2 steps to escape severely plugged bunker lies, according to Padraig Harrington

Ever since the pandemic began back in early 2020, Padraig Harrington has taken to social media to share the best tips, swing advice and mental strategies he’s gathered over a lifetime in golf.

And, given his weighty resume, you’d be best off listening to what he has to say. That resume includes three major championship titles — the 2007 and 2008 Open Championship and 2008 PGA Championship — along with six total PGA Tour titles, 15 European Tour trophies and a Ryder Cup captaincy.

Instruction

Just this year, Harrington joined the PGA Tour Champions circuit, where he quickly won four events from June to November, including a major win at the 2022 U.S. Senior Open at Saucon Valley.

But despite his busy (and successful) schedule on the senior circuit, Harrington still was able to dispense his regular tips and lessons for a golfing public hungry to improve.

With time off between Christmas and New Year’s, Harrington shared his latest tip on Thursday. This time, Paddy is tackling severely plugged bunker lies, and he identified two specific keys you should think about when approaching one of these difficult scenarios.

1. Visualize the leading edge

“The key with plugged lies, like all bunker shots, is you’re trying to slide the club under the ball,” Harrington says in the new video. “You’re not trying to hit the ball with a bunker shot, you’re trying to get the club underneath it. Obviously, that’s difficult when the ball is buried, how do you get down there?”

With that in mind, Harrington explains that the first key is to “visualize” the leading edge sliding underneath your plugged ball.

“The sharpest part of the club is the leading edge, so I’m actually trying to bury my leading edge [directly behind the ball], so that it digs under.” By doing so, it will displace a large amount of sand that will jump up into the air bringing the ball with it.

2. Pretend you’re swinging an axe

“With a deep plugged lie… I’m actually going to swing more like I’m swinging with an axe,” Harrington says.

By that he means take a full, hard swing and descend at a steep angle, bringing your leading edge crashing down behind the ball. The result after the shot is a “steep” cup in the sand of 4-5 inches.

Keep these two thoughts in mind for your next plugged lie to see if you can escape with ease like a major champion, and check out Harrington’s full video below.