Golf Digest November 2016

Think young, play hard, have fun! Our theme this month was lived every day by the man who left us just as we were closing the issue. Who personified those words more? In all the world, I cannot imagine anyone who lived a fuller life than Arnold Palmer. “Except for the sheer ferocity of his athleticism, the quality of his character and a certain animal magnetism, there was really nothing to recommend the man,” the writer Pat Ward-Thomas once said. His passing was like a death in the family. Every golfer had a story or, it seemed, a personal interaction. Over 87 years, he touched everyone. I remember playing with Arnie once on a rainy day in Scotland. When we reached the first green, he walked over to me and put a…

Even though the equipment companies have done everything they can to make the driver huge and easy to hit, a lot of players still get anxious when they tee one up. It comes from a lack of confidence, confusion about mechanics and no real plan for what shot to hit. With a few adjustments to your approach and your swing, you can be what I call “controlled aggressive.” That means you know when to go for it and when to play safe. And you’re not afraid to do either one. —WITH MATTHEW RUDY SEE THE HOLE BACKWARD When you play the same course all the time, it’s easy to get psyched out by the trouble you see standing on the tee on tough driving holes. To beat that mental block, try plotting…

SOURCE: GOLF DIGEST R EADERS You can feel that left-toright wind against your back at address. You think, Man, not a great time to hit one of my slices. So you try mightily to start the ball left. But it takes an angry right turn, and the wind gets it. No chance. When slicers try to swing to the left, they cut across the ball, making it all the harder to square the face. The result is even worse: a massive slice. What can you do? First, make a few waist-high practice swings. That will round out your swing shape, promoting a better release, and help you square the face at impact. Second, set up with the clubhead forward of the ball, then take your grip. Without changing your hands on the club, move…

“Go left-hand-low to get square, then regrip normally.” Getting into a good setup is crucial to developing a consistent putting stroke. Without knowing anything about your putting, I know you’ll make a lot more putts if you start from a technically sound setup. The best part is, you can get off to a great start by making just a few adjustments, no matter what your current setup looks like. Follow these few steps. David Leadbetter operates 25 golf academies worldwide. 1. EYE IT UP At address, set your eyes directly over the ball or slightly to the inside. You can check your eye position when you practice by dropping a ball from the bridge of your nose and seeing where it lands. You don’t want your eyes to be outside the ball. 2. SWITCH HANDS Getting…

SOURCE: GOLF DIGEST READERS Little pitch shots, like the one above, drive golfers nuts. First off, they use too much loft. The more loft you have, the bigger swing you need. And more swing means more things can go wrong. So unless you have no green to work with, keep your lob wedge in the bag. Second issue: Most golfers don’t trust the loft they have, so they try to add more at impact. They flick their wrists, dip down, rock onto the back foot . . . I think you see where I’m going here. Let’s give you a simple plan for hitting the basic pitch. Take a narrow stance, with the ball about middle, and favor your front foot (1). Lean the shaft a touch toward the target, and keep your…

Kevin Chappell has figured something out. Going into the Tour Championship, where he lost a playoff to Rory McIlroy, Chappell had made 18 of 26 cuts, compared to 17 of 26 a year earlier. But his earnings more than tripled, from $1.3 million in 2015 to $4.5 million in 2016. “I found a formula that works for me,” Chappell says. “I’m practicing less but smarter. My family is the most important thing to me.” With better balance in his life, he says he’s keeping his golf in perspective. The best player in collegiate golf in 2008, Chappell played on the Nationwide Tour and started working his way up the PGA Tour ladder. Then, early this year he had three second-place finishes—behind Kevin Kisner at the RSM Classic and then to Jason Day…