At last week’s WM Phoenix Open, young reporter Maverick Midthun stood out among the mostly veteran contingent in the media center.
The 15-year-old high school freshman was representing “Today’s Junior Golfer,” an Arizona non-profit which has a two-fold mission: to support lower-income junior golfers with start-up equipment, tournament scholarships, and “Dream Days” to highlight their golf journey through inspirational stories and pictures.
Midthun was on-site at TPC Scottsdale thanks to a press pass provided by the PGA Tour and the Thunderbrids, granting him an opportunity to ask questions to some of the game’s biggest stars. On Wednesday last week, the lineup included Scottie Scheffler, Brooks Koepka and Sahith Theegala.
Most of the time, a player’s pre-tournament press conference focuses on the condition of the course and the players’ preparation for the competition days ahead. But Midthun elicited one of the day’s most interesting responses when he asked Theegala for tips he would give a junior golfer who aspires to play on the PGA Tour one day.
Theegala’s answer suggested utilizing an unconventional improvement tactic.
“I’m seeing guys that are in high school and college hit it further than guys on Tour,” Theegala began. “The distance thing is a big thing. I think something that’s — it’s easier said than done, but just ignoring that part and finding your own path.
“I’ve seen a lot of kids lose their game trying to chase distance rather than hone in their craft,” he continued. “What I did personally and what I think has worked for a lot of my peers and a lot of my friends is focus on the part of your game that I love the most. For me that was chipping. I just chipped as much as I could. Did a ton of chipping contests. Didn’t matter if I knew they were a good our bad chipper, I just wanted to beat them, and I got my best practice in that way.”
Theegala’s answer is enlightening in a couple of ways. Primarily, it’s a rejection of the current bomb-and-gouge philosophy that appears to be spreading like wildfire, especially among junior players. At a time when everyone seems to be chasing more distance — even at the Tour level — the idea to not focus on getting longer is in itself interesting.
The other point that caught my interest was Theegala’s emphasis on focusing on the part of the game you love most. These days, deep dives on data and statistics are driving a lot of players’ practice plans. Young players are often told to focus on identifying and improving their weaknesses in order to get better, but Theegala is recommending the opposite, in a sense, suggesting that players should lean into their favorite areas instead which will in turn help boost the rest of their game.
“I struggled with my driver a lot early on,” Theegala said. “I knew I was struggling with driver, but when I was doing chipping contests or chipping games or working on a crazy spinny chip, I forgot about all the other stuff, all the other parts of the game. So I just wanted to feel like my chipping was better than anyone else’s chipping. In a way, it freed up the rest of my game as well.
