Had a great chance to watch some of the Quail Hollow tournament yesterday. We had some nice thunderstorms in Ohio and the lesson schedule got a little damp.
I love the great camera angles that we get to see when the players are putting. There were a number of occasions yesterday when you could see right down the players line towards the cup. I paid particular attention to Jim Furyk’s putts and how he was rolling the ball down the line. Jim had a great day, and shot a nice round in the 60’s that got him within one shot of the lead. He somehow posted that great round while breaking one of the main rules of my Banana Putting System.
Why do I say that? Pretty simple. Jim got lucky a couple times. Jim Furyk…one of the best players in the world, got lucky? I believe he did. Jim had at least three putts that he misread or misaligned, and then made a corrective stroke that got the ball to go in the hole. If you watch the putts closely, you can tell if the player is starting the ball on the intended line or not. In at least these three cases, Jim didn’t start the ball on the line he thought he would, but the putt found its way into the cup.
What’s wrong with making those putts? Not a thing! I hope he continues to get them in the hole and he wins the event. Nobody is going to take away the trophy if he pushes or pulls a couple putts into the cup, right?
What I will tell you is that the reason Jim hasn’t putted that well, and the reason he has to work so hard at his putting is that he isn’t getting committed to and rolling the ball on his intended line. Eventually, that catches up to you. The guys play a long season, and if they get into the habit of manipulating their putts, at some point, they get bad results.
Maybe when Jim comes to Dublin, Ohio for the Memorial, we can talk about how Banana Putting could get him to putt his ball a little more consistently.
Good luck Jim!