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Op-ed: Banning the anchored stroke is bad for golf

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By Ryan David

GolfWRX Contributor

There has been speculation for over a year now, and we finally have some sort of confirmation.  The USGA and the R&A have hinted they will ban the anchored stroke sometime “in the coming months.” USGA Executive Director Mike Davis presented the topic recently to the PGA Tour Policy board, to mixed reviews. While I’m sure the USGA understands it will have a fight on its hands from professionals, I’m not convinced they understand how a belly ban will hurt the game overall.Keegan Bradley spoke out recently, telling Golfweek,

“I’m going to do whatever I have to do to protect myself and the other players on Tour.”

Ernie Els, who won The Open Championship in 2012 with an anchored stroke (remember, Adam Scott lost the Open with a long putter) has famously been quoted as saying,

“As long as they’re legal, I’ll keep cheating like the rest of them.”

Okay, fine. To me, Bradley doesn’t issue the statement as a protection of an advantage. He understands that as a professional an equipment change of that magnitude requires a major adjustment and really doesn’t equal the playing field. It’s obvious that in the world of golf, anchoring the putter is a divided and heated issue. It’s also an irresponsible and short-sighted move by the USGA and R&A to ban it.

In a nutshell, the mission of the USGA serves to preserve and foster growth of the game to all who love and respect it. No mention here of preserving integrity of Tour players or tour equipment. A ban on an anchored stroke would leave the casual/beginning golfer in the cold. In order for the game to grow, it must appeal to a wider audience. An anchored stroke helps derive enjoyment out of the game far sooner for a new golfer, increasing the likelihood of retention. We’re a passionate and driven community here at GolfWRX, so thinking about golfers at the margins can sometimes be difficult.

The USGA ‘Tee-it-Forward’ initiative was a step in the right direction to growing the game. By helping players understand the relative distances and advantages of playing a slightly shorter course, the USGA opened the game to a broader audience. To me, it just seems a little odd that one hand promotes a faster, simpler game while the other takes strides to make it more difficult for some. If I were a cynic, I’d imagine Mr. Davis sitting back and saying, “Play up guys, because your wedges are duller, your putter is shorter and you need all the help you can get.”

Understandably, It is a delicate balancing act to build an inclusive environment for new golfers and reign in Tour players from shooting the lights out. They’ve spent too much effort and time during these last few years focusing on pros and not building relationships with beginners and casual players.

The governing bodies need to take a step back and generate a holistic view of putter performance and regulate from there. In my hasty analysis, I could not find any rules regarding weight or MOI rating.  Since most of the belly putters of note are mallet style, is it possible that the anchored stroke alone is not the entire driver of the advatange of a belly putter?  Although a ban on anchoring seems a foregone conclusion at this point, I’d hope the USGA/R&A would take a deep breath, ignore the media frenzy and make the right decision for the future of the game we all love.

Click here for more discussion in the “Tour Talk” forum. 

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28 Comments

28 Comments

  1. Tim Schoch

    Mar 6, 2013 at 12:53 pm

    Bernhard Langer. He turned his putting around with the long stick. So have many others. Whether is it psychological or a cure for the yips or a very real advantage, I think it is individual to each player’s needs. A golf swing is a swing, not a shove. It is irrelevant if we’re waking up to this after so many years. Better late than never. Unless we want to see players strapping drivers to their forearms or employing elevator spikes that lift you up above hazards and hills. The PR damage is already done.

  2. Jim M

    Nov 8, 2012 at 11:19 am

    There is zero statistical evidence to suggest that the long putters provide any advantage. When the USGA spoke to the policy board, they admitted that the proposed ban was more about perception than reality. The announcers keep insisting that it gives someone an advantage, so the public believes it gives someone an advantage. I fail to see how golf is a better place if we drive Langer, Couples, Els, Scott and Bradley from the game

  3. ElVerde

    Nov 6, 2012 at 10:08 am

    Golf is inherently a game that allows tinkering with equipment…I think of NASCAR as pretty similar. We all have to work within the same framework, but there is room to play.

    This is why golfers can use different shafts, different drivers, different putters, even different length clubs, etc. It’s like using a different gear ratio in a NASCAR…as long as it’s in the same transmission as everyone else!

    The anchored stroke is a fundamentally different stroke, and that is why it should be banned. It would be like running a rear-engined NASCAR…not necessarily better or worse, but DIFFERENT.

    Someone else up here mentioned straddling the putting line, and I think it’s a pretty apt comparison. Where do we draw the line?

  4. adam

    Nov 4, 2012 at 10:13 am

    14 year-old Guan Tianglang of China just qualified for the 2013 Masters. He uses a belly putter. If you don’t ban them now, we’ll see more and more kids go in that direction. It’s now or never, babay.

  5. Courtney Zimmerman

    Nov 1, 2012 at 2:23 pm

    On a website like this where people are gaining distance through perfecting launch etc through high end shafts and tinkering, if you are going to ban anchoring because of the advantage it provides, then all competition should go back to steel shafts and persimon heads and blades only. Lets take away distance gained by weaker smaller players and you will go back to guys like Tiger dominating through strength. Leaves most of the new competitors out of the winners circle. I dont use an anchored putter currently, I have used one and don’t make any more putts with or without but am a much better lag putter without. Doing what I mentioned is no different than what they are doing with guys like Keegan who have had the option their entire lives to play with the long putter and now that success comes to them they are calling it an unfair advantage. USGA and R&A are being too quick to judgment on this one. Senior competitors in USGA events who need it for their back and are successful are hosed. Does this mean they are a bad putter with a short putter, no, it simply allows them to practice and play more, isnt that the point?

    • JG

      Nov 1, 2012 at 5:54 pm

      no, all arguments wrong. Senior players with bad backs??? haha wow. The can have a putter as long as they want. It is anchoring that is the issue not length. Its against the rules already!! why it was ever approved for tournament play is beside me.

  6. kevin smith

    Nov 1, 2012 at 10:58 am

    Keegan uses his shirt to anchor the butt end of his putter. Watch how he lifts his shirt and then positions the butt.
    What is next , a shirt with a stomach holster built in soo he can anchor his putter and also carry the american flag at the olympics?????

  7. kevin smith

    Nov 1, 2012 at 10:20 am

    Anchoring of the putter is the question , not the Belly or long putter….This anchoring of the putter is bad for the game of golf!!!

  8. Zooch

    Nov 1, 2012 at 9:51 am

    People who dislike belly putters only dislike them for asthetic reasons. If you’re honest. It’s going to be an arguement that nobody will win until someone can produce some empirical evidence to show that these really are the bain of golf. and PS they’ve been around for a while.

  9. Prut

    Nov 1, 2012 at 9:50 am

    If you had a $100, you wouldn’t be able to buy an anchored putter.

  10. obvioustroll

    Nov 1, 2012 at 8:56 am

    i bet 100 dollars that if you had an absolutely flat surface and a 5 meter putt, anchored putters will have higher consistency of making it… they should ban it.

  11. Tim

    Nov 1, 2012 at 8:34 am

    All I know is that at 64 yo I was ready to give the game up due to my putting. Since going to the belly I find myself enjoying the game again.

    I am an not a professional and there will never be a time now that I will be one. However, I am sure that I represent a much higher number than the professional ranks when it comes to enjoyment of the game. Banning the body-anchored putter will set back our games to the point of reducing the number of players that the USGA wants to see playing each year. I am sure the equipment mfg feel the same.

  12. Jeffrey

    Nov 1, 2012 at 7:48 am

    There is no advantage to a belly or anchored putter. It’s just a different method. I have extensively tested belly vs short putter using on course data and software stroke data and I was slightly better with a short putter. Anchoring a putter removes freedom and feel from a stroke. If an anchored putter was truly an advantage everyone on tour would use it because their putting stats would dramatically improve. Belly putter banners seem to look at it like the ones who use it get an advantage like using a titanium 460 cc driver vs a persimmon wood.

  13. James

    Nov 1, 2012 at 5:59 am

    You can’t be serious that belly putters keep hundreds or thousands of people interested or willing to take up the game of golf, because its easier to score? Surely factors such as affordability and time (especially for people with young families) a far more influential factors.

    Belly and broomstick putters and their allowed use have been a blight on the game for too long,. It’s not golf it’s croquet – and any argument that says differently comes from a place of self interest.

    The problem is not a ban, it’s that they’ve been allowed in competition in the first instance.

    As for allowing pros to have different rules to amateurs(?) That is a terrible and flawed argument. If anything pros should uphold the rules and if anything play to stricter standards and set an example to the rest of us – not be given a break because it is their chosen profession.

    Good luck in court Keegan. I am sure your very expensive lawyer is talking up your chances.

  14. chris

    Nov 1, 2012 at 1:54 am

    Let’s not worry that Keegan hit driver 9 iron to a 497 yard hole…surely the belly putter is what is ruining the game!

    This discussion is a laughable joke.

    • March

      Nov 1, 2012 at 11:00 pm

      Very true. Carbon fiber, graphite, titanium clubs, 3,4 and 5 compound laser straight balls. Putter heads of every shape and size. But the belly putter is the only thing that is in focus. Oh yea, changing the grooves was another huge jump in curbing the pros.

  15. Christian

    Oct 31, 2012 at 11:43 pm

    Keegan Bradley is one of my favorite players, and I use to be against the belly putter completely and I thought it was a crutch as well. I still think the belly putter gives the player an advantage, however, banning it would be bad for the game if you ask me. Yes nerves is a part of the game, but is your driving and iron play nerve proof? Is bunker play and flop shots not affected under pressure? All of them are. A belly putter is a great training aid if you ask me. And I think it won’t affect putting statistics in the long run. I think if you take it away it does more harm than good. I use a conventional putter and I will continue to because it’s comfortable and it’s what I know. I think they should be legal, period.

  16. joe

    Oct 31, 2012 at 10:37 pm

    The usga should have addressed the belly putter years ago. Doing so now just because young guys are winning with it seems like it was a response directly to those guys. I think Keegan has a point given the amount of work he has put in to master the belly putter. I never liked him before but his style of play and grit, and now standing up for what he thinks is right (even if I disagree with him) shows character.

  17. Gm

    Oct 31, 2012 at 9:03 pm

    NOT banning the anchored putter is bad for golf, just as square grooves was bad for golf.

  18. Randall

    Oct 31, 2012 at 7:58 pm

    They are not making the game harder for the hackers. Most weekend golfwrx don’t follow the rules, so it will not affect. The fact is the rule book has said no part of the club can be anchored to anything other than the hands. The pros have been cheating for years; hence Ernie’s statement. They need to be held to a higher standard. I love watching Keegan and Web play, but they are breaking the rules

  19. Kkoz17

    Oct 31, 2012 at 7:29 pm

    I disagree. When a golfer is a notoriously bad putter and then switches to an anchored putter and becomes an above average putter, that is a clear problem. Ban them and don’t look back!!!!!

    • Gm

      Oct 31, 2012 at 9:06 pm

      Precisely! And by Keegan saying that he will take the Rules to court, he’s ADMITTING to the whole world that the anchored IS HELPING him make putts. Duh.

  20. jay hall

    Oct 31, 2012 at 7:18 pm

    The fact is the USGA and R&A should NOT set the rules for the professionals. The pros should have different rules from the amateurs, the game they play is night and day from 99.9% of amateurs out there so why make rules that make it harder for the guys who sux!!!

    • Gm

      Oct 31, 2012 at 9:05 pm

      @jay hall

      That still doesn’t help Keegan, does it? You’re saying that the Amateurs should be allowed to anchor but not the Pros, if the USGA and R&A are to set different rules? What???

      • sean_miller

        Nov 2, 2012 at 2:17 pm

        Isn’t the point of the article that it’s beginners and ultimately the entire game of golf that will suffer because of this ban? The Keegan Bradley bit is in there to justify using that awesome photo from The Ryder Cup. On that point though, I’ve been in Golf Town a couple dozen times since Keegan won the PGA Championship and not once have I seen anyone checking out a belly putter. If they’re selling them people must be sneaking in and buying them when nobody is looking . . . and using them on courses I never play. I did not see one pleyer using a belly putter this summer. Not sure what part of North America depends on these abominations for golf to survive but it sure isn’t Western Canada.

  21. Bill Miller

    Oct 31, 2012 at 6:44 pm

    They allow these crutches, and I’ll start putting astraddle my target line. What’s the difference? None IMO.

    • Steve Loomis

      Nov 8, 2012 at 12:16 pm

      Professional golf is played by the elite few, who play the game at the highest level, have access to the most advanced equipment and instruction, and play under the penultimate conditions on the world’s best golf courses. When one considers all of the things that are “banned” or “outside the rules” like kneeling on a towel, or stradling the line. Is it really that absurd to suggest anchoring the club or gripping it in any other way but with your hands should not be banned? Grow up boys you are the best, if not then move over and get out of the way.

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Instruction

The Wedge Guy: The easiest-to-learn golf basic

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My golf learning began with this simple fact – if you don’t have a fundamentally sound hold on the golf club, it is practically impossible for your body to execute a fundamentally sound golf swing. I’m still a big believer that the golf swing is much easier to execute if you begin with the proper hold on the club.

As you might imagine, I come into contact with hundreds of golfers of all skill levels. And it is very rare to see a good player with a bad hold on the golf club. There are some exceptions, for sure, but they are very few and very far between, and they typically have beat so many balls with their poor grip that they’ve found a way to work around it.

The reality of biophysics is that the body moves only in certain ways – and the particulars of the way you hold the golf club can totally prevent a sound swing motion that allows the club to release properly through the impact zone. The wonderful thing is that anyone can learn how to put a fundamentally sound hold on the golf club, and you can practice it anywhere your hands are not otherwise engaged, like watching TV or just sitting and relaxing.

Whether you prefer an overlap, interlock or full-finger (not baseball!) grip on the club, the same fundamentals apply.  Here are the major grip faults I see most often, in the order of the frequency:

Mis-aligned hands

By this I mean that the palms of the two hands are not parallel to each other. Too many golfers have a weak left hand and strong right, or vice versa. The easiest way to learn how to hold the club with your palms aligned properly is to grip a plain wooden ruler or yardstick. It forces the hands to align properly and shows you how that feels. If you grip and re-grip a yardstick several times, then grip a club, you’ll see that the learning curve is almost immediate.

The position of the grip in the upper/left hand

I also observe many golfers who have the butt of the grip too far into the heel pad of the upper hand (the left hand for right-handed players). It’s amazing how much easier it is to release the club through the ball if even 1/4-1/2″ of the butt is beyond the left heel pad. Try this yourself to see what I mean.  Swing the club freely with just your left hand and notice the difference in its release from when you hold it at the end of the grip, versus gripping down even a half inch.

To help you really understand how this works, go to the range and hit shots with your five-iron gripped down a full inch to make the club the same length as your seven-iron. You will probably see an amazing shot shape difference, and likely not see as much distance loss as you would expect.

Too much lower (right) hand on the club

It seems like almost all golfers of 8-10 handicap or higher have the club too far into the palm of the lower hand, because that feels “good” if you are trying to control the path of the clubhead to the ball. But the golf swing is not an effort to hit at the ball – it is a swing of the club. The proper hold on the club has the grip underneath the pad at the base of the fingers. This will likely feel “weak” to you — like you cannot control the club like that. EXACTLY. You should not be trying to control the club with your lower/master hand.

Gripping too tightly

Nearly all golfers hold the club too tightly, which tenses up the forearms and prevents a proper release of the club through impact. In order for the club to move back and through properly, you must feel that the club is controlled by the last three fingers of the upper hand, and the middle two fingers of the lower hand. If you engage your thumbs and forefingers in “holding” the club, the result will almost always be a grip that is too tight. Try this for yourself. Hold the club in your upper hand only, and squeeze firmly with just the last three fingers, with the forefinger and thumb off the club entirely. You have good control, but your forearms are not tense. Then begin to squeeze down with your thumb and forefinger and observe the tensing of the entire forearm. This is the way we are made, so the key to preventing tenseness in the arms is to hold the club very lightly with the “pinchers” — the thumbs and forefingers.

So, those are what I believe are the four fundamentals of a good grip. Anyone can learn them in their home or office very quickly. There is no easier way to improve your ball striking consistency and add distance than giving more attention to the way you hold the golf club.

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19th Hole

Vincenzi’s 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open betting preview

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As the Florida swing comes to an end, the PGA Tour makes its way to Houston to play the Texas Children’s Houston Open at Memorial Park Golf Course.

This will be the fourth year that Memorial Park Golf Course will serve as the tournament host. The event did not take place in 2023, but the course hosted the event in 2020, 2021 and 2022.

Memorial Park is a par-70 layout measuring 7,432 yards and features Bermudagrass greens. Historically, the main defense for the course has been thick rough along the fairways and tightly mown runoff areas around the greens. Memorial Park has a unique setup that features three Par 5’s and five Par 3’s.

The field will consist of 132 players, with the top 65 and ties making the cut. There are some big names making the trip to Houston, including Scottie Scheffler, Wyndham Clark, Tony Finau, Will Zalatoris and Sahith Theegala.

Past Winners at Memorial Park

  • 2022: Tony Finau (-16)
  • 2021: Jason Kokrak (-10)
  • 2020: Carlos Ortiz (-13)

In this article and going forward, I’ll be using the Rabbit Hole by Betsperts Golf data engine to develop my custom model. If you want to build your own model or check out all of the detailed stats, you can sign up using promo code: MATTVIN for 25% off any subscription package (yearly is best value). 

Key Stats For Memorial Park

Let’s take a look at several metrics for Memorial Park to determine which golfers boast top marks in each category over their last 24 rounds:

Strokes Gained: Approach

Memorial Park is a pretty tough golf course. Golfers are penalized for missing greens and face some difficult up and downs to save par. Approach will be key.

Total Strokes Gained: Approach per round in past 24 rounds:

  1. Tom Hoge (+1.30)
  2. Scottie Scheffler (+1.26)
  3. Keith Mitchell (+0.97) 
  4. Tony Finau (+0.92)
  5. Jake Knapp (+0.84)

Strokes Gained: Off the Tee

Memorial Park is a long golf course with rough that can be penal. Therefore, a combination of distance and accuracy is the best metric.

Total Strokes Gained: Off the Tee per round in past 24 rounds:

  1. Scottie Scheffler (+0.94)
  2. Kevin Dougherty (+0.93)
  3. Cameron Champ (+0.86)
  4. Rafael Campos (+0.84)
  5. Si Woo Kim (+0.70)

Strokes Gained Putting: Bermudagrass + Fast

The Bermudagrass greens played fairly fast the past few years in Houston. Jason Kokrak gained 8.7 strokes putting on his way to victory in 2021 and Tony Finau gained in 7.8 in 2022.

Total Strokes Gained Putting (Bermudagrass) per round past 24 rounds (min. 8 rounds):

  1. Adam Svensson (+1.27)
  2. Harry Hall (+1.01)
  3. Martin Trainer (+0.94)
  4. Taylor Montgomery (+0.88)
  5. S.H. Kim (+0.86)

Strokes Gained: Around the Green

With firm and undulating putting surfaces, holding the green on approach shots may prove to be a challenge. Memorial Park has many tightly mowed runoff areas, so golfers will have challenging up-and-down’s around the greens. Carlos Ortiz gained 5.7 strokes around the green on the way to victory in 2020.

Total Strokes Gained: Around the Green per round in past 24 rounds:

  1. Mackenzie Hughes (+0.76)
  2. S.H. Kim (+0.68)
  3. Scottie Scheffler (+0.64)
  4. Jorge Campillo (+0.62)
  5. Jason Day (+0.60)

Strokes Gained: Long and Difficult

Memorial Park is a long and difficult golf course. This statistic will incorporate players who’ve had success on these types of tracks in the past. 

Total Strokes Gained: Long and Difficult in past 24 rounds:

  1. Scottie Scheffler (+2.45)
  2. Ben Griffin (+1.75)
  3. Will Zalatoris (+1.73)
  4. Ben Taylor (+1.53)
  5. Tony Finau (+1.42)

Course History

Here are the players who have performed the most consistently at Memorial Park. 

Strokes Gained Total at Memorial Park past 12 rounds:

  1. Tyson Alexander (+3.65)
  2. Ben Taylor (+3.40)
  3. Tony Finau (+2.37)
  4. Joel Dahmen (+2.25)
  5. Patton Kizzire (+2.16)

Statistical Model

Below, I’ve reported overall model rankings using a combination of the five key statistical categories previously discussed.

These rankings are comprised of SG: App (24%) SG: OTT (24%); SG: Putting Bermudagrass/Fast (13%); SG: Long and Difficult (13%); SG: ARG (13%) and Course History (13%)

  1. Scottie Scheffler
  2. Wyndham Clark
  3. Tony Finau
  4. Joel Dahmen
  5. Stephan Jaeger 
  6. Aaron Rai
  7. Sahith Theegala
  8. Keith Mitchell 
  9. Jhonnatan Vegas
  10. Jason Day
  11. Kurt Kitayama
  12. Alex Noren
  13. Will Zalatoris
  14. Si Woo Kim
  15. Adam Long

2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open Picks

Will Zalatoris +2000 (Caesars)

Scottie Scheffler will undoubtedly be difficult to beat this week, so I’m starting my card with someone who I believe has the talent to beat him if he doesn’t have his best stuff.

Will Zalatoris missed the cut at the PLAYERS, but still managed to gain strokes on approach while doing so. In an unpredictable event with extreme variance, I don’t believe it would be wise to discount Zalatoris based on that performance. Prior to The PLAYERS, the 27-year-old finished T13, T2 and T4 in his previous three starts.

Zalatoris plays his best golf on long and difficult golf courses. In his past 24 rounds, he ranks 3rd in the category, but the eye test also tells a similar story. He’s contended at major championships and elevated events in the best of fields with tough scoring conditions.  The Texas resident should be a perfect fit at Memorial Park Golf Club.

Alex Noren +4500 (FanDuel)

Alex Noren has been quietly playing some of his best golf of the last half decade this season. The 41-year-old is coming off back-to-back top-20 finishes in Florida including a T9 at The PLAYERS in his most recent start.

In his past 24 rounds, Noren ranks 21st in the field in Strokes Gained: Off the Tee, 30th in Strokes Gained: Around the Green, 25th in Strokes Gained: Total on long and difficult courses and 21st in Strokes Gained: Putting on fast Bermudagrass greens.

In addition to his strong recent play, the Swede also has played well at Memorial Park. In 2022, Noren finished T4 at the event, gaining 2.2 strokes off the tee and 7.0 strokes on approach for the week. In his two starts at the course, he’s gained an average of .6 strokes per round on the field, indicating he is comfortable on these greens.

Noren has been due for a win for what feels like an eternity, but Memorial Park may be the course that suits him well enough for him to finally get his elusive first PGA Tour victory.

Mackenzie Hughes +8000 (FanDuel)

Mackenzie Hughes found himself deep into contention at last week’s Valspar Championship before faltering late and finishing in a tie for 3rd place. While he would have loved to win the event, it’s hard to see the performance as anything other than an overwhelming positive sign for the Canadian.

Hughes has played great golf at Memorial Park in the past. He finished T7 in 2020, T29 in 2021 and T16 in 2022. The course fit seems to be quite strong for Hughes. He’s added distance off the tee in the past year or and ranks 8th in the field for apex height, which will be a key factor when hitting into Memorial Park’s elevated greens with steep run-off areas.

In his past 24 rounds, Hughes is the best player in the field in Strokes Gained: Around the Greens. The ability to scramble at this course will be extremely important. I believe Hughes can build off of his strong finish last week and contend once again to cement himself as a President’s Cup consideration.

Akshay Bhatia +8000 (FanDuel)

Akshay Bhatia played well last week at the Valspar and seemed to be in total control of his golf ball. He finished in a tie for 17th and shot an impressive -3 on a difficult Sunday. After struggling Thursday, Akshay shot 68-70-68 in his next three rounds.

Thus far, Bhatia has played better at easier courses, but his success at Copperhead may be due to his game maturing. The 22-year-old has enormous potential and the raw talent to be one of the best players in the world when he figures it all out.

Bhatia is a high upside play with superstar qualities and may just take the leap forward to the next stage of his career in the coming months.

Cameron Champ +12000 (FanDuel)

Cameron Champ is a player I often target in the outright betting market due to his “boom-or-bust” nature. It’s hard to think of a player in recent history with three PGA Tour wins who’s been as inconsistent as Champ has over the course of his career.

Despite the erratic play, Cam Champ simply knows how to win. He’s won in 2018, 2019 and 2021, so I feel he’s due for a win at some point this season. The former Texas A&M product should be comfortable in Texas and last week he showed us that his game is in a pretty decent spot.

Over his past 24 rounds, Champ ranks 3rd in Strokes Gained: Off the Tee and 30th in Strokes Gained: Total on long and difficult courses. Given his ability to spike at any given time, Memorial Park is a good golf course to target Champ on at triple digit odds.

Robert MacIntyre +12000 (FanDuel)

The challenge this week is finding players who can possibly beat Scottie Scheffler while also not dumping an enormous amount of money into an event that has a player at the top that looks extremely dangerous. Enter McIntyre, who’s another boom-or-bust type player who has the ceiling to compete with anyone when his game is clicking on all cylinders.

In his past 24 rounds, MacIntyre ranks 16th in the field in Strokes Gained: Off the Tee, 17th in Strokes Gained: Around the Green and 10th in Strokes Gained: Total on long and difficult courses.

MacIntyre’s PGA Tour season has gotten off to a slow start, but he finished T6 in Mexico, which is a course where players will hit driver on the majority of their tee shots, which is what we will see at Memorial Park. Texas can also get quite windy, which should suit MacIntyre. Last July, the Scot went toe to toe with Rory McIlroy at the Scottish Open before a narrow defeat. It would take a similar heroic effort to compete with Scheffler this year in Houston.

Ryan Moore +15000 (FanDuel)

Ryan Moore’s iron play has been absolutely unconscious over his past few starts. At The PLAYERS Championship in a loaded field, he gained 6.1 strokes on approach and last week at Copperhead, he gained 9.0 strokes on approach.

It’s been a rough handful of years on Tour for the 41-year-old, but he is still a five-time winner on the PGA Tour who’s young enough for a career resurgence. Moore has chronic deterioration in a costovertebral joint that connects the rib to the spine, but has been getting more consistent of late, which is hopefully a sign that he is getting healthy.

Veterans have been contending in 2024 and I believe taking a flier on a proven Tour play who’s shown signs of life is a wise move at Memorial Park.

 

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Ryan: Why the race to get better at golf might be doing more harm than good

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B.F. Skinner was one of the most important psychologists of the 20th century, developing the foundation of the development of reinforcement, and in doing so, creating the concept of behaviorism. In simple terms, this means that we are conditioned by our habits. In practical terms, it explains the divide between the few and far between elite instructors and college coaches.

To understand the application, let’s quickly review one of B.F. Skinner’s most important experiments; superstitions in the formation of behavior by pigeons. In this experiment, food was dispensed to pigeons at random intervals. Soon, according to Skinner, the pigeons began to associate whatever action they were doing at the time of the food being dispensed. According to Skinner, this conditioned that response and soon, they simply haphazardly repeated the action, failing to distinguish between cause and correlation (and in the meantime, looking really funny!).

Now, this is simply the best way to describe the actions of most every women’s college golf coach and too many instructors in America. They see something work, get positive feedback and then become conditioned to give the feedback, more and more, regardless of if it works (this is also why tips from your buddies never work!).

Go to a college event, particularly a women’s one, and you will see coaches running all over the place. Like the pigeons in the experiment, they have been conditioned into a codependent relationship with their players in which they believe their words and actions, can transform a round of golf. It is simply hilarious while being equally perturbing

In junior golf, it’s everywhere. Junior golf academies make a living selling parents that a hysterical coach and over-coaching are essential ingredients in your child’s success.

Let’s be clear, no one of any intellect has any real interest in golf — because it’s not that interesting. The people left, including most coaches and instructors, carve out a small fiefdom, usually on the corner of the range, where they use the illusion of competency to pray on people. In simple terms, they baffle people with the bullshit of pseudo-science that they can make you better, after just one more lesson.

The reality is that life is an impromptu game. The world of golf, business, and school have a message that the goal is being right. This, of course, is bad advice, being right in your own mind is easy, trying to push your ideas on others is hard. As a result, it is not surprising that the divorce rate among golf professionals and their instructors is 100 percent. The transfer rate among college players continues to soar, and too many courses have a guy peddling nefarious science to good people. In fact, we do at my course!

The question is, what impact does all this have on college-age and younger kids? At this point, we honestly don’t know. However, I am going to go out on a limb and say it isn’t good.

Soren Kierkegaard once quipped “I saw it for what it is, and I laughed.” The actions of most coaches and instructors in America are laughable. The problem is that I am not laughing because they are doing damage to kids, as well as driving good people away from this game.

The fact is that golfers don’t need more tips, secrets, or lessons. They need to be presented with a better understanding of the key elements of golf. With this understanding, they can then start to frame which information makes sense and what doesn’t. This will emancipate them and allow them to take charge of their own development.

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