings in order to

feel the perfect positions in the swing

and to co-ordinate it more effectively. I

also noticed that in issue 103 Jayne

Storey advocates the benefits of the

Tai Chi swing.

I can attest to the fact that this

methodology really does work – it is

something that I have been doing for

over 15 years and it helps immensely

with the feel of swing path and the

general flow of the swing.

I first read about this drill when

given Harvey Penick’s utterly brilliant

Little Red Book by a Texan friend of

mine in 1993. The chapter entitled

“The Slow-motion Drill” describes tak-

ing ultra slow motion swings, the only

difference being that it builds in a

focus on the all important transition

by repeating the movement from the

top to one third of the way down four-

times before completing the slow-

motion swing.

Mr Penick refers to lady golf Mickey

Wright as someone who used this drill

all the time, she was at the top of her

game wining everything in the late

1950's & early 60’s. This drill clearly

stands the test of time.

Thank you to all at Gi, it really is a

classy magazine.

Charlie Heyman, via email

JUNE 2011 GOLFINTERNATIONALMAG.COM 131

INSTRUCTION

GOLFINTERNATIONALMAG.COM JUNE 2011

130

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THE MIND FACTOR ESSAY

DR KARL MORRIS

W

By Dr Karl MorrisEUROPEAN TOUR MIND COACH • WWW.GOLF-BRAIN.COM

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European TourMind Coach KarlMorris has just re-leased his latestproduct The Cham-pion Code, an 8-CD programmedetailing his workwith major winners.To find out more goto www.golf-brain.com

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Learnıng

A Lessonın

PHOTO

GRAP

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(MAGAZINE ONLY)





RORY’S GLORIOUS

REDEMPTION

GOLF

After all that happened over that closing round at Augusta just a

matter of weeks previously, any doubt that rory McIlroy would

suffer any lasting damage to his competitive psyche was elimi-

nated in the most dramatic fashion imaginable as the 21-year-old

blew away the field at congressional to claim his first major title

in the shape of the us open. It was a performance that under-

lined the precocious talent many have predicted will take the

young Irishman to the top of the world game (although that fever

was dampened somewhat after a lacklustre performance at

sandwich). speaking of which...just when we thought it couldn’t

get any better darren clarke strings together four of the great

rounds in open history, in conditions he surely relished, to vindi-

cate a fine career with the most fitting and popular of victories.

At 42, and after all he has been through, this was surely a perfor-

mance decreed from the higher spirits above.

EWEN MURRAY // LATEST GEAR // RULES OFFICE // DR FELIX SHANK // DAVE STOCKTON // THE MAJOR...

Gi: Revealing your Top 10 of the

Finest Things in Golf in issue 102,

you said that in another life you and

Darren Clarke would have been

brothers. How did that relationship

come about?

EM: I first met Darren not long after

he turned pro. Bruce [Critchley] and I

were sitting in the clubhouse at

Hanbury Manor one evening during

the English Open. Darren sent over a

bottle of wine – a pretty decent one.

He came and sat with us and as

golfers do we got chatting. It would

have been around 1992 and after that

we began to meet up during tourna-

ments, particularly over in America, at

a time when there really were not a

lot of Europeans playing the US Tour.

As the friendship grew over the years

I became a sounding board, a confi-

dant, happy to listen and give my

opinion as and when he needed it.

Gi: Have you ever known a better or

more natural striker of the ball than

Darren?

EM: Short answer, no. I’ve played a lot

of golf with Darren over the years and

of course I've watched him closely on

tour. At his best, he has the ability to

find the perfect position just here

[stands to emulate the ‘slot’ at the

start of the downswing]. He is a phe-

nomenal striker of the ball, compress-

ing it on the clubface exactly as it

should be, the textbook ball-turf

strike, a joy to watch.

The thing with Darren is he can

play this game standing on his head

but his basics he tends to forget and

occasionally he gets into trouble –

well, that and the fact he is plus-4 at

beating himself up out on the course.

We saw that earlier this year with his

81-75 fiasco in Morocco. The week

after that we spent about seven hours

out at Queenwood, both on the

course and talking in the clubhouse. I

even got the video out (which I never

normally use) because he just needed

to see how bad it all was. We worked

on a few things. Darren is at his best

when his swing is more around him

on both sides, rather than steep up

and down. Sure enough he starts hit-

ting the ball a lot better. A few days

later and he’s off to Abaco in the

Bahamas – he has a house out there

with Lee Westwood. And no sooner

has he arrived than the pictures start

coming through with little messages

on them: ‘Flushed 4-iron’, ‘pure 9-iron’,

‘nailed driver’ – he was enjoying him-

self and clearly getting better and bet-

ter. The last time I remember him hit-

ting the ball like that was at Hoylake

in 2006 when he opened up with a 69.

The next day the doctors called him

to say his wife, Heather, was in the

final stages of his illness and he need-

ed to get home.

Gi: How tough was it to be one of

Darren’s closest friends through that

time and the years following?

EM: All those who follow the game will

be well aware of the dark times Darren

has been through. I think for me the

toughest time was after Woosie gave

him a wildcard to the Ryder Cup in

’06. He rang me up and asked: ‘Do you

think you can get me to play?’ We had

five weeks to go. I told him that get-

ting him ready wasn’t the issue; the

question was could he cope with all of

the functions on his own when every-

Tour player, coach and broadcaster Ewen Murray took timeout during the British Seniors Open at Walton Heath to talkto editor Richard Simmons about his good friend DarrenClarke’s heart-warming victory at Sandwich

planet golf 19th hOLE Q&A WIth EWEN MURRAYplanet golf

19TH HOLE Q&A

EWEN MURRAY


one else in the team would have their

partner or their wife alongside them.

It was his manager, Chubby, who

asked me if I’d spend a couple of

weeks with Darren. And those were

the hardest two weeks I think I’ll ever

have. Because his emotions had gone

haywire. He would practice for eight

hours a day and then return to what

felt like an empty house. And that’s

when we really became very close. I

still have no idea how he managed to

maintain composure when he was

announced on the 1st tee at the K

Club. Then he rips a driver 305,

wedges it close and holes it for a

three. What a week, three wins out of

three. He should have stopped playing

after that and taken the rest of the

year off to come to terms with his

loss. I think Darren thought he would

be alright in a few months.

Realistically, I think it’s taken him 5

years.

Gi: How close did he come to quit-

ting the game altogether?

EM: Darren has had times when he

has been that down not only with golf

but with life. But he knows his

responsibility is to the kids and that

kept him going through the darkness.

We all need someone to talk to when

we face up to the challenges life puts

before us and that’s why I referred to

being like a brother to him. I am not

his teacher or his coach, that’s Pete

Cowen’s department (and they don’t

come much better). But when Darren

came back from Morocco earlier this

year I think he was two weeks away

from packing it all in.

Gi: Was there a moment this year

when you felt his game had clicked,

that he was ready for the Open?

EM: Funnily enough, even after he

started hitting it well again on his hol-

iday to Abaco he was never very far

away from a head off. The win in

Mallorca was a terrific boost for his

confidence but you know Darren’s

hardest opponent is himself. I’ve

never known anyone beat themselves

up the way he does. We had an

episode at the French Open. He rings

me up from the range and says ‘I’ve

had enough.’ So I walk down there to

see him. He’s not happy with the way

he’s hitting it. Bare in mind this is a

guy who can hit thirty 7-irons to with-

in a few feet of a flag, then hit one

wayward ball and say: ‘Where did that

come from?’. Anyway, there’s this

shot he likes to hit – Tiger calls it a

‘stinger’. Darren can hit this in his

sleep, so I suggested he should go out

and play like that for the next couple

of weeks – the Scottish Open and St

George’s. It’s a punchy type of shot

with a three-quarter swing and a

sawn-off finish. Anyway he laughed.

And so did Stuart Cage, one of the

managers from Chubby’s crew at ISM.

OK, I said watch this. I gave Darren 20

balls, we picked out a different target

for each club and didn’t miss a single

shot. Out comes the driver and he’s

firing them quail-high down the

range. The beauty of it was, at

Sandwich it was blowing 30mph +

every day. He had no choice but to

play to like that.

Gi: Were you nervous watching the

final round?

EM: Yes, right up to

the second shot he

hit to the 2nd hole.

As soon as he hit that

approach shot, hold-

ing it up with a gentle

cut, I knew he had it

all under control. He

would never have

attempted that shot

to a back right pin if

he didn’t feel

absolutely in charge

of his swing. After that it was one of

the most serene final rounds I think

I’ve ever seen in the Open – there

were no crisis points.

Gi: For a moment there it looked like

Phil Mickelson was going to spoil the

celebrations

EM: When Mickelson’s in the mix you

always know that something is liable

to happen. His front nine was majes-

tic, 30 in that wind. Then he misses a

little putt – and you know what I like

most about Mickelson? He doesn’t

blame it on anything or anyone but

himself. Taps his head – ‘It was a

dumb putt'. I always feel there are

four turning points in a championship

and we certainly had them here: the

12-footer Darren holed to save par at

the 1st, his second shot to the second,

the eagle at the 7th, just as Mickelson

is going out in 30, and skipping the

bunker at 9. Which, incidentally, was a

suicidal second shot. Because if that

goes into the riveted face of the

bunker you’re looking at a six at best.

And if Mickelson doesn’t miss that lit-

tle putt on 11...things are very differ-

ent. At six minutes past four he

hopped the bunker, seven minutes

past and Mickelson misses.

Championship points.

Gi: Presumably the champagne was

on ice?

EM: Yes, as it happened. I’d saved a











planet golf LAtESt GEAR & tEChNOLOGY


planet golf

Strike it like a tour player

One swing feature that separates the pros fromthe average amateur is the downward angle ofattack with iron shots that helps to transfer energyefficiently, compressing the ball and making it flyfurther and straighter.The Tour Striker training club encourages this

with an unusual clubface design with minimal areabelow the “sweet spot” that forces you to rethinkthe face angle impact position in the golf swing. This ingraining of the correct ‘attitude’ will help

reduce the tendency to try to get under the ball aswell as the ‘casting’ or ‘over the top’ actions ofinferior downswings.There are three variations offering different lev-

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flexes and graphite and steel options.The Original Tour Striker is available as a 56

degree wedge and an 8-iron targeted to mid-to-high handicap golfers with driver swing speeds ofunder 90mph. The Tour Striker Pro comes as botha 7- and 5-iron for higher swing speeds and hand-icaps of 10 or less. The Tour Striker Pro X has aneven more challenging sweet area for the highlyskilled player.There are also Ladies and junior options with a

shorter graphite shaft, also available in right or lefthand. Guide: £79.99 (steel)/£99.99 (graphite).

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planet golfplanet golf

A wood that’s made of wood? Strange. Dominic Pedler admires the craftwork of the latest drivers from Persimmon Golf among a mix of exciting new products for golfers young & old

A mixed bag of new gear & gadgets...

Persimmon’s reminder of true wood style

Despite the quantum shift to metals and composites inmodern drivers, traditional persimmon still commands acult following from those who appreciate the traditionalcraftsmanship of true wooden ‘woods’.Specialists Persimmon Golf have launched a new

Model 26 driver and matching fairway woods designedto replicate the timeless wooden clubs favoured by leg-ends such as Hogan, Snead, Palmer and Nicklaus. The Model 26 will appeal to players looking for the

unique feel of a traditional clubhead yet with the tech-nological advantages of the modern shaft. The solidpersimmon head features a sealed mahogany brownfinish along with a red/white cycolac insert set into thenatural persimmon face, and rounded off with a ‘hand-whipped’ hosel and hand-made leather headcover.Prices start at £195 per club with steel shafts (£535

for a set of three comprising 11-degree driver, 16-degree 3 wood and 21-degree 5-wood. The corre-sponding prices for graphite shafts are£219/£595.

New kids on the PGA’s block

The new PGA Kids range of juniorequipment developed by Sigma Golffor the PGA Collection has been offi-cially adopted by the Golf Foundationas part of its Golf Roots programmewhich reports rising demand amongjunior golfers.“We found that many junior clubs

were just basically senior clubs cutdown to length with very little thoughtgiven to grip thickness or the flex of theindividual shaft,” says Richard Jewell,managing director of Sigma Golf and anAdvanced Fellow of the PGA. “The PGAKids Range includes three lengthoptions all featuring varying head weightas well as shaft flex and grip sizedepending on the length. We are confi-dent that these clubs will help younggolfers develop their full potential.”All models come with lightweight

graphite shafts and the option to buyclubs individually so sets can be builtup as their game develops.

Drivers, fairway woods and hybrids

retail at £17.95 each, irons and put-

ters at £13.95, with a bag for £29.95.

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PLANEt GOLF


PLANEt GOLF

Get Smart with Big Max

For all the inroads made by powered trolleys in recent years, highquality push trolleys continue to emerge in stylish and compactdesigns.After the success of their IQ last year, Big

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www.bigmaxgolf.co.uk

App-lied putting know-how from Ping

Ping obviously have a head start in all things putting-

related but, even so, there is an undeniable touch of

genius in the groundbreaking iPing ‘app’, an inspired

practice putting concept that measures the key parame-

ters of your stroke via the new generation of iPhone (or

iPod Touch) which you attach to your putter shaft with a

lightweight clip-on cradle.

This great gadget has already captivated many tour

pros for both the technical feedback it provides on the

shape of your swing arc, the face angle of your putter at

impact and the efficiency of your tempo, and also for the

addictive challenge of the ‘putting handicap’ programme

that makes the concept highly accessible to all stan-

dards of golfers.

iPing is downloadable from iTunes for free, with

Apple themselves nominating it as not just the

best golf app currently available but

the best in the entire app market

(apart from, of course, those

developed by Apple’s own in-

house development team!).

We’ll bring you our own

hands-on verdict next time.

www.pingeurope.com

Once fitted to the

shaft of the putter,

your iPhone dials

up all the num-

bers you need

to hone a tour-

standard

stroke

Forgan forges online deals

Forgan of St Andrews has launched its most forgiv-ing and high-quality irons sets in the form of theF150 and IWD2 models – both of which are offeredat substantial discounts through the company’sonline retailing venture.Both designs are made from military grade 431

stainless steel and feature wide soles, impres-sive cavity backs, and a high MOI con-struction geared to golfers seeking max-imum forgiveness.The IWD2s come in a modern, anti-

glare dark grey finish with in-filledwhite lettering on the sole and geo-metric graphics; while the F150s area more understated, classic-lookingstainless design. Both are available with a wide range

of custom-fit options, includingForgan’s SL Superlight 58ggraphite and Dynamic Gold steelshafts, along with 10 differentlength settings, five lie anglechoices and three grip options.Just follow the simple steps

on the website to create yourown perfect custom-fit profile.

While both models retail at

£299.99 a set, the special

online prices start at just

£129.99 (with standard Apollo

steel shafts) representing excep-

tional value. www.forgan.co.uk.


planet golf 2-MINUtE LESSONplanet golf

In his prime in the early

1970s, Dave Stockton

once went some 950 holes

without a three-putt. Still

blessed with his revered

putting game that brought

him 25 titles – including five

majors – Stockton is now a

consultant for TaylorMade

as well as a putting coach

to tour stars who have col-

lectively notched 30 wins

over the last year, including

Rory McIlroy’s victory at the

US Open. On his recent

visit to the UK, he shared

his top tips with Gi’s

Dominic Pedler

CONSIDER GROOvE TECHNOlOGY

Putting is an art but there is some equip-

ment out there that will help everybody. In

particular, I have seen at first hand how

much the grooves on the face insert of the

TaylorMade/rossa putters can improve

golfers of all levels. The impact and roll

characteristics are very different to other

putters, as can be measured in the lab. The

benefits are astounding in terms of reducing

the skidding and jumping of the golf ball and

inducing pure roll as early as possible after

impact which helps the ball to keep its line.

DEvElOP A FORWARD PRESS

I’m a firm believer that, unlike most golf

shots, the grip of the putter should remain

perpendicular as long as possible through

impact for both putts and short chip shots.

This keeps the putter-head low to the

ground which allows the golf ball to hug the

surface of the green and develop true roll

more quickly. The forward press encour-

ages that movement – with Phil Mickelson

being one of the finest exponents. of

course, this naturally de-lofts the clubface so

you must check that you’re starting with

enough static loft on your putter at address.

for most players I suggest 4 degrees.

THE lEFT HAND/RIGHT HAND ROlES.

for a right-handed golfer, the right hand pro-

vides the power and the feel in the putting

stroke, the left hand merely ‘goes along for

the ride’. But the left hand must do that in

order to keep the putter-head low through

impact and not pull ‘up and out’ of the shot.

MY ALL-TIME TOP 10 PUTTING TIPS

Roll it home

1

2

3


PLANEt GOLF

Like with a basketball shot, the right hand

does most of the work and left would seem

to do nothing – but there too it ‘goes along

for the ride’. This is another key secret to

getting the true roll you need.

READING THE PUTT.

I like to split the putt into three equal parts

but give much more emphasis to the final

third when the ball will be travelling much

slower and be most prone to movement

from even the smallest of slope. Look for

any break near the hole in order to favour

one side of the cup, which will improve your

margin of error over a seemingly straight

putt.

THE ‘ONE-INCH’ MARKER.

Like Jack nicklaus did with his tee shots, I

like to a pick a spot on my putting target line

very close to my ball at address. Though in

my case it’s only about one or two inches

inch away from the ball. That target is then

in my field of view at address – whereas a

target at the other end of the putt is not!

Then all I do is to feel my left hand going

directly over that spot as I swing through

impact, which also crucially helps me keep

my head still.

bEWARE OF PRACTICE SWINGS.

for many players I advocate not taking any

practice swings as this causes you to think

too much. But if you do, at least do it directly

behind the golf ball on the target line –

rather than parallel to that line, as most play-

ers do. That way you are viewing the path

your ball will actually take, just as you would

with a practice shot with a pool cue. keep

looking at the hole, getting the feel of the

path of the putt rather than looking down at

the imaginary ball position or the movement

of the putter head on the ground.

IGNORE THE lINE ON THE GOlF bAll.

Many balls have alignment marks on them but

if someone lines it up like that when I’m teach-

ing them I’ll roll the ball over so they can’t see it!

It’s just an extra thought to have in your head

and it often looks wrong when you actually

stand over the ball at address. In any case, my

focus isn’t on the ball itself – I’m thinking about

that spot an inch or two out on the ground.

NURTURE A NATURAl MOvEMENT.

People often putt worse as adults as they do

as kids by getting too wrapped up in tech-

nique. I don’t think putting is nearly as difficult

an endeavor as people make it out to be. I

don’t like words like ‘try’ and ‘hit’. You need to

stroke the putt with ‘feel and roll’ rather ‘trying

to hit it’. There’s a big difference. Get a

rhythm to your routine. I keep my putter

head moving even before starting my back-

swing by placing it ahead of the ball before

returning it to the address position. It is my

way of keeping a sense of flow which I have

internalized subconsciously so that I have no

formal swing thoughts to distract me.

FORGET PERFECTION.

There’s so much emphasis on knowledge,

perfection and optimization in every area of

golf these days. But when it comes to

putting, trying to get everything perfect will

invariably make your tension levels rise. Be

relaxed in your approach and throughout

your routine. step up there and feel that

you’re rolling it and letting it go.

bE CONFIDENT.Visualise the putt on its path to the

hole and dropping into the cup. develop a

ruthless putting aura where you are genuinely

surprised if the ball doesn’t drop. When I’m

putting well I have a level of confidence where

I’m actually shocked if I don’t hole it!

TAYlORMADE’S SPIDER MAKES A GHOSTlY RETURNThree of TaylorMade’s most striking putterconcepts in recent years: the Pure rollinsert, the mega mallet shape and the dis-tinctive all-white finish have been combinedinto one radical new design – the Ghostspider.

The head reprises the ultra-high MoI designof the original Monza spider from 2008 withthose controversial rear wings that concen-trate weight at the very edges of the steelwire-frame construction. There’s also anew take on the Movable WeightTechnology of the originalwhich allows the user tocustomise feel by chang-ing the various screws.

More than a fashionstatement, the ghostlyfinish is scientificallyclaimed to improvealignment due to theexceptional contrastwith the grass whichhelps to highlight the put-ter head shape andface angle relativeto the intendedline. Puttinglegend davestockton -the drivingforcebehind thisand therossa-brandedpredeces-sors - claimsan average20% alignmentimprovementamong golfers testedin the TaylorMade studio.

Meanwhile, the patent-ed Pure roll insert is asoft surlyn construc-tion whose subtlegrooves promote for-wardspin to helpreduce skidding andencourage a smooth,accurate roll with moreprecise speed control.

“fans of the Monza spiderwill be blown away by the Ghostspider,” says stockton. “We’ve nevermade a putter that combines this kind of for-giveness and ease of use. Putting is allabout confidence, and the Ghost spiderpromotes confidence, big time.”

The putter has already been a hit on tour -most notably in the hands of Jason daywho played it when finishing runner-up atboth the Masters and the us open.

Available in 33”, 34” and 35” shaft lengths ata guide price of £149.www.taylormadegolf.eu

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(MAGAZINE ONLY)



INTRODUCING THE NEW ALLSRIXON Z-STAR GOLF BALL Power



ON THE LESSON TEE


On fire...and readyto rumble: England’sMelissa Reid will beone of the stars ofthe European teamin the Solheim Cup

PHOTOGRAPHY: TRISTAN JONES / LETWITH THANKS TO COACH DAVID RIDLEY

GIRLPower

England’s Melissa Reid is one of the most exciting lady golfersto have emerged through theamateur golf scene in the lastdecade, so it’s no surprise thatshe is now forging a successfulcareer on the Ladies EuropeanTour. Carly Cummins caught up with the 23-year-old at theISPS Handa Portugal LadiesOpen to find out what makesher powerful swing tick

INSTRUCTION MELISSA REID


MY CHECKPOINTS AT ADDRESS

My main focus at the set-up is to make sure

that I am aiming correctly with my body parallel

to the target line. Like so many golfers, I have a

tendency to want to set-up to the ball a little

closed to the target line, so I really concentrate

on picking a spot on the ground ahead of my

target line to aim the club and then a second

spot on the ground parallel to the target line as

a point of reference for my feet to aim at. The

other thing I work on is balance, focusing on

feeling the weight balanced between the centre

and the balls of my feet. My last checkpoint is

good posture. When I’m getting tired I tend to

lose my posture, which shows as my shoulders

get very rounded, so I concentrate on making

sure my lower back is not arched.

TAKEAWAY:

This first move is one I’ve been working on

intensively. I’m trying to rotate my right arm,

keeping my elbow tucked in so that my forearm

and the shaft are on plane at the halfway-back

position. To exaggerate this sensation I practice

wearing a strap that keeps the arms compact to

my body. Then, when I remove the strap, I have

a much stronger feel for the move. My check-

point is that at the halfway-back position the

shaft should point to the centre of my chest.

When I make a poor swing it tends to be

because I get a bit too flat in the takeaway, the

arms then lift up and I use my wrists and ‘flip it’.

TOP OF BACKSWING:

From the perfect halfway-back position I know

that all I need to do is hinge my wrists and turn

my torso (my abs) to get the club on plane at

the top of the backswing. This prevents me lift-

ing my arms, which is an old fault I’m occasion-

ally prone to. At the top of the swing I’m also

focusing on keeping my right knee flexed so

that I maintain the same good posture athletic

angles that I established at address.

WHAT I FEEL I AM DOING - full swing slow-motion rehearsal drill

MY SWING IN REAL TIME

Solid set-up,legs strong, nice angleacross theshoulders

I feel that I rotatemy right foreramto initiate themove awayfrom the ball

Powerful rotationof the upperbody – the leftshoulder underthe chin

Athletic leg actioninitiates the down-swing, shiftingmomentum to thetarget and creatingthis ‘lag’ as upperbody unwinds

DRIVING AMBITION


DOWNSWING:

I have a tendency to get a little ahead of myself

in the downswing and occasionally come over

the top with the shoulders and arms getting

ahead of the body. So my focus is on trying to

initiate the downswing with my leg action. To

do so, I rotate both my knees back to centre,

allowing the arms to drop nicely down on

plane. I do a lot of my practice rehearsing this

move in front of a mirror so that I can really see

the correct sequence of movement – the legs

working and the arms following.

INTO IMPACT:

This is where the power in my swing is generat-

ed. From hip height I fire the right side through

the ball and free-flow to the finish. As long as

my legs are firing correctly my arms will lag

behind so that as I start to turn my torso

through the hands go with me. This fantastic

lag, or delayed hit, is what all the powerful hit-

ters in the world demonstrate in their swing and

I achieve it by using my body speed and hand

speed together to ensure maximum clubhead

speed is delivered to the ball. When I make a

bad swing my hands tend to get too far ahead

and I hit a pull, so my check point is that the

hands are over the ball as I strike the shot.

FINISH:

After impact my swing very much free-wheels

through to the finish. Right now I’m concentrat-

ing on getting a straight back as I have a ten-

dency to hang back a little and this is shown by

my back curving. The other key thought I have

is to feel very balanced, no matter what club is

in my hands, whether I’ve hit a full-throttle dri-

ver, or an easy wedge I try to hold my finishing

pose until the ball lands.

I like to feel that myhands are directlyabove the ball atimpact

Through the ball Igo after the feelingof free-wheelingthe clubhead










Vıctory

OPEN STORY CHAMPIONSHIP REVIEW


DARREN CLARKE’S VICTORY IN THE 140TH OPEN

Championship was both popular and emotional. It fitting-

ly came at Royal St George’s. J. H. Taylor won the first

Open played outside Scotland here and Harry Vardon two

of his record six titles on the Sandwich links. But in those

days Britain had the best golfers in the world.

When Henry Cotton won in 1934, with a record 65 in

the second round but a nervy finish, there had not been a

home winner for a decade and finally Britain had found a

new golfing hero. When Sandy Lyle won in 1985, after

that wobble in Duncan’s Hollow, there had not been a

home winner for 16 years since Tony Jacklin.

Once more, according to the world rankings, Britain

has some of the finest golfers on the planet and the hope

for a new home champion, for the first time since Paul

Lawrie 12 years ago, was palpable before the off. Yet

England’s No 1 and No 2, Luke Donald and Lee

Westwood, missed the cut and Rory McIlroy, the new dar-

ling of the golfing universe after his brilliant and historic

US Open victory, was brought down to earth by the golf-

ing gods.

But Clarke showed them all how to do it. Perseverance

At Sandwich, DarrenClarke savoured thesweetest taste known to agolfer – victory in a majorchampionship

PHoToGrAPHY BYGETTYIMAGES.COM

For one of the great exponents of links golf, Darren Clarke, this

year’s Open Championship was when it all came together. Andy Far r el l reports

Career

Vıctorywas rewarded. This was his 20th Open appearance and no

one had waited longer to win the claret jug – Nick Price

won on his 16th appearance. There is hope there for

Westwood and Donald and the rest but there was an even

more fundamental reason for Clarke’s victory. Always a

fine exponent of the art of links golf, this was one of the

finest demonstrations there has ever been. It needed to be

given he was tackling a capricious links in often foul weath-

er.

They say St George’s takes some knowing. Like all

links, it is at the mercy of the elements but all those

humps and hollows seem to exaggerate the variations in

the challenge. Only the Old Course itself might be so

extreme in its changes of character. In the one week they

visit every eight to ten years, even the world’s best players

appear bewildered at times. Yet Clarke sniffed the air like

an old sailor and instinctively utilised the links skills

learnt as a young man and honed over the winter after

his return to Portrush.

His ball-striking was exceptional, especially on the

Saturday afternoon when, albeit the weather was calming

down after the earlier torrents of rain, Clarke produced a

master class. Had the putts gone in that day he would

have been far ahead of the field. As it was, his refusal to

allow those disappointments to cloud his thinking was a

triumph in itself and he was rewarded the following day

when all the putts that mattered – a 15-footer for par at

the first, his birdie try at the 2nd, the eagle from 15 feet

at the 7th, the par-save at the 11th after visiting a bunker

to mention but a few – all dropped happily.

That’s what not one but two sports psychologists can

do for you. Mike Finnegan was someone Clarke had con-

sulted earlier in his career. He came back into the fold in

May after Clarke returned from a three-week holiday in the

Bahamas. Clarke’s manager, Chubby Chandler suggested

Clarke had wanted to quit golf after a disastrous weekend

at the Trophée Hassan II and packed him off on holiday.

Clarke did not sell the story as strongly but admitted he

needed a break. He came back and won the Iberdrola

Open in Mallorca. After a terrible final round at the

Scottish Open, Finnegan was in demand again at Sandwich

but Clarke also bumped into Dr Bob Rotella, an old men-

tor and the two ended up having daily consultations.

Clarke told Rotella he did not feel he could hole a putt

over a foot. Rotella told Clarke not to think about the

mechanics of his putting, to “go unconscious”, to treat it

as an automatic habit that we do without thinking. All

week Clarke was as calm as he has ever been on a golf

course. “I’m older and allegedly a bit wiser,” Clarke, at 42

the oldest Open champion since Roberto de Vicenzo, said.

“I’m not sure what was different this week but I felt com-


OPEN STORY DARREN CLARKE


In at times tempestuous conditions at Royal St George’s,

Darren Clarke came through to turn his fine career into an

excellent one. Robert Green reports

with his extraordinary start to the final round.

Throughout the week, Clarke’s ball-striking had

been magnificent. He hit 51 greens in regulation,

second only to Davis Love. The 2012 American

Ryder Cup captain – and Clarke is surely the hot

favourite to be the European skipper in 2014

unless he wants to try to make the team as a play-

er! – hit 54 greens but his putter was plainly terri-

fied of anything within four feet of the cup.

That number, 54, also represents the number of

majors it took for Clarke, aged 42, to win his first.

Last spring, that scenario did not seem to be on

the cards. At the start of April, he was contemplat-

ing retirement, a bleak view engendered by the 81-

StormCalmin the eye

of the

Darren Clarke with his first major trophyand what was not his last pint of Guinness

HEN WE CHECKED INTO THE HOUSEwe’d rented for the Open, we found a note

the owner had kindly left, explaining how

everything worked and also providing a

brief guide to the delights of the village of

Sandwich. Towards the end, he’d written:

“Darren Clarke said the course was tough

enough without the rough…”

The previous day, The Guardian had carried a

story about phone-hacking…er, sorry, an inter-

view with Clarke’s manager, Andrew ‘Chubby’

Chandler. The journalist, Lawrence Donegan, men-

tioned a few of Chandler’s clients who might be in

the mix in the coming week – Messrs McIlroy,

Westwood, Clarke, Els, Schwartzel, Oosthuizen,

Dyson – and asked him who he’d like to see win. “I

have to stay neutral,” said Chandler, before adding:

“OK. Why don’t we say this – wouldn’t it be a great

story if Darren Clarke finally won an Open

Championship?”

Needless to say, replete with omens, I didn’t

dash down to the bookies. Within a week, however,

the Irishman was reaping the rewards of the deal

Chandler had struck with Sports Direct in 2005 for

Clarke (and Lee Westwood and David Howell) to

wear Dunlop clothing but with no money involved

unless they won a major, in which case they col-

lected £2 million. In the circumstances, perhaps

the company’s owner, Mike Ashley, could be

excused if he won’t be rooting quite so fervently

for Westwood to win the USPGA Championship

and make this the season of the Chubby Grand

Slam.

Clarke admitted: “I still can't decide what to buy

with the money. To be honest, up until Sunday I've

lived like a major champion without actually win-

ning a major.”

On the Sunday especially, he played like a major

champion, making a series of clutch putts –

notably from 15 feet to save par at the first – and

rallying to repel the flamboyant charge of Phil

Mickelson, with Clarke making an eagle at the 7th

to restore the lead that the American had eroded

W


Storm










OPEN STORY ELEMENTARY


Taking a bow! Tom Watson had yet another Open Championship to remember,

not only for the hole-in-one he made here but in maintaining the role he appears

to have been assigned of mentoring the brightest young amateur stars in golf

TOM WATSON MAY NOT HAVE KNOWN IT

WOULD come to this. The popular American may not

have realised that at the same time as he was prepar-

ing for his annual love-in with golf courses and the

public in Britain, an occasion also known as his trip

to Britain for the Open, so the R&A were preparing

for his appearance in their championship. The R&A

clearly think that Watson, after winning the Open

five times and considering his remarkable standing

in the game, has become such a good role model,

such a wonderful ambassador for golf that they

wanted to give him an appropriate young man with

whom to play in the Open.

It was not an entirely selfless thought by the R&A.

They realised it would be a bonus for whichever com-

petitor was chosen in that he would be mentored by

Watson for two rounds and be able to study one of

the greatest golfers of all time at close quarters. And

it would possibly, perhaps probably, guarantee press

attention and TV coverage if either Watson himself or

the prodigy did something special.

At Turnberry in 2009 it was Matteo Manassero, at

16 almost one quarter Watson's age and the youngest

competitor in the field, who had the pleasure of com-

peting alongside the American, the oldest. At

Sandwich this year it was Tom Lewis, at 20 one third

as old as Watson, who played with the five-times

champion. Though Watson outscored both Manassero

and Lewis, finishing second in 2009 and 22nd in

2011, he spurred his young companions on to good

play, too. Manassero won the silver medal for coming


ElementaryDear Watson

INSTRUCTION


Rory McIlroy gloriously wins the US

Open at Congressional with a sublime

display of shot-making that breaks all

kinds of US Open scoring records and,

at just 22, becomes the youngest win-

ner for 88 years. Barely a month later,

Darren Clarke, at 42 a veteran of no

fewer than twenty Open Championships, puts together four

stunning rounds of golf at a windswept Royal St Georges to

capture his first major title. Leaving aside the fact that these

two great players come from Northern Ireland, the two victo-

ries could scarcely be farther apart in nature and yet, if we

dig a little deeper, I think you’ll agree there’s a common psy-

chological key – and one that, channelled correctly, could

have a big impact on your own game.

To do that we need to go back to the first major of the

year – the season-opener at Augusta. For three rounds McIlroy

played quite astonishing golf. So good was he that he took a

four-shot lead into the final round. But the nerves were visible

as early as the 1st green, and, as the lead gradually evaporat-

ed, we were left to witness a young man collapse horribly. The

snap-hook off the tee at 10, a four-putt on 12, and McIlroy’s

dreams of wearing the green jacket were gone. Naturally the

post-mortem elicited a media frenzy – what long-term damage

had been done? All of the so-called ‘experts’ questioned

whether he actually had the game and the mental strength to

recover and compete at the very highest level.

In the days following, the only person who seemed unfazed

by it all was Rory. His manager Andrew ‘Chubby’ Chandler

travelled to Rory’s home in Holywood to ask his player, ‘Are

you OK?’. Rory’s reply sowed the seeds for his epic US Open

triumph: ‘I’m fine. I can’t really see what all the fuss is about. I

DR KARL MORRIS

lost a golf tournament. Nobody died. There are disasters in the

world but this wasn’t one of them.’

In that moment Rory sent such a powerful message to his

young golfing brain. The power of PERSPECTIVE.

While so many others around him were talking about a cat-

astrophe and a disaster the player himself chose to frame it

differently. He chose to put the events in a place in his mind

that were labelled with huge disappointment but NOT as a cat-

astrophe.

The point to be aware of here is that, unfortunately, our

brain – and specifically our unconscious implicit mind – tends

to take things literally. So if we label something with words

such as ‘disaster’ and ‘catastrophe’ then that part of our brain

goes to work without logic and it seeks to protect us from

those situations in the future. One of the ways it can do that is

to make sure that we don’t put ourselves in a similar situation

again. Much in the same way that we may have been unfortu-

nate as a child to say something in front of a class that every-

body laughed at, causing such acute embarrassment that the

brain goes to work by telling us: ‘don’t speak in public again’.

Then, 20 years on we have an adult with a severe public

speaking phobia that doesn’t seem to make any sense at all to

our logical mind.

In exactly the same way we have to be very careful in the

way we label our experiences on a golf course. When some-

thing is billed as being ‘life or death’ then is it any wonder that

some careers never recover?

Rory McIlroy has proved himself to be made of entirely dif-

ferent stuff – with that sense of perspective he was able to

move on and his brain is not wired to dread or fear playing in

majors and, more importantly, getting in to contention. At

Congressional he simply got back to doing what he loves to do

PerspectıveThe Power of

In the shape of Northern Ireland’s two most recentmajor champions, Rory McIlroy and Darren Clarke,the golfing world has marvelled at the way in whichtwo different and intriguing characters have dealt withadversity along the road to achieving their greatestsuccess. As ever, the application of perspective hasbeen key to unlocking the ultimate performance

By Dr Karl MorrisEUROPEAN TOUR MIND COACH • WWW.GOLF-BRAIN.COM

W

Having experienced theheat of major contention atAugusta in April, RoryMcIlroy was altogether bet-ter equipped to finish thejob at Congressional; arelaxed Darren Clarkeenjoys the attention atSandwich, where hisdemeanor was the 15thclub in his bag


above anything else – i.e. playing golf. To Rory McIlroy the

game is a game. He has not fallen into the trap of ‘believing’

what the media try to get us to buy into.

To Royal St George’s and a quite fantastic Open

Championship – and one of the game’s most popular of win-

ners. I have been fortunate enough to have known and worked

with Darren on and off for around 10 years. In that time I have

watched the best players in the world and I would say, without

hesitation, that Darren is the most talented and impressive

ball striker I have ever seen. The sound of the ball off the club-

face, the pureness of the strike, the flight and the control he

has is something to behold. He often used to joke that I

should pay to watch him practice – and he had a point!

One of the games we used to play was called the ‘9 shot

drill’, the challenge being to hit a comprehensive selection of

shots with one club – i.e. Draw, Fade, Straight, High, Medium

and Low – 9 shots in all to demonstrate spin control. To watch

Darren do this with a 4- or 5-iron is like watching Picasso

paint, the subtle but pure changes in ball flight demonstrating

a masterful display of his skill.

On the flip side of the coin, this great natural talent could

sometimes be the biggest obstacle to him going out and hit-

ting those shots on the course. Darren will himself admit to

being such a perfectionist on the range that if the ball didn’t

behave in exactly the way he wanted it to on the golf course he

was rarely one bad shot away from explosion and then implo-

sion. In fact, I don’t think that I have ever known any other

player get so frustrated and so down on himself as Darren did

because he KNEW what he was capable of.

One of the hardest lessons in golf is that the game does not

lend itself to perfectionism. Some things do – like accountancy

and building suspension bridges – but golf does not. It is an

imperfect science. As Dr Bob Rotella, the mind coach who has

worked extensively with Darren over the years – and who was

with him at St George’s – said in the title of one of his books

Golf is NOT a Game of Perfect.

What happens away from the golf course is bound to affect

our performance on it and Darren Clarke knows more about

this than most. Since the loss of his wife Heather to cancer in

2006, Darren has had to rebuild his life, foremost as a father to

his two boys, Conor and Tyrone, and latterly as a golfer. How

could that not have taken its toll on his mentality?

The years since have been far from straightforward but

there is no doubt

they have shaped

the Darren Clarke

we saw smiling his

way around St

George’s, enjoying

the challenge of the

game, pitting his

skill against an

absolute brute of an

opponent that felled

most of the rest of

the field. What we

saw was a Darren

Clarke with a sense

of perspective. This

was a GAME to be

played. An impor-

tant game yes, but

in the end a game

nonetheless.

Whatever the course

could throw at him

it couldn’t be worse

than what life had

thrown at him. Maybe it shouldn’t take these life events to give

us this sense of perspective but often for us all it does. We

attach too much importance to a lot of little things and not

enough importance to others – the things in life that really do

matter.

THE MIND FACTOR ESSAY

Perspectıve











Start out in yourregular stance – hereI’m using a 6-iron andthe ball is teed-uphalf-an-inch or so

Then pull the right foot back untilthe toe of the shoe is a couple ofinches behind the left heel. Thisstance will help you to keep yourupper body ‘centred’ over the shot;your weight will naturally tend to fallonto the forward foot at the set up,which is fine – through the courseof the swing you will shift againstthe flex in the right knee and thigh

better golfBy Stuart MorganWWW.STUARTMORGAN.COMPHOTOGRAPHY BY MARK NEWCOMBE

How to work on replacingsome of golf’s common swing faults with easy-to-followdrills that will deliver immediate results

STUART MORGANINSTRUCTION

Pro moves for

The fault you see here is afairly common one and theeffects are damaging on thequality and the consistency ofyour ball striking. The problemis that when you allow yourhips to tilt like this you fail torotate your body and shiftyour weight correctly into abraced right side. The ‘fix’ can be quick and

simple if you spend sometime rehearsing the right-footback drill. Pulling the right footback effectively pre-sets goodhip rotation – all you have todo is continue and completethat hip turn as you wind tothe top and then feel the qual-ity of your swing improve asyou unwind from the groundup and ‘collect’ the ball

FAULT: Incorrect weight shift/hip sway


ON THE LESSON TEE // FULL SWING

With a turn away fromthe target pre-set at theset-up, you simply contin-ue that rotation as youswing the club to the top,enabling you to turn and‘load’ the upper body

Having rotated in thebackswing the hips willnaturally want to unwindand lead you to a goodimpact position – free-wheel the right side and‘collect’ the ball as youswing through to a finish

better golf

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The following exercises are designed tohelp you trim the fat off your iron shots –to crisp things up and leave you with abetter sensation of striking down andthrough the ball. To do that, the focusthroughout is on synchronising your armswing with your body turn and generallymaking things more efficient using width,leverage and torque to create an efficient,modern movement.Starting with this training ball, I want to

get you thinking about the way in which theforearms in a good golf swing rotate andstay pretty much ‘pinched’ together. In con-trast, a lot of beginners and higher handi-cappers tend to spread their arms and liftthem to the tiop of their swing (opposite)which breaks the linkage between thearms and torso. If you can keep thearms rotating and pinched togeth-er whilst progressively settingthe wrists against that, you willenjoy better width, build upgreater torque and – ultimate-ly – clubhead speed.One thing I will stress

throughout this feature isthat you don’t need along swing that runsbeyond the parallel; infact, a more compactswing is more desirable.Biomechanically it is

proven that the key is toimprove the kinetic linkbetween your arms andtorso – and I’m all for theappliance of science.

By Jonathan YarwoodWWW.GOLFJY.COM • PHOTOGRAPHY: KEVIN MURRAYSHOT ON LOCATION AT THE CONCESSION

Why a more compact swing will make you a better iron player

JONATHAN YARWOOD

POWER LEAK!For those of you whofocus on the left arm inthe backswing, this is thebig danger: in a poorswing the arms can oftenbe seen to splay apart,leading to this inevitable‘lift’ which causes the‘over the top’ move onthe way back down tothe ball – a huge powerleak. So turn the page tofind out how you caneliminate this and start toenjoy a more compactand more energy effi-cient action

effıcıentEnergy

Overleaf, let’s go onto look at how usingthis type of trainingball can quickly andeasily reward youwith a more com-pact backswing

INSTRUCTION SAM TORRANCE


SWISH DRILL: Synchronise your hinge, turn and release for greater swoosh speed A good golf swing is a combination of sequence andtorque to create speed in the clubhead. That’s thebottom line: as a result of the centrifugal forces yougenerate with the rotation of your body, and the asso-ciated free-wheeling of the arms and hands, you pro-duce real speed in the clubhead through impact.And the drill you see me demonstrating here is one

that can help you do that – and it’s especially benefi-cial for juniors and lady golfers, because when youturn the club around and grip it just below the hosel itfeels so incredibly light in your hands.

As per the sequence above, your starting point –once you have set yourself up with a good posture –is to move the grip-end through to 4 o’clock on animaginary clockface (inset above left). Doing this sim-ply gives you a little early momentum as you then letyour arms (and clubshaft) fall back and continue oninto the backswing movement. And the key to doingthis is that you really ‘snap’ the wrists to hinge and‘load’ in the process of coiling your backswing. Look how solid the body looks in frame 2 above –

the upper body has been pulled around by the

swoosh of the club. There’s not too much turn, just theright amount at the completion of what is a very effi-cient three-quarter motion – and one loaded with ener-gy. I am a big fan of drills in motion, and working onthis exercise really does gel together so many of thekey ingredients you are looking for in a good golfswing. As you unwind, focus on re-hinging the wriststo make the distinct L-shape you see here in thethrough-swing (right). To further accentuate the role ofthe hands and arms, try it with your feet together andlet the clubshaft create the maximum swoosh.

Three-quarter back-swing with 100%efficiency: note thatwhile the shouldersare turned through90 degrees the hipsare barely at 30, theright leg serving asa ‘post’, braced toprovide resistance

As you swing backand gather momen-tum, make yourselfreally ‘snap’ thewrists to add lever-age as you turn andcoil to the top

Start here,4 o’clock

JONATHAN YARWOOD


And then re-hinge

Adopt a good pos-ture, your right armin position, and thenhinge and re-hingethe right wrist totoss the ball

Grip the clublightly and letthe right wristhinge to createa flowing backswing

Use this exercise as awarm-up before hittingballs or playing. Thelouder the swoosh themore speed you aregenerating through theimpact area

Make an L-shape on theway back (opposite) andagain on the way through.Re-hinge with velocity onthe way to a good finish.This is something FreddieCouples does so beauti-fully – one of the reasonswhy he hits it so far










ON THE DAY IN AUGUST 2008 WHEN MID-

handicapper Bruce Harris was due to transfer

£100,000 into Thai Baht to buy his dream condo

on the island of Phuket, mobs took to Bangkok’s

streets and the local currency plummeted. He was

faced with a dilemma – push on or pull out.

Thailand has been attracting golfers for years.

Last year, 818,000 Brits visited the country, with a

fair number playing a round or three. Bangkok,

Chiang Mai, Hua Hin and Pattaya all have good

clubs, but if there’s a single holiday destination

with an enjoyable variety of great courses, it has

to be Phuket.

As a British Airways purser, Bruce travels the

globe – the world is his fairway. He and his wife

Michele settled on the 30-mile long island of

Phuket for the weather, food, beaches, and, of

course, the golf.

They had decided to make a move on a condo

costing about £150,000 at Chom Tawam in

Laguna, a large gated estate with several luxury

hotels, good security and in Laguna Phuket Golf

Club at the Banyan Tree, a tranquil resort 18-holer.

“When we negotiated the price, the Baht

was at 60 to the pound,” remembers Bruce.

“The day the rioters hit the streets, it

dropped to 72, a depreciation of 20%.” As his

condo price was quoted in local currency, it

became 20% cheaper in pounds sterling

overnight. But was it worth the risk?

Bruce decided it was, so stepped up, bought the

apartment, and hasn’t regretted it once.

Unlike the BA man, I had never played in

Phuket, so when I travelled there a few months

ago I enlisted as guide the splendid Mark Siegel of

GolfAsian. Top of his list, and Bruce’s, was the Red

Mountain course, built in 2007. A deceased tin

mine doesn’t sound propitious, but the jungle has

reclaimed most of it and the resultant mix of

lakes, red rocky outcrops and forest is quite sim-

ply stunning (see the main image above).

English designer Jon Morrow has created 18

memorable holes with elevation changes, aggres-

sive bunkering, several risk-reward challenges

around water, and breathtaking vistas. The condi-

tion of the Paspalum fairways is immaculate,

greens fast and clubhouse friendly. Part of the

same club, Loch Palm is more forgiving but still a

good challenge.

The other ‘must-play’ course on Phuket is the

Canyon at Blue Canyon. Three times the venue of

the Johnnie Walker, won most memorably by

Tiger in 1998 after coming back from an eight-

shot deficit on the final day, it’s something of a

tropical West Course. Rather like Wentworth, sev-


PHUKET – RED MOUNTAIN, BLUE CANYON & MUCH MORE...

A Thai Pad in Phuket Just like golf, buying property in an emerging market is a risk-reward business, reports Peter Swain

eral long wooded doglegs have downhill drives

followed by uphill approaches to small, tricky

greens.

As Mark warned me, it’s also a walking-only

course, so even with the compulsory caddie, it’s a

long, demanding round in the customary heat and

humidity. In my judgment, any golfer with a two-

figure handicap should think twice before

attempting it. For good players, it’s a blast. Its sis-

ter Lakes Course is altogether kinder.

The Nicklaus-designed Mission Hills nestles

close to the cobalt waters of the Andaman Sea and

features island greens, vast bunkers and a club-

house spa to soothe aching joints and bruised

egos. Another resort set-up, Phuket Country Club

is the oldest course on the island, and features, in

the horseshoe-shaped 10th around a lake, an

unusual eagle chance for players who can accu-

rately drive 200-plus yards over water.

Bruce Harris’s local course at Laguna meanders

through coconut groves with water in play on 13

holes. The greens have recently been rebuilt, but

with generous fairways it’s essentially a gentle

warm-up round for headier local challenges.

The Harrises bought a well-equipped two-bed-

room condo in a block of four with fast internet

connection and a large pool in generously land-

scaped gardens, all just 200 yards from the beach.

“We spend about 15 weeks a year there and rent it

out in between – it’s worked out really well,” says

Bruce.

Chom Tawan now has 38 apartments and 12

spacious villas, selling mostly to ex-pats of whom

there are 30,000 in Phuket. Advertised prices are

between about £300,000 and £560,000, but in the

current market, a 15% discount is realistic.

Right next door, the Banyan Tree Hotel has

some incredibly ritzy L-shaped single-storey villas,

set in gorgeous gardens, built around their own

private pools (as pictured opposite). With the ser-

vices of a five-star hotel on tap, and outstanding

rental income potential – upwards of £300 a night

– the £1 million-plus price tag is reasonable by the

standards of the island.

At a more modest budget level, and right next

to the two Blue Canyon courses, the Wintana pro-

ject aims to convert an existing hotel structure

into a boutique resort, complete with jazz club.

£200,000 buys you 21 nights a year, plus about

an 8% annual return on capital. There’s also a frac-

tional offering starting at just £25,000. The 115

suites won’t be ready for two years, they’re still

negotiating fees with the golf club, and the mar-

keting drive hasn’t even started, but it’s one to

keep an eye on.

Title in Thailand can be an issue. Foreigners can

own outright 49% of a condo development, but

individual fairway-side villas are likely to have

your lawyer or accountant’s name on the deeds,

which doesn’t appeal to everyone.

As well as new property, there are plenty of

‘resales’ on Phuket offering good value. CBRE are

one of the local market leaders and always have a

fair selection on their website. At the time of writ-

ing, they have several two-bedroom condos with

access to pools and sea views in the region of

£200,000, and a one-bedroom 800sq ft unit in a

small development called Ocean Breeze for just

£82,000.

A golfing break organized through Golf Asian

is a good way of playing the courses and check-

ing out the property scene. TAT, the Thai

tourism people in London, are also very helpful.

There are potential pitfalls when buying in any

emerging market like Thailand. Bruce Harris took

the risk of buying in a politically volatile country,

and has gained the reward. “In the local curren-

cy, the price of our condo hasn’t changed much

in three years, but as the exchange rate is now

48 Thai Baht to the pound, it’s actually worth a

third more than we paid for it. And my game’s

improving!”

PROPERTY / PHUKET


A Thai Pad in Phuket

CONTACTS

GolfAsian / golfasian.com

tourismthailand.co.uk

red Mountain / redmountainphuket.com

Blue canyon / bluecanyonclub.com

chom Tawan / tawanproperties.com

Wintana / wintanahotelsandresorts.com

Banyan Tree / banyantreeresidences.com

cBre / cbre.co.th

blue Canyon boasts two ‘must-play’

layouts – the testing Canyon Course (above)

and the less manic lakes (above right).

Marketing of fractional ownership at the

Wintana project (right) is about to commence;

a typical low-rise apartment block at Chom

Tawan (below)

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WOBURN GOLF CLUBJULY 18, 2011

Poults…on stretching and warming up

No matter how old you are, or how frequentlyyou play, you run the risk of pulling a muscle ifyou go out to play or practice without firstwarming-up for a few minutes. I use a variety ofexercises to warm up my arms and shouldersevery single day – I might even do this workoutwith elastic bands at home on days when I’mnot playing golf.Those of you who watched the Open at St

George’s may have seen Darren Clarke using aspecial stretching pole, with a spring at oneend, to help him with his exercises before hebegan hitting shots. I prefer to use these rubberbands (right) – relatively cheap to buy and easyto use providing a simple range of exercisesthat help you warm up your muscles andstrengthen the ‘core’ groups of muscles youneed to make a good golf swing.Some guys on tour out there go through a

full gym session, others will simply warm-up onthe range with the type of exercises you seeme rehearsing here. Whatever your preference,make sure you get in to the habit of regularexercise. Seek advice from your local PGA pro-fessional who can help you devise a series ofexercises that will quickly benefit your golf. Thefitter, stronger and more supple you are the bet-ter you will swing the golf club and the betteryou will hit the ball.

Poults on…taking care of the fundamentals

It has become quite trendy these days to carrya pair of alignment rods in the golf bag and Iwas impressed today to see so many juniorsusing these canes to check alignment and ballposition. If you don’t have a pair of alignmentrods, I urge you to invest in them. This is invalu-

FEATURE IJP INVITATIONAL

GOLFINTERNATIONALMAG.COM AUGUST 201138Taking care of F

undamentals

Stretch it....

THE IJP GOLF CLINIC

HOW TO MAKE THE MOST OF YOUR PRACTICE TIME

One of the highlights of the IJP Invitational is the hour-long clinic Ian conducts on the

range for all competitors (and parents!) at the end of the tournament day. This year

was no exception and the highlights of an informal and absorbing session provide

invaluable insights into the mind of a world-class professional

able. I recently bought this one (below), whichcan either be used as two separate rails orattached to create a T-square, which gives youa reference for alignment and another for ballposition. I use this T-square every single time Ipractice for no other reason than I want to be100% certain that my alignment and ball posi-tion is exactly as I want it on every shot I hit.Once I have my target fixed, and a visual imageof the shot in my mind, I think of nothing elseother than that image – I have zero technical

swing thoughts.If you don’t have alignment rods, just do it

the old fashioned way and place a couple ofclubs on the ground to give you alignment. Icannot emphasis this enough: it’s all about tak-ing care of the basics.

Poults on distance control – and the

importance of the ‘scoring shots’

My configuration of wedges, the scoring clubs,is 48-degree pitching wedge, 54-degree sandiron and 60-degree lob wedge. For me, that’san easy system to work with and six degreesbetween each of these clubs gives me a goodspan of distances. I love gadgets and in recentyears I’ve come to rely heavily on the Trackmansystem, which I’m sure many of you have seenat your club or on TV. It’s a radar-based launchmonitor that measures every conceivable pieceof data about the flight of the ball – includingball-speed off the clubface, backspin, sidespinand of course landing distance. And that’s thekey number for me – I work with Trackman tokeep accurate data on how far I fly the ball withall of my clubs. My lob-wedge flies 100 yards,sand-iron 115 yards and pitching- wedge goes135. So I know from that make up that if I have120 yards to go, a sandiron is not going to getthere. It’s an easy wedge, perhaps grippingdown the shaft a little. Ultimately, it’s all aboutyour control over the flight of the golf ball. Andyou get that through making and repeating asound swing and changing clubs to suit dis-tance – not forcing a club to make a distance.

Q. Do you always aim at a target?

Absolutely…and so should you. If you

stand on the range hitting balls with-

out a distinct target in mind you are

practising without a purpose. Wasting

your time. It’s not good enough. You

have to have a target and you have to

go through the same procedure before

every shot to develop a pre-shot rou-

tine you can trust out on the course.

Remember, you are practising to play

– and when you play you will be hit-

ting towards a target on every single

shot.

Poults on visualisation – ‘seeing a shot’…

We never ever see a straight golf shot. Everyshot has some element of movement in it. Saythe wind is off the right, as it is here, I want tohit the shot with a little cut-spin to hold the ball

GOLF CLINIC


Stretch it....

Always Aim at a target

EQUIPMENT DISTANCE MEASURING


Today’s golfing DMDs embrace a wealth of technology from

laser-based rangefinders to GPS devices sporting a variety of

graphics, interactive features and game analysis gizmos to

play with both during and after your round. We invited

Roehampton assistant club pro, Richard Weeks, to take

some of the latest models for a test drive and offer up practi-

cal tips on how to make the most of both types of device.

Following that, equipment editor Dominic Pedler guides you

through a glossary of the essential technical terms

LATEST DEVICES


Thanks to a welcome loophole in

the rules of Golf, distance

Measuring devices (dMds)

have become the fastest grow-

ing category of golf equipment

in recent years.

Whether its laser-based rangefinders that

you ‘point and shoot’ or geo-positional

based units displaying instant yardages via

satellite technology, dMds have caught on

with all levels of club golfers. on tour,

they’re used by players and caddies (at

least in practice rounds) and by on-course

analysts and TV commentators.

Admittedly, rule 14-3(b) only allows their

competitive use by virtue of a special clause

giving jurisdiction to the golf club, or relevant

authority, to allow them under a local rule.

But its adoption is increasingly widespread

right up to eGu events and on the euroPro

Tour while, in the recent PowerPlay event at

celtic Manor, use of the official nikon laser

was actively encouraged throughout.

And while dMds are not allowed in top

tour events, pros and their caddies can

often be seen with their Bushnells and

nikons during practice rounds, while expert

course mapper dion stevens’ legendary

yardage books used in tournaments by

many tour stars are painstakingly prepared

with his nikon Laser 1000As.

In this way the great dMd debate has

moved on from whether they should be

allowed at all to what system is best and

what features are genuinely ‘game

improvement’ for golfers.

As the following glossary and instruction

guide from our guest pro show, there are

no easy answers. It ultimately comes down

to your individual priorities regarding the

type of data, features, convenience and

ease of use.

But understanding the technology

involved and practical ways to incorporate it

into your game is the first step to making the

choice between Laser and GPs (while, for

those that want the best of both worlds, the

new Bushnell Hybrid even combines the

two technologies in one unit).

HOW DISTANCE MEASURING DEvICES

CAN REAllY IMPROvE YOUR GAME

Roehampton assistant club pro, Richard

Weeks, brings you practical tips on how to

make the most of both GPS and laser-

based technologies.

1. How far do you really hit each club?

As a golf teacher I’m often amazed at how

most pupils have no real idea how far they

hit each of their clubs. This is such an impor-

tant part of your game – if you can’t match

up the distance you have remaining to the

green with the right club in your bag then

what hope do you have?! knowing your own

distances in practice really is a pre-requisite

for getting the most from your dMd, some of

which help directly with this task.

for example, for my driver through to my

ther with a laser or a GPs whose figures

are confined to ‘front, middle and back’.

This is where the IntelliGreen Pro func-

tion on the skycaddie sGX comes into

action. By tilting the device to the right it

brings up a close-up graphic of the green

showing slopes, contours and yardages to

different points, while depicting the slope in

a special shade that helps you see it in rela-

tion to the rest of the green. It also gives me

the option of moving the flag around on the

screen to match the top or bottom pin posi-

tion in operation that day, while automatical-

ly adjusting the yardages to any given point.

While much of the time this feature will

be a superfluous luxury, on this type of hole

where mis-clubbing is fatal, it is a highly

useful – yet only available on the

skycaddie who map courses on foot (as

such topography currently cannot be

mapped from aerial photography).

The only downside is the tilting action

required on the sGX as I found the screen

can quickly jump back to another function if

Callaway uProThis claims to be the only GPs

with actual aerial imagery on-

screen, and one of the very few

with a flyover sequence of each

hole complete with 200-, 150-

and 100-yard marker lines super-

imposed for good measure.

Although an interesting usP, the

flyover happens quite quickly so

you may need to re-watch it a

couple of times to get a real

sense of the hole. The unit has all

of the normal GPs features,

including excellent yardage feed-

back on each green with dis-

tances to the front and back of

any surrounding bunkers. I hear a

spectacular new version [the

uProMX – ed.] is in the pipeline

but I haven’t seen it yet.

Guide: £299

www.uprogps.com

www.callawaygolf.com

Golf Plus Caddie liteentry level unit that gives yardages to fair-

way bunkers and other hazards from the

tee and then distances to the green

from the fairway. It only holds up to 10

courses and without the mapping and

scoring features of more sophisticated

rivals. But it was very effective for

basic yardages and can also record

the distance achieved by any club

in your bag.

Guide: £79.99 (for the standard

model) and £99.99 for the deluxe

edition which includes map cred-

its for course downloads.

www.golf-plus.co.uk

Sonocaddie v500+The sonocaddie comes with

over 2,400 pre-

loaded uk

courses – how-

ever you do have to

connect the unit up with a computer

first before being able to use it. The

screen view is fantastic – probably

the best on test – with instant

yardages to numerous points on the

hole for the tee shot. Good touch

screen performance giving you an

instant yardage to any point and

also from that point to the green

centre. A top-end contender.

Guide: £325

www.sonocaddie.com

www.golfsmitheurope.co.uk

EQUIPMENT DISTANCE MEASURING


you don’t get it completely horizontal. But

I’m sure I’ll get the knack with practice!

PART 1: GPSGolf Course library and Downloads

While many models now come preloaded

with anything up to 40,000 courses world-

wide, it’s important to think of the nature of

the data and what you actually need. The

Golf Plus caddie Lite only takes 10 cours-

es at a time – but that might enough for

you, while sonocaddie’s 2,400 uk courses

will be plenty for most of us. of course,

most operators allow you to log into their

site to download additional courses and,

where applicable, updated versions of

existing courses that reflect any recent

changes.

In richard Weeks’ test he notes that

some, like the sonocaddie and skycaddie

sGX need to be connected to a computer

before you can use them to their full poten-

tial, while others like the GolfBuddy are

ready to go ‘straight out the box’. Look out,

too, for Auto course recognition (as, say,

on the Bushnell Hybrid) which displays your

exact location without having to click

through the library.

Meanwhile, how that data has been com-

piled, its accuracy and presentation are

important issues that we now look at under

various categories.

Course Mapping:

satellite or “ground verified”?

While most golf GPs operators map their

courses with reference to aerial imagery

(usually satellite photography or in some

cases helicopter flyovers), some – most

notably skycaddie and GolfBuddy – map

on foot with a team that walks each course,

pinpointing greens, tees, hazards and other

selected landmarks as they go.

These ‘ground verifiers’ argue that the

alternative mapping from the air relies on

images that may be several years out of

date, and whose data is delivered through a

complex jigsaw of individual digital pixels

that can lead to significant distance distor-

tions in terms of the final picture as a whole.

They also point out that any aerial pho-

tography is often compromised by tree-lined

fairways than can hide bordering hazards

and the vital extremities of greens.

Walking the course undoubtedly also

allows for higher standards of green map-

ping with, for example, skycaddie’s sGX’s

IntelliGreen Pro feature including figures to

false fronts, ridges and tiers within greens –

details that are unattainable from ‘above’.

Accuracy of Distance Data

some GPs companies claim that there can

be wide distance discrepancies between dif-

ferent brands, due not merely to the differ-

ent methods of mapping just mentioned, but

the actual satellite tracking technology

adopted and the sophistication of the hand-

held unit.

skycaddie, for example, publishes the

formal ‘error factor’ for its sGX that speci-

fies that 95% of the time the yardage dis-

played is correct to within 1-3 yards

thanks to a special omni-directional GPs

‘engine’ that locks quickly onto the appro-

priate satellite. [Incidentally, this accuracy

is far higher than satnav where locations

do not need to be pinpointed to the same

level of detail.]

However, while

there are reports

that different units

can display differ-

ences of up to 10-

15 yards for any

given shot to the

green, this was not

borne out by our

own impromptu

tests (see richard’s

spot checks).

Satellite Imagery and video Flyover

While most GPs units display graphical rep-

resentations for both their full-hole view and

green close-ups, some offer high-quality

aerial imagery that makes for a strikingly

realistic contrast. The callaway uPro is a

case in point while this system and the

sonocaddie (the latter as a subscription

add-on) also offer an aerial ‘flyover’ feature

using actual helicopter footage similar to

those used on TV during tournaments. This

is visually impressive stuff and can be espe-

bushnell Tour v2 A very simple and user-friendly

device which gives effective

yardages to within +/- 1 yard.

fitted with Pinseeker technol-

ogy designed to pick out the

flag rather than something just

behind the green which could easi-

ly give you a duff yardage. Available in

a cool range of colours, too. As a practical

unit at a reasonable cost, this would be my first choice

laser along with the nikon 350G.

Guide: £270; www.bushnellgolf.com

bushnell Tour v2 Slope EditionAll of the above features but with the added benefit of a

slope calculator which makes a prediction on the poten-

tial variation in yardage for the shot in hand. Very useful

if your home course is particularly hilly! see my instruc-

tion section on this useful but, it must be remembered –

non-conforming – feature.

LATEST DEVICES










INSTRUCTION DAN FROST


All aboutBy Dan FrostSHOT ON LOCATION AT STOKE PARK • WWW.FROSTGOLF.COMPHOTOGRAPHY BY KEVIN MURRAY

Speed is the magic ingredient to hitting longer drives – but knowing howto generate greater clubhead speedisn’t simply a case of conciously tryingto swing the club faster. That’s the mistake a lot of amateurs make make– many confusing muscle power withswing power. The secret to hitting theball further and straighter is all aboutgenerating speed through the correctsequence of movements in the golfswing. So allow me to introduce you toa series of exercises designed toimprove your arm/body coordination,the ‘sequencing’, flexibility and naturalathleticism in your swing. With someregular practice, these work-outs willhelp you to max-out your speed andhit the ball further than ever before.

IT’S ALL ABOUT SPEED


More on ‘lag’ in a moment –but look at the energy that isstored as I unwind from theground up and the hands andarms enter this natural hittingposition

Tension is one of the biggest power killers inthe golf swing. Anxiety and fear of waywardtee shots leads to us gripping the club that bittoo tight in an attempt to steer the ball straightdown the fairway. This tight, tense swing hasno relationship to the whipping action I’mgoing to teach you in this opening drill. Manygreat golfers down the years, including JackNicklaus and Greg Norman, have describedthe swing as a ‘whipping’ motion. Most of ushave the ability to generate ‘whip’ – we justlose it when we place a golf club in our hands.So here’s a drill to reawaken this lost sense.Step 1: Push a cane into the ground andplace your driver headcover on top. You wantit around waist height – try to get your bellybutton pointing at the headcover at address.Step 2: Take a second cane, grip it as youwould a golf club, and address the headcover.Focus on feeling balanced through your feetand a little more upright with your posture thanyou would normally be in your golf addressposition.Step 3: Swing the stick back around yourbody, loading through your torso as you do so.Step 4: Keep your eyes focused on the head-cover and allow your natural instinct to takeover. Notice how my lower half has initiatedthe forward movement and my wrists are stillstored with energy, with the right elbow closeto my rib cage.Step 5: Now whip the headcover with thestick. You should feel – and hear – immensespeed as the cane whistles into impact.Remember this feeling of freedom, speed andacceleration – all you have to do is transfer thisinto your golf swing, whipping the clubthrough impact.GI QUICK TIP: The only difference betweenthis drill and hitting a golf ball is the way inwhich you tilt forward towards the ground. So,when you switch to a golf club, focus on get-ting good posture with the correct spine tiltforward at address.

Cane it, lose your inhibitions

Feel the ‘whip’ as youunwind and add that finalburst of acceleration withthe hands – exactly thefeeling you want with a dri-ver in your hands

INSTRUCTION DAN FROST


With the majority of golfers being right-side dominant the left side of the bodyis often forgotten. In everyday life theright-hander will seldom sway towardshis weaker side in day-to-day activities.This lack of use makes the left armweak in strength and lacking in coordi-nation. A great test of your left arm strength

(or right arm if you’re a left-hander) is tothrow two balls, one with your righthand and one with your left. I bet yourright hand throw is synchronised, free,easy and effective – but what about theleft? Clumsy, awkward and weak nodoubt! No matter what standard of golfer

you are it is important to improve thefunction of the left side of the body,because it really does improve the bal-ance and width of the golf swing.Improved strength and coordination onyour weaker side will allow your swingradius to widen – and with this wider arcyou will create more clubhead speed. Step 1: Address the ball with your left

hand grip only. Place your right hand onthe front of your left arm toward theshoulder. This will help support the leftarm as you rotate the torso in the back-swing. Make sure you are balanced andtilt forward from the hips to create goodposture. Step 2: Start the swing by using your

big muscles in your torso to rotate theclub away from the ball. Your belly but-ton should lead the turn in the takeaway. Step 3: Time to ‘load’. Simply contin-

ue to rotate your body slowly, keepingyour head central, and feel that your leftarm maintains all the width it had in theaddress position at the top.Step 4: Focus on allowing your arm

and body to swing down and unwind‘together’ smoothly into and throughimpact. You will have a strange sensa-tion of the clubhead coming down last.This is the correct and desiredsequence to strike the ball efficiently.Step 5: Impact is simply the position

you pass through, but notice the rewardfor making a good transition...the leftarm and the shaft form a synchronisedline,with thehandjust ahead of the ball.Step 6: Finally make sure you free-

wheel into a full finish, facing the target.Notice how my right foot has reachedits full pivot and my right hand is stillholding my upper left arm.

Gi QUICK TIP: Rehearse this drillwithout the ball until you feel a sense ofreal control. When you are comfortable,introduce the ball making smooth, fullswings. In no time at all your left side willfeel stronger and when you reapply yourright hand to the club you will have agreat feeling of control and width.

Improve your leftarm/wrist function

Focus on allowingyour arm and bodyto swing down andunwind ‘together’

Keep the pres-sure on with theright hand all theway to the finish

Clasp the upperpart of your leftarm with the righthand and thenstart your swingwith the biggermuscles in thetorso

With your lower body sta-bilising the movement ofyour body core, and theball held between thepalms of your hands,start off with this basicrotation back andthrough to the target

I’m sure most of you have swung two clubstogether to warm up at some stage. This is agood exercise, but often feels awkward in thehands, as it is difficult to grip two clubs at once.A good alternative is to keep the headcover onyour driver. Adding weight to the head improvesawareness, control and sequence, leading to amore synchronised swing. Step 1: Fix a strong rubber band around thebase of your driver headcover to secure it in

place. Then go ahead and assume your normalset up, hovering the club just off the ground.Step 2: Sweep the club away and turn yourshoulders so that your back faces the target (oras near to as possible) at the top of the swing.Step 3: Keep your change of direction smooth;allow the arms to fall for a fraction of a secondand the left leg to brace.Step 4: If you have started the downswing correctlyyour hands will definitely lead the club into impact.

Step 5: Allow the momentum of the headcoverto release the club so that the right arm and theshaft form a straight line.Step 6: As with every good shot allow that all-important re-hinge in the throughswing. Noticehow my eyes are still fixed on the point ofimpact at this time.Gi QUICK TIP: This drill is not only great forimproving ‘sequence’ in the golf swing; it is alsoa brilliant way to warm up on the 1st tee.

Weighted wrist bands are widely usedin the gym (to over-train, if you like) butthey are rarely used in golf...until now!This is a really simple drill that will helpto improve your strength and overalllevels of coordination. Step 1: Wrap a weighted wrist

band around each wrist. Step 2: Take your normal

address position – remindyourself of good balanceand posture.Step 3: Make a

smooth, wide backswing,allowing your shouldersto turn and rotate to sup-port this added weight atthe top of the swing.Step 4: Next, try to allow the

momentum and weight of the wristband to swing the club down andthrough. Step 5: Don’t forget that all-impor-

tant balanced finish, facing the target.

Gi QUICK TIP: The wrist band will natu-rally improve your strength and conditionwithin your own dynamic movement.The great thing about this drill is thatwhen you take the band off you will feelincreased hand speed and improvedrhythm leading to effortless power.

Headcover training – the perfect warm-up standing on the 1st tee

Add weight to increase the ‘load’

IT’S ALL ABOUT SPEED


The wrist bands Iuse weigh ?? At theset up, focus on cre-ating good angles,poise and balance

Swing the clubeasily and freelythrough the ball –the real benefitwill then berealised when youremove the bands

This is the perfectwarm-up on the1st tee – justremember torehearse thissmoothly andalways swing to afull finish The all-important

crossover as the handsand forearms re-hinge inthe through swing – lookfor this in your ownaction

EQUIPMENT TURNBERRY


Poetry in motionFollowing its success on tour with many of the world’s top players, the

TaylorMade Performance Lab is now available as arguably the ultimate custom

fitting experience for golfers of all standards. Dominic Pedler visited the brand new

facility at Turnberry for an overdue insight into his swing as well as his equipment.

PERFORMANCE LAB


A slick culture shock greets clients mid-way through their two-hour session

at the new TaylorMade Performance Lab at the Turnberry resort on the

Ayrshire coast. After the absorbing swing analysis and number crunching

section in the indoor studio, comes your chance to turn theory into practice

by testing out the demo clubs that the TaylorMade technician has expertly

configured to your swing.

At the flick of a switch one entire wall of the studio rolls up and cutting

edge technology gives way to natural beauty as the venue turns into your

private driving range, with Turnberry’s rugged linksland as the backdrop

and the famous lighthouse as a perfectly positioned marker post.

Then again, the whole TMPL experience delivers an enlightening ‘wow

factor’ for anyone mildly interested in the mechanics of their golf swing and

the latest ways top companies are pushing the envelope to get you custom

fitted most efficiently to your true potential.

of course, there are many custom fitting operations around today, many

using sophisticated launch monitors that tell you the results of any shot in

terms of the ball speed, spin rate and launch angles that define distance

and dispersion. The TMPL involves this, too, with data from the excellent

foresight Gc2 unit allowing instant comparisons between your existing

clubs and the various permutations of that the technician will instantly

assemble during your session.

But launch monitors only track the ball itself – not the swing that deliv-

ered it. And TaylorMade’s unique selling point with TMPL is their MAT-T

Motion Analysis Technology: a biomechanical-based camera/software con-

cept that tracks all the key movements and positions of both body and golf

club at every stage of the journey from address to follow-through.

This extra perspective provides a truly fascinating insight into the nature

of your game for both the fitter and the player, while dramatically improving

the task of recommending the ideal equipment and specifications for your

game. Here is a snapshot of the process as I experienced it on my recent

visit to Turnberry.

1. The Set Up

The adventure started with Turnberry’s Head fitting Professional, Ian

fraser, asking me preliminary questions about my game, swing tendencies

and priorities before making some initial observations about my ball-flight

as I warmed up.

The biomechanical action began when he attached a series of small sen-

sors to key positions on my wrist, feet, knees, chest, spine, arms and head

using lightweight Velcro straps and a small vest to which you are soon oblivi-

ous. The special six-iron test club used for this part of the session is also fitted

with sensors that calibrate your swing to the system and allow the face angle

and shaft plane to be monitored throughout. You then simply wait for the ‘beep’

each time before hitting the specially adapted ball into the net. six high-speed

cameras track the movement of every moving part and relays this to the MAT-T

software that already knows the exact length, loft and lie of the club.

In this way every swing you make can be recorded and viewed on the

TV monitor with you, the golfer, depicted now as a very visual 3-d ‘avatar’

whose every movement can be replayed in slow motion, freeze framed and

viewed from any angle.

2. Data collectionThis 3d footage is complemented by some essential impact data quantify-

ing the movement of the golf club itself. As well as head speed, these

include the dynamic loft (compared to the 6-iron’s static loft of 31 degrees),

the lie angle of the shaft (that can often explain a push or pull), the face

angle at impact relative to the target line, the orientation of the swing path

and the angle of attack (whether you’re hitting up or down on the ball).

These stats are supplemented by the more familiar numbers for ball

speed, spin and launch angle from the launch monitor itself.

While all this digital data is impressive, what matters most is the expert

interpretation and recommendations. The system itself comes up automati-

cally with its own specific equipment suggestions based on the cold data,

but the technician crucially considers it all in the context of his assessment

of your swing and coaching plans and the very latest product lines and

TRAVEL

For sports fans the world over the forthcoming Rugby World Cup promises a mouth-watering spectacle; for golfers especially the prospect of a trip to New Zealand is onelaced with opportunity, as our man on the ground, Martin Davidson, reports


NEW ZEALAND

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TRAVEL

It’s really not difficult to understand the enduring attraction of La Manga Club – just two hours’ flying time from the UK, the pioneering resort is an oasis of sportingluxury with five-star service to match, as Tim Smith discovered

LA MANGA

Course marshal Antonio Sota(left) is rightly proud of the lettersand photographs he receivedfrom England’s Luke Donald, whoholidayed at La Manga as a boy

Eveything under the sun

Of the many people associated with

Luke Donald’s deserved ascendan-

cy this season to the top of the

world rankings, the name Antonio

Sota will not be a familiar one.

However, this long serving and

extremely genial La Manga Club employee, who’s

now a course marshal there, can rightfully lay

claim to having helped the then future world No.

1perfect his game during numerous family holi-

days to the legendary Spanish resort as a school-

boy. Indeed, you only have to mention the subject

to him to be greeted by a huge smile and the excit-

ed exclamation ‘Luuuke Dooonald’. And such is his

pride in the connection that he’ll happily show you

the framed letters and photographs he has from

this year’s BMW PGA champion that clearly demon-

strate Donald’s own gratitude for the help he

received as a youngster.

I mention this as it seems somehow appropriate

that the La Manga Club, for some 40 years now a

favourite with golfers from all over the world,

should have had a small but significant hand in

Luke Donald’s career. After all, it also did its bit in

establishing the young Seve Ballesteros back in the

early ’70s when for several years he represented La

Manga as its international touring pro and in doing

so helped put the resort firmly on the map.

Originally the idea of Gregory Peters, an

American entrepreneur who purchased 500 acres

of land in 1970, the resort has now grown to

almost epic proportions and, as it approaches its

fortieth birthday later this year, it now covers an

area that’s apparently three times the size of

Monaco! This sprawling six square kilometres is

home to around 2000 villas and apartments, a 5-

star hotel, some 40 bars and restaurants, 8 soccer

pitches, 28 tennis courts, a bowling green, a spa,

and oh yes, three golf courses. It’s also easily acces-

sible from Britain, just one reason for its continued

popularity with golfers from this country.

This convenience should not be overlooked. We

flew from Gatwick to Alicante in less than two

hours and following a 60-minute journey by road

(Murcia airport is even closer) we were checking

into the wonderfully plush surroundings of the

Hotel La Manga Club – the Principe Felipe – which

was refurbished a few year’s ago and now stands

as one of the best golf resort hotels I’ve stayed in.

There was something rather idyllic about being

able to eat breakfast while overlooking the 18th

green and being able to walk to the first tee from

your room in about three minutes flat!

As for the golf itself, the ‘daddy’ of European

golf resorts has been attracting players here from

all over the world for almost as long as it’s been

open. The South Course was originally designed by

Robert D Putman but received a re-modelling in

1992 by Arnold Palmer. Regarded as the

Championship course at La Manga it measures

around 7,150 yards off the back tees and with

numerous water hazards and large sand traps this

Par 73 provides a test of golf that will definitely

keep you on your toes. The par four 15th is a fabu-

lous hole that requires a very straight (and long)

tee shot followed by an accurate approach shot to

Pristine championship golf in adelightful setting explains why somany habitually return to La Manga


WORLD NEWS

Playing to the galleryAt Congressional, Rory McIlory put on the show of a lifetime, breaking records for fun as he stormed to his first major title. Andy Farrell reports

McIlroy’s tee-shot at the par-three 10thon Sunday defined his performance – atowering iron to within inches of the cup

The European Tour– The Race to Dubai 2011

Nordea Masters

bro Hof Slott GC, Stockholm, Sweden. // 21-24 July

1 Alexander noren sWe -15 67 66 63 77 273 € 250,000

2 richard finch enG -8 69 72 70 69 280 € 166,660

3 niklas Lemke sWe -5 68 72 70 73 283 € 93,900

4 scott Hend Aus -4 69 70 71 74 284 € 69,300

4 Pablo Martin esP -4 69 72 69 74 284 € 69,300

6 dustin Johnson usA -3 73 71 67 74 285 € 42,150

6 seung-yul noh kor -3 73 68 69 75 285 € 42,150

6 Jeev Milkha singh Ind -3 70 71 69 75 285 € 42,150

6 Bubba Watson usA -3 71 67 69 78 285 € 42,150

10 Jamie donaldson WAL -2 73 70 67 76 286 € 27,800

The barclays Scottish Open

Castle Stuart Golf links, Inverness, Scotland // 07-10 July

1 Luke donald enG -19 67 67 63 197 € 550,250

2 Hed fredrik Andersson sWe -15 73 66 62 201 € 366,830

3 Angel cabrera ArG -14 71 64 67 202 € 126,117

3 George coetzee rsA -14 66 69 67 202 € 126,117

3 nicolas colsaerts BeL -14 69 66 67 202 € 126,117

3 Lorenzo Gagli ITA -14 68 68 66 202 € 126,117

3 scott Jamieson sco -14 67 66 69 202 € 126,117

3 Mark Tullo cHI -14 65 71 66 202 € 126,117

3 Martin Wiegele AuT -14 69 68 65 202 € 126,117

10 robert coles enG -13 70 69 64 203 € 59,179

Alstom Open de France

le Golf National, Paris, Francis // 30 June - 03 July

1 Thomas Levet frA -7 70 70 67 70 277 € 500,000

2 Mark foster enG -6 68 68 68 74 278 € 260,565

2 Thorbjørn olesen den -6 66 71 71 70 278 € 260,565

4 Martin kaymer Ger -4 71 69 67 73 280 € 150,000

5 simon khan enG -3 70 70 70 71 281 € 116,100

5 richie ramsay sco -3 69 68 68 76 281 € 116,100

7 James Morrison enG -2 66 66 72 78 282 € 77,400

7 Hennie otto rsA -2 69 71 71 71 282 € 77,400

7 Brendan steele usA -2 74 70 67 71 282 € 77,400

10 Anthony Wall enG -1 68 73 69 73 283 € 60,000

bMW International Open

Golfclub Munchen Eichenried, Munich, Germany // 23-26 June

1 Pablo Larrazábal esP -16 68 67 69 68 272 € 333,330

2 sergio Garcia esP -16 69 71 64 68 272 € 222,220

3 George coetzee rsA -14 67 67 70 70 274 € 88,000

3 Mark foster enG -14 68 68 66 72 274 € 88,000

3 retief Goosen rsA -14 68 69 67 70 274 € 88,000

3 scott Jamieson sco -14 69 69 72 64 274 € 88,000

3 Joost Luiten ned -14 70 69 68 67 274 € 88,000

8 robert coles enG -13 72 67 65 71 275 € 50,000

9 ross fisher enG -12 71 70 68 67 276 €40,533

9 Lee slattery enG -12 67 72 66 71 276 € 40,533

US OPEN Championship

Congressional CC, bethesda, Maryland, USA // 16-19 June

1 rory McIlroy nIr -16 65 66 68 69 268 € 1,003,414

2 Jason day Aus -8 71 72 65 68 276 € 602,745

3 kevin chappell usA -6 76 67 69 66 278 € 253,809

3 robert Garrigus usA -6 70 70 68 70 278 € 253,809

3 Lee Westwood enG -6 75 68 65 70 278 € 253,809

3 Y. e. Yang kor -6 68 69 70 71 278 € 253,809

7 sergio Garcia esP -5 69 71 69 70 279 € 159,164

7 Peter Hanson sWe -5 72 71 69 67 279 € 159,164

9 Louis oosthuizen rsA -4 69 73 71 67 280 € 134,459

9 charl schwartzel rsA -4 68 74 72 66 280 € 134,459

11 davis Love III usA -3 70 71 70 70 281 € 113,639

11 Heath slocum usA -3 71 70 70 70 281 € 113,639

11 Brandt snedeker usA -3 70 70 72 69 281 € 113,639

14 fredrik Jacobson sWe -2 74 69 66 73 282 € 90,250

14 Matt kuchar usA -2 72 68 69 73 282 € 90,250

14 Graeme Mcdowell nIr -2 70 74 69 69 282 € 90,250

14 Webb simpson usA -2 75 71 66 70 282 € 90,250

14 Bo Van Pelt usA -2 76 67 68 71 282 € 90,250

19 Johan edfors sWe -1 70 72 74 67 283 € 73,796

19 steve stricker usA -1 75 69 69 70 283 € 73,796

21 Patrick cantlay (AM) usA PAr75 67 70 72 284 €

21 ryan Palmer usA PAr69 72 73 70 284 € 67,760

23 retief Goosen rsA +1 73 73 71 68 285 € 53,275

23 Bill Haas usA +1 73 73 68 71 285 € 53,275

23 Brandt Jobe usA +1 71 70 70 74 285 € 53,275

23 dustin Johnson usA +1 75 71 69 70 285 € 53,275

23 robert rock enG +1 70 71 76 68 285 € 53,275

23 Henrik stenson sWe +1 70 72 69 74 285 € 53,275

23 Gary Woodland usA +1 73 71 73 68 285 € 53,275

30 Harrison frazar usA +2 72 73 68 73 286 € 35,145

30 Grégory Havret frA +2 77 69 71 69 286 € 35,145

30 ryo Ishikawa JPn +2 74 70 74 68 286 € 35,145

30 Zach Johnson usA +2 71 69 72 74 286 € 35,145

30 do-hoon kim kor +2 73 71 70 72 286 € 35,145

30 kyung-tae kim kor +2 69 72 69 76 286 € 35,145

30 seung-yul noh kor +2 72 70 73 71 286 € 35,145

30 rory sabbatini rsA +2 72 73 70 71 286 € 35,145

30 John senden Aus +2 70 72 72 72 286 € 35,145

bMW Italian Open

Royal Park I Roveri, Turin, Italy // 09-12 June

1 robert rock enG -21 64 68 68 67 267 € 250,000

2 Gary Boyd enG -20 69 65 68 66 268 € 130,280

2 Thorbjorn olesen den -20 65 71 70 62 268 € 130,280

4 Peter Whiteford sco -19 68 67 68 66 269 € 75,000

5 Joost Luiten ned -18 66 67 69 68 270 € 63,600

6 niclas fasth sWe -17 69 69 64 69 271 € 48,750

6 Michael Jonzon sWe -17 69 68 69 65 271 € 48,750

8 Jbe kruger rsA -16 69 66 67 70 272 € 33,700

8 Matteo Manassero ITA -16 66 68 70 68 272 € 33,700

8 francesco Molinari ITA -16 66 68 68 70 272 € 33,700


EDITED BY ANDY FARRELL

Playing to the galleryAt Congressional, Rory McIlory put on the show of a lifetime, breaking records for fun as he stormed to his first major title. Andy Farrell reports

Golf International - 104

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Transcript of Golf International - 104