The post This was the fascinating tip Lee Trevino shared with a British Open hopeful appeared first on Golf.

The post This was the fascinating tip Lee Trevino shared with a British Open hopeful appeared first on Golf.

Welcome to Play Smart, a column to help you play smarter, better golf from Game Improvement Editor Luke Kerr-Dineen (who you can follow on Twitter right here).

He’s 82 years old, with a career that would be the envy of golfers throughout history, and a legendary reputation as perhaps golf’s best-ever ball striker.

Yet Lee Trevino is, above all else, a golf nerd. Endlessly fascinated by the game, even though you’d be forgiven for thinking he’s already learned everything there is to know about it.

This infectious quality of Trevino showed itself once again on Monday, while the legend was on site at the 150th Open Championship. He’s was making the rounds on the range when at one point he stopped to talk with Brian “one putt” Harman. That’s what Trevino calls him, he revealed to Harman, because Trevino says every time he sees Harman he’s making putts.

But the conversation quickly shifted to talk of the full swing, says GOLF Top 100 Teacher Justin Parsons, Harman’s coach who was on the ground for the conversation. He snapped a picture of the moment, and shares what Trevino told his student.

Trevino’s swing thought

Harman and Trevino are both similar heights and Trevino was built similarly in his prime. That lends itself to some technical similarities.

“They’ve both got a very square trail side [at setup] and a very open lead side,” Parsons explains.

For both players, standing slightly open allowed more hip rotation through the ball. That’s part of what they talked about, Parsons said, but it also led to Trevino sharing a crucial swing thought that made it all work.

“[Trevino] said he felt he kept the pressure inside his trail foot,” Parsons said. “He would load up in that position and then spring off it.”

Pressure in this context, for reference, is the feeling of pushing down into the ground. When Trevino says he’s keeping the pressure on the inside of his trail foot, he’s effectively saying he’s keeping keeping his weight on the inside of his trail foot throughout his swing.

That feeling allowed Trevino to load his trail leg, without drifting too far off center. And that’s what he shared with Harman during Open week.

“What you’re seeing in that picture is Harman explaining something similar, what he’s feeling during his swing.”

The post This was the fascinating tip Lee Trevino shared with a British Open hopeful appeared first on Golf.

The post GOLF’s Subpar: Brian Harman breaks down his epic Wells Fargo victory appeared first on Golf.

The post GOLF’s Subpar: Brian Harman breaks down his epic Wells Fargo victory appeared first on Golf.

Subpar’s Colt Knost and Drew Stoltz are joined by two-time PGA Tour winner Brian Harman who breaks down his epic victory over Dustin Johnson and Pat Perez at the 2017 Wells Fargo Championship.

The post GOLF’s Subpar: Brian Harman breaks down his epic Wells Fargo victory appeared first on Golf.

The post Tour pro describes one of the greatest perks in college golf appeared first on Golf.

The post Tour pro describes one of the greatest perks in college golf appeared first on Golf.

Teammates who would become multiple-time PGA Tour winners. Penny-beer nights at bars. The perks of being a college golfer at the University of Georgia were already plenty.

And then there’s where they played.

“I got to ask you one more thing about the University of Georgia because I think one of the big perks is you go play Augusta National,” co-host Colt Knost said on this week’s episode of GOLF’s Subpar podcast. 

“Right,” guest Brian Harman said. 

Augusta National, home of the Masters, is also about two hours east of Athens, and once a year over Harman’s four seasons a little over a decade ago, it would host the Bulldogs. 

News

“Yeah, we’d play once a year, and one of the years, we went in like December and it was miserable,” Harman said. “Three-wood into 1. It was terrible. 

“And the last couple years we did like three weeks before the Masters, and it’s, I mean, it’s just, it’s the coolest piece of property on Earth. I mean, it’s the coolest piece of property on Earth, with the history, the golf course, what it means, how it’s set up, how it plays. It’s just the coolest place on Earth.”

“I went and played for the first time this year, and I cannot believe how big the place is,” Knost said. 

“Oh, it’s huge,” Harman said. “And the hills. The hills. I mean, you walk out of the back of the clubhouse and you’re like, oh, my god, I can see 12. It’s nuts.”

Growing up a Georgia fan, Harman likely would have been a Bulldog if they played on just a practice mat. But then you toss in Augusta. And his teammates. His freshman year, Harman played with Tour pros Kevin Kisner, Brendon Todd and Chris Kirk — and Masters champ Patrick Reed was their sixth man. His senior year, Harman shared a locker room with Harris English, Hudson Swafford and Russell Henley. 

Short Game

And then there was downtown Athens. 

“Of all the things you accomplished in college, another, I think, thing that gets overlooked is you managed to go to Georgia, arguably the best party school in the United States, and also make good grades,” Stoltz said. That’s not easy to do.”

What was it like?

“It was so bad, man, because every — so there’s like 100 bars downtown, and they would all stagger their drink nights,” Harman said. “So I can remember like Monday night was like penny beer night at Generals. Like, well definitely going to do that. And then like Tuesday night is somewhere else and Wednesday night. 

“And then we had a rule on the team, like if one of us went out, we all went out, even if we had qualifying the next day, we all had to go. It was like a team-building exercise.”  

To watch the complete interview with Harman, click below. 

The post Tour pro describes one of the greatest perks in college golf appeared first on Golf.

The post Brian Harman Interview: Playing with Anthony Kim at the Walker Cup, his mindset competing against golf’s longest hitters appeared first on Golf.

The post Brian Harman Interview: Playing with Anthony Kim at the Walker Cup, his mindset competing against golf’s longest hitters appeared first on Golf.

On this week’s episode of GOLF’s Subpar, two-time PGA Tour winner Brian Harman joins former PGA Tour pro Colt Knost and jicky jack legend Drew Stoltz for an exclusive interview. The former Georgia Bulldog talks playing Augusta National during college, competing alongside Anthony Kim at the 2005 Walker Cup, and his mindset going head to head with golf’s longest hitters.

The post Brian Harman Interview: Playing with Anthony Kim at the Walker Cup, his mindset competing against golf’s longest hitters appeared first on Golf.

The post GOLF’s Subpar: Brian Harman talks playing with Anthony Kim appeared first on Golf.

The post GOLF’s Subpar: Brian Harman talks playing with Anthony Kim appeared first on Golf.

Subpar’s Colt Knost and Drew Stoltz are joined by two-time PGA Tour winner Brian Harman who talks what it’s like playing with Anthony Kim and their time as teammates at the 2005 Walker Cup.

The post GOLF’s Subpar: Brian Harman talks playing with Anthony Kim appeared first on Golf.

The post WATCH: Pro’s disastrous 4-putt from 5 feet derails hot U.S. Open start appeared first on Golf.

The post WATCH: Pro’s disastrous 4-putt from 5 feet derails hot U.S. Open start appeared first on Golf.

Brian Harman, as he walked off the par-4 6th at Torrey Pines on Saturday, took a longer-than-normal look at the cup. 

He had, after all, taken longer than normal to get to the bottom of it.

During Saturday’s third round of the U.S. Open, Harman hit his drive down the right side of the fairway, dumped his approach into the right greenside bunker and pitched on to 5 feet, 5 inches. Three shots. But Harman would finish with a 7. Four putts. 

The first putt burned the left edge of the hole. It went 8 feet, 2 inches. He’d have 3 feet for bogey. 

The 3-footer coming back burned the right edge of the hole. It went 4 feet, 3 inches. He’d have 1 feet, 3 inches for double bogey. 

The 1-foot, 3-incher coming back hit the right edge of the hole, and it spun nearly 360 degrees. It went 1 foot, 10 inches. He’d have 11.2 inches for triple bogey. 

Harman would hit the final putt maybe a half-second after the last stopped rolling. In. Finally. He had started the hole at two under and finished at one over. According to the NBC broadcast, it was the seventh four-putt of Harman’s career. 

“And that is what can happen at a U.S. Open,” analyst Gary Koch said on the broadcast. “Off line just a little and you pay the price. So from one under and a great start, now plus two.”  

The post WATCH: Pro’s disastrous 4-putt from 5 feet derails hot U.S. Open start appeared first on Golf.

The post Why Anthony Kim is a Masters contender’s role model appeared first on Golf.

The post Why Anthony Kim is a Masters contender’s role model appeared first on Golf.

There were the usual suspects this week at the Masters. Tiger Woods, no doubt. Will Zalatoris could describe in detail on Friday, some 16 years after the fact, where he was — an Italian restaurant in the Bay Area — when Woods chipped in from behind the 16th green at Augusta National. Phil Mickelson is a favorite. Countless players said they sought the counsel of the three-time green jacket winner. The same goes for Fred Couples, the 1992 champ. 

All good golf heroes, no doubt. But Brian Harman’s is “kind of a throwback.”

AK. 

“A guy I looked up to and playing a bunch with was Anthony Kim,” said Harman, who was one shot out of the lead entering Saturday’s third round. “I remember he came around Augusta, and he made like 10 or 11 birdies one day out here. 

“I used to always love the way that he played the game. He’s bold and took on — took chances.”

Nevermind the fact that Kim is 35 — and Harman is 34. Ignore that Kim mysteriously hasn’t played in a PGA Tour event since 2012, when he withdrew from three straight tournaments. There have been sightings through the years — as GOLF’s Dylan Dethier described in detail last year — but no golf. 

News

No matter. Harman remembers AK. The three Tour victories. The brashness and swagger. The belt buckle. And, as Harman said, that second round in 2009, where Kim shot a seven-under 65 — with an Augusta-record 11 birdies. (He also made two bogeys and a double.) 

“I’m not as good as he was, but I’d like to think that I try to harness some of that energy sometimes,” Harman said Friday. 

Through two rounds, he played the part. Harman opened with a three-under 69, then followed it up with another after birdieing his last two holes. On Saturday, Harman was in the second-to-last tee time. 

Of course, the follow-up to a memorable player is a memorable memory. 

Harman’s was another chance-taker, to say it nicely. 

“I think watching Phil win his first one is probably my fondest memory being a left-handed guy and watch him get that monkey off his back so to speak,” Harman said of Mickelson’s victory in 2004. “I watched him play every hole that day. They had it on TV all day long, and I remember watching every shot. And he played beautifully, and he just gives himself a chance on the last hole, wins and almost jumped in there after he made that putt.”  

The post Why Anthony Kim is a Masters contender’s role model appeared first on Golf.

The post Brian Harman: This is my simple trick for hitting extra-soft flop shots appeared first on Golf.

The post Brian Harman: This is my simple trick for hitting extra-soft flop shots appeared first on Golf.

The post Brian Harman: This is my simple trick for hitting extra-soft flop shots appeared first on Golf.

The post Winner’s bag: Patton Kizzire and Brian Harman’s gear at the QBE Shootout appeared first on Golf.

The post Winner’s bag: Patton Kizzire and Brian Harman’s gear at the QBE Shootout appeared first on Golf.

Patton Kizzire and Brian Harman shot a final-round 61 to win the QBE Shootout title by one shot over Graeme McDowell and Emiliano Grillo at Tiburon Golf Club in Naples, Fla. The Titleist staffers had 27 of the company’s clubs in play, with the lone non-Titleist club being Harman’s TaylorMade Spider OS CB putter.

Here’s a full list of the gear both players used in Florida:

Brian Harman

Driver: Titleist 917D2 (Accra Concept Series M4 55X shaft), 8.5 degrees

3-wood: Titleist TS2 (Fujikura Speeder 661 Evolution II S shaft), 13.5 degrees

4-wood: Titleist 917F2 (Fujikura Speeder 757 Evolution II S shaft), 15 degrees

Hybrid: Titleist 818H1 (True Temper Dynamic Gold S400 Tour Issue shaft), 21 degrees

Irons: Titleist CB 718 (5-9; True Temper Dynamic Gold S400 Tour Issue shafts)

Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM7 (46, 50, 54 and 60 degrees; True Temper Dynamic Gold S400 Tour Issue shafts)

Putter: TaylorMade Spider OS CB

Ball: Titleist Pro V1

Patton Kizzire

Driver: Titleist TS3 (Fujikura Speeder 757TR X shaft), 10.5 degrees

3-wood: Titleist 917F2 (Aldila Tour Blue 95TX shaft), 15 degrees

Hybrid: Titleist 913H (UST Mamiya Axiv Core 100 shaft), 19 degrees

Irons: Titleist 718 T-MB (4-iron; True Temper Dynamic Gold X100 Tour Issue shaft), Titleist 718 CB (5-6; True Temper Dynamic Gold X100 Tour Issue shafts), Titleist 718 MB (7-9; True Temper Dynamic Gold X100 Tour Issue shafts)

Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM7 (48, 52, 56 and 60 degrees; True Temper Dynamic Gold X100 Tour Issue Onyx shafts)

Putter: Scotty Cameron Golo

Ball: Titleist Pro V1x

The post Winner’s bag: Patton Kizzire and Brian Harman’s gear at the QBE Shootout appeared first on Golf.

The post 30-second guide to the QBE Shootout: Late eagle lifts Harman, Kizzire appeared first on Golf.

The post 30-second guide to the QBE Shootout: Late eagle lifts Harman, Kizzire appeared first on Golf.

The QBE Shootout had to deal with a rainy and soggy final round at Tiburon Golf Club in Naples, Fla., but it wasn’t enough to slow down Brian Harman and Patton Kizzire. Here’s what you missed on Sunday.

The format: The field consisted of 24 players on 12 two-person teams. The 54-hole event was a scramble for the first round, a modified alternate shot for the second round and a four-ball for Sunday’s final round.

Who won: Brian Harman and Patton Kizzire (11-under 61, 30 under overall)

How it happened: Three teams shared the 36-hole lead, but Kizzire and Harman were alone at the top when Kizzire rolled in a mid-range eagle putt on the 17th. In the group ahead, Graeme McDowell had a chance to give him and Emiliano Grillo a share of the lead, but McDowell lipped out his birdie try on 18. Harman made an easy two-putt par on the 18th to secure the one-stroke victory.

Why it matters: It’s Kizzire’s first victory since the 2018 Sony Open in January. His first Tour victory came at the OHL Classic two months before that. Harman last won at the 2017 Wells Fargo Championship.

Best shot: Easy pick here. Right, Gary Woodland?

🚨ACE ALERT🚨

Hole-in-one for @GaryWoodland!#LiveUnderPar pic.twitter.com/KUYljP3U2t

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) December 9, 2018

Best closing round: Harold Varner III and Bubba Watson were the only team to shoot 60 on Sunday. They finished 6th at 27 under.

Notables: The only co-ed team, Tony Finau and Lexi Thompson, closed with a 65 and finished 7th.

Best left-handed shot by a right-handed player: Gotta love this creativity from Bryson.

Turn it around. @B_DeChambeau goes lefty.#QuickHits pic.twitter.com/XF7VthJtAM

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) December 9, 2018

Up next: The PNC Father/Son Challenge is next weekend at The Ritz-Carlton Golf Club in Orlando, Fla. The Tour gets back into the swing of things with the Sentry Tournament of Champions in Hawaii on Jan. 3-6.

The post 30-second guide to the QBE Shootout: Late eagle lifts Harman, Kizzire appeared first on Golf.