6 Sep 2011
The Deutsche Bank Championship produced a true champion. Webb Simpson was the best all around player on the course this week. His putting down the stretch made the difference, true, but he had to get the ball into position to make those putts, first.
A BIG Congrats to Webb Simpson on his gutsy playoff victory. A 6 under front nine, then barely holding it together in the swirling and blustery winds on the tough back nine, Webb had just enough magic in his flat stick (another belly putter triumph) to bring home the bacon and rise to #1 in the Fedex Cup rankings.
If Webb is to continue on a path to winning it all, I see a need for work on his rhythm. Webb has a tendency to get quick in his takeaway. And the more pressure you put on that type of swing, the fewer fairways and greens you will hit. You will also tend to lose touch around the greens. Hence I’d be surprised, pleasantly so, to see Webb stay on top.
Chez Reavie is THE story of the playoffs thus far. He has made the biggest positive move up the leaderboard in the entire field. Starting at 76th in the point standings, Chez has moved up to 9th! I am most impressed with the improvement in his putting. When I watched him on the Boston TPC practice green three years ago, he was practicing missing putts. Now his whole practice routine has changed. So he walks onto the course with much more confidence and a far better focus! It’s nice to see Chez work his way back from injury and surgery. Keep it going Chez!
Our Close But No Cigar Award this week goes to Chez Reavie. Following a well postioned lay-up on 18 from a severe downhil/sidehill lie, Chez needed only find the 18th green with his sand wedge, two putt and the victory was his. But as soon as the ball left the clubface, Chez was coaxing it to “get down.” The wind blew it left of the green, where from a free drop he hit a good shot to a runaway green, but failed to convert the 15 footer as it curled by on the right lip. Playoff! He birdied 18 in the playoff, then failed to birdie the 17th again from wedge distance, while Webb Simpson was draining everything is sight. Chez, go practice your wedge game! Then go out and win! You’ve got what it takes! Just believe it!
Jason Day has to be one of the gutsiest, scrapiest, most determined players on tour. When you watch him play, it seems he is constantly in trouble. Then when you look at the leaderboard at tournament’s end, there he is just a shot or two out of victory lane. Amazing!
What works for Jason is his routines! You never see him rush. He is always purposeful in his approach to every shot, on every hole, every day! What I’d like to do with Jason is to work on his shot selection, visualization and rehearsal – before he begans his performance routine. I also think a little work on technique would serve to produce a more consistent delivery from ball to target, and therfore more predictable and consistent shot making.
Brandt Snedeker, when he gets hot, can light it up like no one else on tour. He is absolutely fearless in attacking pins and he has all the shots in his bag. He putts with great confidence. Brandt is really fun to watch. During the playoffs he’s already produced two 29’s and a 30 for nine hole scores. But for two bad shots on Sunday, he’d have been in the winner’s circle. I look for Brandt to stay hot throughout the playoffs. He has already moved up from 18th to 5th in the Fedex Cup point standings.
Luke Donald, with his tie for 3rd, had yet another good tournament. That’s 11 top ten finishes in 15 starts on the PGA Tour this year. But for two well struck shots that the wind dropped in unexpected places (over both the 12th and 16th greens), Luke would have won this event. He leads both the US and European Tour money lists – an absolutely incredible feat. And though he has not yet started winning Majors, he will.
Though ranked #1 world wide, Luke has been frustrated this year by his tendency to miss fairways and greens both right and left. In the ideal set-up the butt should be behind the heels as far as the eyes are in front of the toes. As I wrote following the Barclay’s, Luke tends to address the ball balanced on the balls of his feet rather than over his insteps. This causes him to stand too far from the ball. As a consequence his shaft angle steepens at impact some 4-6 inches relative to its position at address.
Luke did look better this week at address and his handle did return to his left pivot at impact far more often. If he gets this perfected before the BMW in Chicago, I don’t think anyone in the field has enough game to take the Fedex Cup from him. Then it will be onward to the Race to Dubai, which he could also win – if he doesn’t totally run out of gas, first! Now that would be a year for the record books – Majors aside!
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