Welcome to Play Smart, a regular GOLF.com game-improvement column that will help you play smarter, better golf.
The Match showcased its most recent iteration last weekend, and the product was a hit. Staged under the lights at Pelican Golf Club, Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy took on Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas in a 12-hole primetime match, with the young duo getting the better of their more experienced counterparts.
The Match had plenty of memorable moments and witty banter, but the broadcast also took us inside the ropes with the quartet of major winners. With that unfettered access, viewers got some of the most valuable insights of the night as the golfers gave a variety of game-improvement tips.
Below are the four best.
Spieth’s bunker lesson
Bunker shots are some of the most difficult in golf, and that holds true for the pros as well (even if they make it look easy). On the 2nd hole of the night, Jordan Spieth found himself in a bunker, and it led to an impromptu bunker lesson for the viewers.
“It’s very challenging,” Spieth said. “But you’ve got to have speed.”
Speed is the special ingredient for any bunker shot, and this one was no different. But to get the ball up onto the green and land softly, there were a few other variables to consider.
“You’re trying to get your weight with the slope on the bunker,” he said. “I’m on a downslope here, so I’ve probably got about 65 percent of my weight on my front foot. You’re really trying to create loft under the ball, with a lot of speed, to get that high, soft maneuver.”
Don’t aim at pins
This was not so much a tip as is was a theme that emerged throughout The Match. Pros have supreme control over their golf balls, but even so, they rarely aim directly at pins.
If you were paying attention closely during The Match, you probably picked up on the fact that the players rarely (if ever) chose a target line directly at the flagstick. Instead, they were always aiming in spots that would leave them in more manageable positions if they missed.
“I’m going to aim at the left edge of that bunker,” Justin Thomas said during The Match. “Hopefully it’ll end up close.”
If the best in the world aren’t going flag hunting, you probably shouldn’t be either.
JT’s power move
Justin Thomas is plenty long off the tee, but sometimes, even he wants to squeeze an extra few yards out of his driver. That’s where this sneaky power move comes into play.
On the final hole of The Match, Thomas indicated he wanted to reach 180 mph of ball speed off the tee. To help himself reach that magic number, he lifted his front heel well off the ground during his backswing.
By lifting his lead heel off the ground, Thomas was able to generate just a bit more turn on the backswing, creating a touch more speed on the downswing. And while he didn’t quite reach his 180 mph target (he was clocked at 179 mph), it was still an impressive display of what he keeps in the reserves.
Watch your shadow
Shadows on the course can be quite annoying as you get later in the day, but in night golf, they’re nearly unavoidable. With floodlights beaming from every direction, there was no escape from the shadows, and it had a considerable effect on the competitors.
Many times throughout the night, golfers commented on the shadows on the course and the challenge they presented. In fact, something as simple as setting up to the ball becomes difficult when the shadows are intense.
“I couldn’t tell if it was way forward in my stance, or way back,” Jordan Spieth said after standing over one particularly shadowy shot.
Shadows are not only annoying, but they can also have an effect on your depth perception. Keep that in mind as you play long-shadow golf during the summer.