Dear Phil,
We are great fans of you, your family and your golf game. Each year, when our Wednesday group names their favorite to win the majors, you are our choice to win all of them. Watching your distinctive swing and amazing short game turns every tournament into a must see event.
This year has been a disappointment for you and your fans. We've been watching your game and would like to offer some coaching. Since you are one of the highest rated golfers in the world, we should give you our qualifications to offer this advice. We started playing golf in our mid-forties and have been certified by many fellow players as genuine hacks. We've never entered a major, but have tried to qualify for several statewide amateur events. No, none of us ever qualified, but those who saw us play will never forget the experience. In addition, we've taken lessons from hundreds of otherwise qualified professionals. Most of these professionals have refunded our money and refused to give additional lessons. So you can see, we've heard a lot of advice over our golfing careers.
First, fire your putting coach. A number of years ago it was announced, with great fanfare, you had hired a short game coach. At that time you were one of the best putters in the game. Your putting had been developed in a backyard practice area built by your father to help develop your game. Not sure of who taught you to putt, but assume it was your father. (It is an inspirational story that you, a right handed person, plays golf left handed because you would watch your dad’s swing and copy what you saw. Thus the mirror to your dad’s right hand swing is your left handed swing.)
Before you hired professional coaches, you approached the ball with confidence, confirmed the line, tilted your putter slightly forward and sank the putt. In those days you lived and died by your short game. You were somewhat erratic with your long and middle game, but were able to bail yourself out with the amazing “Phil the Thrill” recovery shots.
Watching you the last couple weeks, one sees a golfer who hits the ball an amazing distance and hits most fairways. Your iron game is superior with uncanny length and distance control. This week, you hit a 9 iron over 190 yards. When you miss the greens, your very sharp short game puts you in the 5-10ft area to score. The last few weeks it has seemed to these biased fans that your game from Tee to Green is without peer. However, when you step up to short putts, all hell breaks loose.
Your coaches have instilled so many swing thoughts, we fans can see your brain processing all the information you have stored. Normally, this is easily overcome. However, you are famous for your wide ranging interest and your natural curiosity about how everything works. This is great for an engineer, but for a natural feel player it pulls you toward mechanical processes. It has been said it takes 6 thoughts to make a great putt; however, the brain can only process 5 thoughts at a time. Putting is not a thinking process, it is a feel process.
After firing your short game coach, start visiting your childhood home and practice by yourself, like you did in the years leading up to your amazing college golfing career. If the home has been sold or is otherwise unavailable, build a similar practice area and spend the time trying to create the putting process taught to you by your dad. Phil you are the best player in the world, listen to some of your unqualified fans, and give our ideas a try. I took another putting lesson a couple weeks ago and it cost me $75.00: if our idea works you will be ahead of the game. Our advice is free.
Good luck with 2015. By following our advice, this will be the year you win all the majors.
Sincerely,
A Wednesday Group
