Opinion & Analysis
Ditch the draw to play the most consistent golf of your life
Ask anyone who teaches for a living, and you’ll hear that the No. 1 thing most golfers are looking for is consistency. Equipment companies cash in by promising each successive club will hit the ball farther than the last, but in more than a quarter century of teaching this great game I’ve yet to meet a golfer who wouldn’t give up a few yards in exchange for finding the fairway more often.
As golfers, then, we’re in a bit of a conundrum. We crave consistency, but when the chips are down we put our money down on distance. And while it’s not impossible to achieve some degree of both, if we’re serious about finding the fairway more often, giving up those extra yards might be exactly what we need to do.
Here’s why.
When it comes to consistency, ball flight patterns matter. Commenting on his preferred shot shape, Lee Trevino once famously said, “You can talk to a fade, but a hook won’t listen.” I learned that lesson the hard way back in college during my own Tin Cup moment. After being under par most of the round, I found myself walking up No. 18 with my head down, out of the match because I was out of balls after stubbornly refusing to hit a controlled fade (my natural shot) instead of the draw that would have made the hole play shorter. Trevino was right. Despite that painful lesson, however, it still took a few years — and my looming PGA Player Ability Test — to finally sink in.
I was preparing for the test by playing a practice round with an 18-handicap buddy of mine. I was still struggling with the driver, and that’s when I had a bit of an epiphany. This guy hit a short, ugly 30-yard slice off every tee, but after watching it find the fairway on darn near every hole I realized my buddy knew something I didn’t — where his ball was going. And despite the fact that I didn’t like the look of it, I knew that I could hit that shot, too. So I decided to put my ego aside and play what I called my Big Ol’ Hacker’s Cut. It wasn’t as long, but I knew where it was going, and in the end that’s what I needed to start scoring again. And I did.
Now as far as great players go, last time I checked I hadn’t made anyone’s short list, but there are a couple of great ones who you might never have heard of either if they hadn’t learned that very same lesson. The first was the immortal Ben Hogan. Early in his career, Hogan spent a decade in obscurity fighting the big hook that nearly ended his career before it began. Now Hogan loved to practice, and he eventually figured out a few things while spending a legendary amount of time on the range, but despite all his cryptic talk about his secret being in the dirt, if you really paid attention to Hogan’s interviews you’d realize his game changed when he changed his preferred shot shape. Years later, when asked if he ever tried to hit a straight ball Hogan answered, “Never. Jesus Christ can’t hit a ball straight.”
Which way did Hogan always try to hit it? Left to right, or with a little cut.
A player at the opposite end of the practice spectrum from Hogan, but one who might best exemplify the reliability of the cut, was Bruce Lietzke. Lietzke disdained practice and was the Tour’s king of taking time off, often taking a few weeks off at time during the season to go fishing in the 1980’s and 1990’s. Burned out and tired of the ups and downs of his game, Lietzke quit the game briefly after college, and when he came back to it found his swing had changed and he couldn’t hit anything but a cut. Frustrated at first, Lietzke soon realized that while he didn’t like the look of his new shot, he was scoring more consistently and his game held up better under pressure. And the real kicker? He realized he could take a week or two off — and ultimately a few months off from the game to go fishing — and his swing was still there when he got back, as reliable as ever.
The most famous story about Lietzke that highlighted this happened at the end of 1984 when he told his caddie to remove everything from his bag except the clubs because he wouldn’t be using them until the next season started, more than three months later. His caddie didn’t believe him, so he took the head cover off his driver and stuffed a banana inside. The next February, when Lietzke arrived at the practice range of his first event, his caddy opened up the bag to a stomach-turning smell. When they pulled the head cover off the driver, it was covered with nasty black fungus and rotten banana, never again playable.
Now I’m not trying to compare anything about my game to Hogan’s, or even Lietzke’s, but the common thread here is how a player struggling with consistency eventually found it in a little shot called the cut. In my case, turning professional and learning to teach the game taught me why that shot was more consistent. Mechanically speaking, there are a handful of reasons playing a hook is often less predictable, but there is one primary reason why. As Trevino said, a hook doesn’t want to listen.
Before I say any more, though, I want to apologize up front to all my Homer Kelly disciples and other hardcore swing analytics for what I’m sure you will think is a gross over-simplification. It’s important, however, to explain my point in a way that doesn’t take intimate knowledge of the golf swing to grasp.
- Swings with a lot of hands in the hitting area (read draws and hooks) require very precise timing and that usually translates into a lot of time spent beating balls to achieve a modicum of reliability and consistency.
- Swings with less hand action in the hitting area (read cuts, fades, and slices) are less dependent on precise timing of the hands because they typically have the face of the club in relation to the path and or target for a longer period of time and use the body more than the hands to square that clubface. This means swings that produce shots that cut, fade, or slice often produce more consistent results and are more low-maintenance (read less practice time), even though they don’t produce quite as much distance due to the increased spin created by the path, the slightly steeper angle of attack, and less release of the hands.
So If you’ve been looking for the road to consistency for a while, maybe it’s time to take a shortcut and stop ditch that draw. Sure, it might not look as pretty, and you might sacrifice a few yards, but in the end you just might find a shot that will actually listen to all that hoping and praying you’ve been doing while it’s in flight. And with all the newfound time that was previously spent trying to reign in that hook on the practice tee, you just might be able to pick up a second hobby. Fishing anyone?
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The PGA TOUR heads to New Orleans to play the 2023 Zurich Classic of New Orleans. In a welcome change from the usual stroke play, the Zurich Classic is a team event. On Thursday and Saturday, the teams play best ball, and on Friday and Sunday the teams play alternate shot.
TPC Louisiana is a par 72 that measures 7,425 yards. The course features some short par 4s and plenty of water and bunkers, which makes for a lot of exciting risk/reward scenarios for competitors. Pete Dye designed the course in 2004 specifically for the Zurich Classic, although the event didn’t make its debut until 2007 because of Hurricane Katrina.
Coming off of the Masters and a signature event in consecutive weeks, the field this week is a step down, and understandably so. Many of the world’s top players will be using this time to rest after a busy stretch.
However, there are some interesting teams this season with some stars making surprise appearances in the team event. Some notable teams include Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele, Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry, Collin Morikawa and Kurt Kitayama, Will Zalatoris and Sahith Theegala as well as a few Canadian teams, Nick Taylor and Adam Hadwin and Taylor Pendrith and Corey Conners.
Past Winners at TPC Louisiana
- 2023: Riley/Hardy (-30)
- 2022: Cantlay/Schauffele (-29)
- 2021: Leishman/Smith (-20)
- 2019: Palmer/Rahm (-26)
- 2018: Horschel/Piercy (-22)
- 2017: Blixt/Smith (-27)
2024 Zurich Classic of New Orleans Picks
Tom Hoge/Maverick McNealy +2500 (DraftKings)
Tom Hoge is coming off of a solid T18 finish at the RBC Heritage and finished T13 at last year’s Zurich Classic alongside Harris English.
This season, Hoge is having one of his best years on Tour in terms of Strokes Gained: Approach. In his last 24 rounds, the only player to top him on the category is Scottie Scheffler. Hoge has been solid on Pete Dye designs, ranking 28th in the field over his past 36 rounds.
McNealy is also having a solid season. He’s finished T6 at the Waste Management Phoenix Open and T9 at the PLAYERS Championship. He recently started working with world renowned swing coach, Butch Harmon, and its seemingly paid dividends in 2024.
Keith Mitchell/Joel Dahmen +4000 (DraftKings)
Keith Mitchell is having a fantastic season, finishing in the top-20 of five of his past seven starts on Tour. Most recently, Mitchell finished T14 at the Valero Texas Open and gained a whopping 6.0 strokes off the tee. He finished 6th at last year’s Zurich Classic.
Joel Dahmen is having a resurgent year and has been dialed in with his irons. He also has a T11 finish at the PLAYERS Championship at TPC Sawgrass which is another Pete Dye track. With Mitchell’s length and Dahmen’s ability to put it close with his short irons, the Mitchell/Dahmen combination will be dangerous this week.
Taylor Moore/Matt NeSmith +6500 (DraftKings)
Taylor Moore has quickly developed into one of the more consistent players on Tour. He’s finished in the top-20 in three of his past four starts, including a very impressive showing at The Masters, finishing T20. He’s also finished T4 at this event in consecutive seasons alongside Matt NeSmith.
NeSmith isn’t having a great 2024, but has seemed to elevate his game in this format. He finished T26 at Pete Dye’s TPC Sawgrass, which gives the 30-year-old something to build off of. NeSmith is also a great putter on Bermudagrass, which could help elevate Moore’s ball striking prowess.
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After having four of the top twelve players on the leaderboard at The Masters, LIV Golf is set for their fifth event of the season: LIV Adelaide.
For both LIV fans and golf fans in Australia, LIV Adelaide is one of the most anticipated events of the year. With 35,000 people expected to attend each day of the tournament, the Grange Golf Club will be crawling with fans who are passionate about the sport of golf. The 12th hole, better known as “the watering hole”, is sure to have the rowdiest of the fans cheering after a long day of drinking some Leishman Lager.
The Grange Golf Club is a par-72 that measures 6,946 yards. The course features minimal resistance, as golfers went extremely low last season. In 2023, Talor Gooch shot consecutive rounds of 62 on Thursday and Friday, giving himself a gigantic cushion heading into championship Sunday. Things got tight for a while, but in the end, the Oklahoma State product was able to hold off The Crushers’ Anirban Lahiri for a three-shot victory.
The Four Aces won the team competition with the Range Goats finishing second.
*All Images Courtesy of LIV Golf*
Past Winners at LIV Adelaide
- 2023: Talor Gooch (-19)
Stat Leaders Through LIV Miami
Green in Regulation
- Richard Bland
- Jon Rahm
- Paul Casey
Fairways Hit
- Abraham Ancer
- Graeme McDowell
- Henrik Stenson
Driving Distance
- Bryson DeChambeau
- Joaquin Niemann
- Dean Burmester
Putting
- Cameron Smith
- Louis Oosthuizen
- Matt Jones
2024 LIV Adelaide Picks
Cameron Smith +1400 (DraftKings)
When I pulled up the odds for LIV Adelaide, I was more than a little surprised to see multiple golfers listed ahead of Cameron Smith on the betting board. A few starts ago, Cam finished runner-up at LIV Hong Kong, which is a golf course that absolutely suits his eye. Augusta National in another course that Smith could roll out of bed and finish in the top-ten at, and he did so two weeks ago at The Masters, finishing T6.
At Augusta, he gained strokes on the field on approach, off the tee (slightly), and of course, around the green and putting. Smith able to get in the mix at a major championship despite coming into the week feeling under the weather tells me that his game is once again rounding into form.
The Grange Golf Club is another course that undoubtedly suits the Australian. Smith is obviously incredibly comfortable playing in front of the Aussie faithful and has won three Australian PGA Championship’s. The course is very short and will allow Smith to play conservative off the tee, mitigating his most glaring weakness. With birdies available all over the golf course, there’s a chance the event turns into a putting contest, and there’s no one on the planet I’d rather have in one of those than Cam Smith.
Louis Oosthuizen +2200 (DraftKings)
Louis Oosthuizen has simply been one of the best players on LIV in the 2024 seas0n. The South African has finished in the top-10 on the LIV leaderboard in three of his five starts, with his best coming in Jeddah, where he finished T2. Perhaps more impressively, Oosthuizen finished T7 at LIV Miami, which took place at Doral’s “Blue Monster”, an absolutely massive golf course. Given that Louis is on the shorter side in terms of distance off the tee, his ability to play well in Miami shows how dialed he is with the irons this season.
In addition to the LIV finishes, Oosthuizen won back-to-back starts on the DP World Tour in December at the Alfred Dunhill Championship and the Mauritus Open. He also finished runner-up at the end of February in the International Series Oman. The 41-year-old has been one of the most consistent performers of 2024, regardless of tour.
For the season, Louis ranks 4th on LIV in birdies made, T9 in fairways hit and first in putting. He ranks 32nd in driving distance, but that won’t be an issue at this short course. Last season, he finished T11 at the event, but was in decent position going into the final round but fell back after shooting 70 while the rest of the field went low. This season, Oosthuizen comes into the event in peak form, and the course should be a perfect fit for his smooth swing and hot putter this week.
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Of all the clubs in our bags, wedges are almost always the simplest in construction and, therefore, the easiest to analyze what might make one work differently from another if you know what to look for.
Wedges are a lot less mysterious than drivers, of course, as the major brands are working with a lot of “pixie dust” inside these modern marvels. That’s carrying over more to irons now, with so many new models featuring internal multi-material technologies, and almost all of them having a “badge” or insert in the back to allow more complex graphics while hiding the actual distribution of mass.
But when it comes to wedges, most on the market today are still single pieces of molded steel, either cast or forged into that shape. So, if you look closely at where the mass is distributed, it’s pretty clear how that wedge is going to perform.
To start, because of their wider soles, the majority of the mass of almost any wedge is along the bottom third of the clubhead. So, the best wedge shots are always those hit between the 2nd and 5th grooves so that more mass is directly behind that impact. Elite tour professionals practice incessantly to learn to do that consistently, wearing out a spot about the size of a penny right there. If impact moves higher than that, the face is dramatically thinner, so smash factor is compromised significantly, which reduces the overall distance the ball will fly.
Every one of us, tour players included, knows that maddening shot that we feel a bit high on the face and it doesn’t go anywhere, it’s not your fault.
If your wedges show a wear pattern the size of a silver dollar, and centered above the 3rd or 4th groove, you are not getting anywhere near the same performance from shot to shot. Robot testing proves impact even two to three grooves higher in the face can cause distance loss of up to 35 to 55 feet with modern ‘tour design’ wedges.
In addition, as impact moves above the center of mass, the golf club principle of gear effect causes the ball to fly higher with less spin. Think of modern drivers for a minute. The “holy grail” of driving is high launch and low spin, and the driver engineers are pulling out all stops to get the mass as low in the clubhead as possible to optimize this combination.
Where is all the mass in your wedges? Low. So, disregarding the higher lofts, wedges “want” to launch the ball high with low spin – exactly the opposite of what good wedge play requires penetrating ball flight with high spin.
While almost all major brand wedges have begun putting a tiny bit more thickness in the top portion of the clubhead, conventional and modern ‘tour design’ wedges perform pretty much like they always have. Elite players learn to hit those crisp, spinny penetrating wedge shots by spending lots of practice time learning to consistently make contact low in the face.
So, what about grooves and face texture?
Grooves on any club can only do so much, and no one has any material advantage here. The USGA tightly defines what we manufacturers can do with grooves and face texture, and modern manufacturing techniques allow all of us to push those limits ever closer. And we all do. End of story.
Then there’s the topic of bounce and grinds, the most complex and confusing part of the wedge formula. Many top brands offer a complex array of sole configurations, all of them admittedly specialized to a particular kind of lie or turf conditions, and/or a particular divot pattern.
But if you don’t play the same turf all the time, and make the same size divot on every swing, how would you ever figure this out?
The only way is to take any wedge you are considering and play it a few rounds, hitting all the shots you face and observing the results. There’s simply no other way.
So, hopefully this will inspire a lively conversation in our comments section, and I’ll chime in to answer any questions you might have.
And next week, I’ll dive into the rest of the wedge formula. Yes, shafts, grips and specifications are essential, too.
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James G
Sep 7, 2016 at 2:31 pm
My son is but 12 and has made this discovery on his own. He has found he can hit a slight cut much easier and actually swing faster so he doesn’t lose distance. Said he got the idea watching Dustin Johnson at the US Open. His scores have dropped playing the cut. He has won two junior tournaments since going the cut route.
Mike
Sep 6, 2016 at 1:53 pm
As soon as I stopped trying to play a fade to exclusively play a draw my scores plummeted. I’ve eliminated the right side of the course and gained distance. I’ve gone from a 7-8 handicap to a 3-4. The next jump might require a swing change but I’m guessing it has more to do with chipping and putting…
DeadFish
Sep 6, 2016 at 3:48 pm
Do you play courses that exclusively feature dogleg lefts? A draw is never always the answer, and neither is a fade. The best shot is the one that gets you closest to the hole. The closer you are to the hole the better the chances of making par….
If that means a fade on a dogleg right, you better freaking play a fade. If that means a draw on a dogleg left, you better freaking play a draw. Catch my drift?
Doesn’t matter what shot shape, as long as it gets you closer to the hole…
Scott
Sep 8, 2016 at 11:07 am
But according to the article, for Ben Hogan a fade *was* always the answer. I think you missed the point of the article. The best shot is the one you can get the farthest and control. If you can’t control a draw, do not hit one.
Mat
Sep 5, 2016 at 8:55 pm
This “story” is too personal. The fact is that this is overstating the true wisdom in this article. His buddy could control his drive.
As a pro, you have to know that:
#1 – as long as you get distance, rough matters little. Keep pounding; the stats back you up.
#2 – a fade is just the description of a narrow slice as it relates to the intended line.
#3 – a fade is always technically simpler when the club length is ~ 45″.
#4 – I’d argue that it is no more precise with the hands to hit a “fade” than a “draw”. What’s very easy to hit with little hand movement is a slice.
So while his experience is just that; his, it’s fair to say that all players must find a balance between control and ball flight. Hell, that’s golf by definition. There’s no picture to how your ball flies on a scorecard, but the emotional process of what a ball flight “wants to be” is usually based around optimal results. It’s ego-shattering when you aren’t capable of hitting an optimal shape, and that’s a hard lesson to swallow. In this case, at least the friend was there to demonstrate that.
KK
Sep 8, 2016 at 11:41 pm
“Precise with the hands” might be the most ridiculous phrase I’ve ever heard. This isn’t heart surgery.
Pingback: Ditch the draw to play the most consistent golf of your life
bogeypro
Sep 4, 2016 at 10:35 pm
Dustin Johnson pounds a fade and so does Bubba. Please stop with the idea that draw is longer. find the shape that works best for you and own it.
Kujan
Sep 4, 2016 at 8:40 pm
Great article. Don’t want to abandon the draw but sometimes a fade is called for.
Kujan
Sep 7, 2016 at 5:17 pm
On second thought I may have to embrace the fade or whatever I get with a steeper swing plane.
Pa
Sep 4, 2016 at 7:59 pm
Tom Watson shot his age, 67, on his birthday, today.
I’m a gonna stick to the draw. Thanks
Smokin'Gun
Sep 4, 2016 at 11:38 am
Your body type will dictate your ball flight, your path versus face relationship is based on how you deliver the club to the ball… Play to your strength and get a bioscience fitting… It will open your eyes!!!
Steve Wozeniak
Sep 4, 2016 at 11:29 am
A draw is a straight shot that falls left……a fade is a straight shot that falls right…….anything else is a hook or a slice and is easy to fix with correct information…….
JustWellsy
Sep 6, 2016 at 1:44 am
The way you used the word “easy” is the biggest exaggeration I’ve ever seen. Easy to fix? You have any idea how good most golfers would be if they could fix their swing as soon as they had the right “information?” There have been people that work for years to perfect a swing with no such luck. Some people give up the game because of the yips… It’s not all all easy
Mike Dowd
Sep 4, 2016 at 11:20 am
When most of us learn the game, we initially hit some version of a cut, fade, or slice and it’s typically drilled into us early on, not only that the draw is longer, but preferable. Good players draw it and hackers slice it, and so a great many players spend years of frustration trying to learn to hit it the other way. Some do, but some never do, at least not with any real consistency. My point was that’s o.k., and in many ways the storyline of having to draw it to be a good player is misleading. Plenty of great players have preferred to cut it and some couldn’t hit anything but a cut. There are advantages to that shot shape (like the ball sitting on the green better) and we shouldn’t look at it with as much disdain as many of us do. Sure, it’s nice to be able to hit it both ways, and it helps you become more of a complete player if you can, but if you’ve been struggling with consistency you might want to experiment with playing it the other way. Whether it’s left or right, the real key to scoring is just knowing which way it’s going, so if it’s easier for you stop fighting that fade and just roll with it. Hope it helped and thanks for all the great comments. – Mike
Groundpounder
Sep 4, 2016 at 10:27 am
I signed up for 52 lessons at GolfTEC because they said I’d never get better unless I learned to hit a push-draw. Guess I wasted my money…
Smokin'Gun
Sep 4, 2016 at 11:34 am
Any type of instruction from a qualified instructor is definitely not a waste of money. As long as you own and practice the information given. Just like a script from your doc, practice and take with water!!!
KoreanSlumLord
Sep 4, 2016 at 2:28 am
Ben Hogan was disgusted at the sight of a right to left shot pattern. Myself, I play a low running fade or what I call a reverse hook of the tee- not unlike Jimmy Demarets. Very predictable drives.
Tom
Sep 4, 2016 at 10:26 am
I hit a high soft draw. Very predictable.
snowman
Sep 3, 2016 at 11:22 pm
I agree. A guy I play with regularly hits a draw(often a hook) and when he pures it (rare) he is 15-20 yards longer than me off tee); however I hit probably twice as many fairways as he does and his average drive is 10 yards longer than my average. Now, with my CONTROLLED little cut I can easily knock it on the green more consistently than him, even though I’m 10yards farther away. A draw is probably evidence of a ‘better swing’, but not many average-joe type players can hit a consistent draw that finds target. The Fade / Pull-Cut is not a sexy or long-ball type of shot but it rarely goes way wrong.
Tom
Sep 3, 2016 at 11:21 pm
So when I’m on the wrong side of the fairway and I need to hit a draw………?
tom
Sep 3, 2016 at 10:55 pm
Great article. Shot the best score of my life earlier this year (2 under par) but before the round at the range I was hooking my driver really badly. I told myself … I’m just gonna hit a cut/slice off the tee all day. I don’t care how far right it goes but I’m not going left. Worked like a charm and yeah I did give up a few yards but I hit 11/14 fairways. Yet I’ve found myself getting away from that again … so stupid.
KK
Sep 3, 2016 at 9:27 pm
Driver fade, just like iron fade, is scientifically proven to be a more predictable shape. Too bad most golfers are too egotistical to give up the 10 yds off the tee for perfect placement on the fairway.
Tom
Sep 3, 2016 at 11:23 pm
define “perfect placement”?
Scooter McGavin
Sep 4, 2016 at 10:45 pm
In the fairway…. It says it literally right after the bit you quoted…
PO
Sep 3, 2016 at 9:14 pm
My game got easier and more consistent with less pain in my side when I switched to draw from fade. Fade will kill your side if you compress that side as you try to come over the top and hold that slide.
vince guest
Sep 3, 2016 at 5:23 pm
Kenny Perry and Patrick Reed would disagree…but personally I’d love to hit a Bubba Long fade.
Cris
Sep 3, 2016 at 2:07 pm
Why does a draw “require more hands through the hitting area”?
Golfer
Sep 3, 2016 at 4:26 pm
You have to rotate the face over more through impact to draw the ball.
Sometimes a Smizzle
Sep 3, 2016 at 10:25 pm
Me to, from 11 degrees inside.
Jack
Sep 5, 2016 at 6:18 am
I don’t think so. I used to use a lot more hands but as long as the clubface is set more closed than your club path it will draw away from ur club path. But perhaps the “hands” is what’s causing the extra distance? I feel that it’s the slight delofting of draws compared to fades.
shimmy
Sep 3, 2016 at 12:31 pm
I have a high toe miss, and I’ve found that if I play a fade, that miss wants to go straight. If I play a draw, the toe miss is left of left.
kkp
Sep 3, 2016 at 11:39 am
Yeah that’s why Tom Watson plays the draw. Duh