The post This newfound mental approach keyed Cameron Champ’s 3M Open win appeared first on Golf.

The post This newfound mental approach keyed Cameron Champ’s 3M Open win appeared first on Golf.

Welcome to Teachable Moments, GOLF’s weekly instruction column that will help you improve your game through the excellence and expertise of the Tour stars of the week. Class is now in session.

Champ’s new mindset

Cameron Champ secured his third PGA Tour win last week in Minnesota as he earned a two-shot victory at the 3M Open over Charl Schwartzel, Louis Oosthuizen and Jhonattan Vegas. The win represents Champ’s first top 10 in a tumultuous season in which he’s missed as many cuts as he’s made.

After the win, Champ explained the secret to busting a slump had nothing to do with tweaking his technique or altering his swing. Rather, he credited a revamped mindset as the catalyst for his rediscovered success.

Gear

Winner's bag: The clubs Cameron Champ used to win the 2021 3M Open

By: Andrew Tursky

With four missed cuts and a WD over his previous five starts before the John Deere Classic, the 26-year-old stepped back and took stock of his life — on and off the course. Champ decided he needed to bring the personality traits he’s known for off the course — cool demeanor, selflessness — and bring them inside the ropes.

“After Detroit I just took a step back and said, ‘You know what, this is enough, I can’t keep going on this way … I have to be true to myself and who I truly am as a person,'” Champ said. “This week I really didn’t get mad at results. If I did get mad, it was more so what I was thinking before that shot and what caused me to hit that shot. So it’s definitely for me a way better perspective as far as how to get around the course.”

With golf being as much mental as it is physical, resets of the mind can make all the difference. It sure did for Champ.

The secret to hitting long greenside bunker shots

There may be no shot in golf more difficult than the 40-yard bunker shot. Although pros can pull off these shots with ease, don’t be fooled — long greenside sand shots aren’t easy.

But even though it might not be easy to hit these shots as well as the pros, you can still use a professional-quality technique. In a video from the PGA Tour, veteran Michael Thompson shared his best tips on long shots from the sand.

“The hard part on long shots from the sand is you want the ball to carry a long way and you don’t want it to run out too much,” Thompson says. “Typically when I have to carry the ball about 20 yards, I take my 56-degree rather than my 60.”

With the proper club selected, Thompson then focuses on his setup. The key, he says, is keeping the weight on his front foot and then keep the ball forward in the stance.

Once it’s time to hit the shot, Thompson takes a steep backswing and then focuses on the follow-through.

“The follow-through is the key,” he says. “If you stop where you hit the sand, you’re just going to dump it a few feet in front of you … All you have to do is swing down and through the sand, and the ball pops right out.”

If you follow these tips and make an aggressive swing, the ball should come out of the bunker with ease and put you in position for a nice sand save.

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The post 4 things I learned watching Michael Thompson’s 3M Open win appeared first on Golf.

The post 4 things I learned watching Michael Thompson’s 3M Open win appeared first on Golf.

Since the PGA TOUR returned to competition post Covid-19 lockdown there have been a number of intriguing storylines. Among them:

Daniel Berger’s return from injury to the winners-circle at Colonial.

Dustin Johnson’s return from injury to win The Travelers and continue his incredible 13-year win streak.

Bryson DeChambeau’s physical metamorphosis and his overpowering victory in Detroit.

Jon Rahm’s emphatic win in the Memorial and his annexation of the #1 world ranking. 

Each of these events have intrigued me in their own way, but the teacher inside is always gripped by stories of “overcoming.” 

Whether it is overcoming obstacles, personal challenges, injury, or the odds, a tale of any competitor overcoming something on their way to triumph always heartens me.

Last week outside of Minneapolis (at the 3M Open) was certainly one of those stories and there is much to be learned from Michael Thompson’s journey.

In the years following his victory at the 2013 Honda Classic (preceding 2020), Micheal Thompson had only eight top 10s, a plethora of missed cuts, and a 2016 trip to the Korn Ferry Tour Finals (the Web.com Tour) where he re-earned his PGA Tour playing privileges. It was most surely a trying time, both mentally and emotionally.  

In a search for consistent form he toyed with his technique and worked alongside Kyle Morris for a period of time. He made incremental gains, but the winner’s circle eluded him. Essentially Michael’s swing was improving but his scores were not manifesting the gains.

In my opinion, his journey reflects the road-map many competitive golfers oftentimes find themselves on.

Fast forward to 2020. Michael connected with Justin Parsons and the two embarked on a mission to rediscover “Michael Thompson the golfer”. It was a mantra first stressed to him by Coach Jay Sewell at the University of Alabama. Coach Sewell would often exhort Thompson to go out and play “Michael Thompson Golf”.

Justin Parsons made this wonderful analogy to me: “Your golf swing is your vehicle to get you around the golf course,” and he and Thompson have embraced this belief en route to “Michael Thompson Golf”.

Building on that, some people have a Muscle Car with a V8 engine and others have a Smart Car with a 4-speed engine.  The former is enviable, but either way, both vehicles have enough horsepower to navigate the way to the lowest possible score on the day.

Sadly, too many people fall for the shiny luster of the sports-car as they think it will help their golf scores improve. It won’t, so before you embark on any change, consider the following:

1. Will it work under pressure?

Before you go about changing your golf swing, know for sure you are able to do what it requires, both under pressure and on a consistent basis. Remember, the ultimate barometer of your car’s engine is whether it holds up when the chips are down.

2. A more powerful golf swing doesn’t mean lower scores

Building a more powerful swing will improve the probability of lower scores but it won’t guarantee lower scores. Read that again and meditate on it.

3. Swing your swing

Remember the Arnold Palmer truism: “Swing your swing, not some idea of a swing.” Now, I understand that your swing may be fundamentally flawed and if that is the case, by all means make the necessary adjustments. My word of advice is to know when to lay off the wholesale changes and pivot to minor adjustments to keep your car in tip-top shape. Sometimes it may just be a tiny tweak that gets you road-worthy again. Sadly, too often, golfers get themselves into deep trouble by making too many changes.

4. Your golf swing is your vehicle but your putter can be your magic wand

Part of “Michael Thompson Golf” is recognizing and embracing his strengths and weaknesses.  His putting has always been a weapon and he appears to be back in the mind-set of allowing his putter to be the superstar.  Why don’t you try that?  Instead of constantly working on your swing, why don’t you invest time in your magic wand?  Thompson did and it worked wonders.

Onwards and upwards.

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The post How this pro pulled off ‘the shot of the year’ in golf appeared first on Golf.

The post How this pro pulled off ‘the shot of the year’ in golf appeared first on Golf.

Michael Thompson steps into the left greenside bunker on the 16th hole at TPC Twin Cities. His eyes never leave the flag 37 yards away until he is close to his ball. His eyes never look down. They don’t need to. You know the number of steps it takes to get to your most comfortable spot at home. Thompson knows his. 

Thompson looks at his ball. He looks up. He looks at his ball. He looks up. He looks at his ball. He looks up. He looks at his ball. He looks up. He looks at his ball. It is a 20-second process. You know the number of wiggles it takes to get comfortable at home. Thompson knows his. 

Thompson swings, and his second shot on the 302-yard par-4 flies for about two and a half seconds over 20 feet. It bounces three times, then rolls, stopping about two and a half feet away. It’s an easy birdie from there. 

“Shot of the Year….beat that?” CBS analyst Nick Faldo tweeted Monday. 

Thompson now leads by one shot with two holes to go at the 3M Open, and he would win by two shots. No stroke was maybe more difficult than the 37-yard bunker shot on 16. No stroke was maybe more prepared for, too. 

Thompson was right at home. 

Twenty or so years ago, after the bell rang at Rincon High School in Tucson, Arizona, Thompson played in the sand at Forty Niner Country Club.

“I would come home from school and just practice for five hours until it was dark,” Thompson, now 35, said Sunday night. “I used to walk to the golf course and then go hit a few balls, but then go putt and hit bunker shots. That was kind of my favorite thing to do.

“So when I got in that bunker, I was nervous, but at the same time, I knew the shot that I had to hit and I relied on a lot of those memories for just being in the bunker for hours and hours on end in high school.”

It’s what the cool kids do.  

News

How Michael Thompson went from being in the water to being the 3M Open winner

By: Nick Piastowski

On Sunday, the shot was as nerve-wracking as asking someone to prom. Long bunker shots are already a burden. Chunk it, and you’re left with, at best, a lengthy putt. Blade it, and you’re left with, at best, a lengthy putt the other way. Except, at TPC Twin Cities on Sunday, with the pin on the right side of the green and the bunker on the left, water was the other way. Nerves.

Thompson, too, was tied for the lead while playing for his first victory in seven years. More nerves.

The shot had also never been in play in the two years of the tournament. During all four rounds last year and the first two rounds this year, the tees were back, and no player found that bunker. On Saturday, the tees were up and the green was drivable, like Sunday, but the pin was closer to the trap and the water was not in play. Even more nerves.

Two players before him on Sunday were in the same bunker. Bill Haas hit it to about 19 feet. Cameron Davis hit it to about 12 feet. 

Thompson was in tap-in range. 

“That is trust,” CBS analyst Frank Nobilo said on the broadcast. “He’s paid his dues. Great shot.” 

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The post Golf’s 5 biggest winners this week, from Finau’s next caddie to American golf fans appeared first on Golf.

The post Golf’s 5 biggest winners this week, from Finau’s next caddie to American golf fans appeared first on Golf.

Who won the week in golf? First of all, hopefully some of you, dear readers, who got out to the course for some much-needed fresh air and competition. You’re all winners in my book! From the professional ranks, however, these five winners really stuck out. Let’s break ’em down.

1. Michael Thompson, super-closer

As sports fans, we want a win to really mean something to the winner. Simply put, it helps us feel good about our emotional investment if the competitors we’re watching are themselves emotionally invested, too. Well, look no further than Michael Thompson’s post-round interview after clinching a two-stroke victory at Sunday’s 3M Open.

Thompson, who played rock-solid golf down the stretch and clinched his win with birdies at 16 and 18, won for just the second time in an up-and-down 10-year Tour career. He was bursting with excitement about the win — and he was emotional, too.

“It’s been a long time,” Thompson said, choked up. “I’m really sad my wife and kids aren’t here to celebrate this with me. I can’t wait to see them. Babe, I love ya. I don’t know what else to say, this is so exciting.

He explained, too, what it meant for the future of his career.

“It’s the world,” Thompson said. “It’s what makes this game so unbelievable. We have to play for our job every year. To know that I have security for two more years, and to get in to all those tournaments. One of my biggest goals was to get back to Winged Foot. That was my first U.S. Amateur. It’s my favorite golf course in the whole world. To get into the PGA [Championship] and get into next week (WGC-FedEx St. Jude) is just a huge bonus. I have to get my mind right for sweating next week [in Memphis], but, uh, oh man. It’s just so exciting.”

You can see the full interview below:

2. Tony Finau’s next caddie

After Tony Finau split with his longtime caddie Greg Bodine following last week’s Memorial Tournament, he called on coach Boyd Summerhays to provide fill-in duties this week in Minnesota. There was some unplanned adversity midway through the event when Summerhays suffered some severe calf sunburn, but apart from that things seemed to roll along pretty smoothly: Finau opened 65-66 and seemed very much in control of his game for the second week in a row.

Midway through Sunday, the move really looked smart as Finau sat, for a short time, in sole possession of the lead. He didn’t finish there — he stalled out on the back nine while the field made birdies around him, slipping to T3 — but he did instantly make his bag the most desirable available loop in golf. Which brings me to my point about this big winner: Whoever eventually gets to take over gets a hot hand. Even if, as we know, Finau himself still hasn’t re-entered the winner’s circle himself.

So who’s it gonna be? Finau will stick with the theme of familiar temporary caddies for the next two tournaments, he said after his round. While Summerhays was one-and-done, Tony’s brother Gipper will take over for WGC-Memphis and the PGA Championship, he said. After that, it’s decision time.

3. Adam Long’s determination

On Friday, Adam Long bogeyed his 15th and 16th holes to slip to 1 under for the tournament — a shot outside the cut line. Our Sean Zak, who happened to be caddying from Long’s group, reported the understandable exasperation from Long. He had played well for two days and would be rewarded with just an MC?!

But that’s not what happened. On the 210-yard par-3 8th hole, he stuck a long-iron to 5 feet and rolled in the putt. Then he played a nifty chip from the greenside rough at No. 9, his final hole of the day, and rolled in another 5-footer to punch his ticket to the weekend.

All Long did after that was shoot scalding rounds of 63-64 on Saturday and Sunday, best in the field, and jump from the cut line into solo second place. That’s second as in, the second-best finish of his PGA Tour career. It’s also second as in a $719,400 payday. In all, grinding out those 35th and 36th holes was a heck of a smart move.

As always on the PGA Tour, once you make the weekend, anything can happen (“you” here only refers to whichever readers are capable of shooting 63-64 on a PGA Tour setup).

4. Future Brooks Koepka

You might be saying to yourselves, “Wait a minute. Brooks Koepka?! He missed the cut this week! He’s gone MC-T62-MC his last three starts!” To which I would say: Fair point. However!

We’re headed to Memphis, which is where the world No. 6 should catch some seriously good vibes. The last time he went walkin’ in Memphis was at last year’s WGC here, when he throttled Rory McIlroy in the final group on Sunday and walked away with a statement victory. Now he’ll be back!

If that feeling isn’t enough to get Koepka swinging freely, he needn’t wait much longer for some more good feelings. It’s hard to imagine someone better suited for the action at TPC Harding Park in two weeks’ time than Koepka, who you’ll recall has won the last two editions of the PGA Championship. He’s got one in the Midwest, at Bellerive in 2018. He got one on the East Coast, at Bethpage Black. Can he make it a cross-country trifecta with a triumph in the Bay Area?

Finally, Koepka came out of this weekend a winner despite not playing because another Koepka picked up the slack. You’ll remember that at the Travelers, supportive brother Brooks and his caddie Ricky Elliot went to cheer on his brother Chase as he Monday qualified into the field.

Well, that backfired when Elliot subsequently tested positive for the coronavirus and both Koepkas were forced to WD. Brooks felt guilty that his brother had pulled out after working so hard to earn the spot, but his good-faith WD was rewarded with sponsor’s exemptions into the Workday and the 3M Open. After making the cut, Chase fired a Sunday 63 to roar into T26, surely a good enough result to make he and his brother feel better about the whole saga.

5. Ohio golf fans

More importantly, golf fans everywhere! The LPGA is back this coming week for the first time in nearly six months, and absence only makes the heart grow fonder, as the golf world has distinctly missed the rhythm of its women’s tour trekking along week by week.

One subplot of the LPGA’s return is that damn, there has been some serious professional golf played in the Buckeye State in recent weeks. The cancellation of the John Deere Classic — and subsequent move to Muirfield Village — meant that the greater Columbus area would host the PGA Tour in back-to-back weeks. Now, the LPGA is headed to an “improvised tournament” at the Inverness Club for this week’s Drive On Championship. The following week, the Marathon Classic will take place at Highland Meadows — both in the Toledo area.

It’s important to note that Ohio fans won’t actually get to witness the action in person, as spectators still won’t be allowed on site. But knowing the action is taking place down the road should add to some local Toledo pride.

The field at Inverness will be heavy on American talent, with the top nine U.S. players, led by No. 2 Nelly Korda and No. 5 Danielle Kang, signed up to play. On the other side of the coin, the top eight South Korean women in the Rolex rankings won’t be teeing it up the first event back.

As for Ohio’s golf faithful? They’ll get more pro tournament action when the Bridgestone Senior Players (Akron Aug. 13-16) and Korn Ferry’s Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship (Aug. 20-23) come to town. Good news for all of us.

Until next week!

The post Golf’s 5 biggest winners this week, from Finau’s next caddie to American golf fans appeared first on Golf.

The post Michael Thompson overcome with emotions after second career victory appeared first on Golf.

The post Michael Thompson overcome with emotions after second career victory appeared first on Golf.

The post-round winner interview is a special thing in golf.

For those who win often, it becomes a formality — win, fist pump, hug the caddie, talk to the media. But occasionally, it offers a peek into a player’s deepest emotions. That was the case for Michael Thompson Sunday afternoon at TPC Twin Cities. 

Thompson won for just the second time in a 10-year Tour career, and the first time since 2013. His birdie on the 18th hole netted him a 2-stroke win and just under $1.2 million dollars, but the real gain was far greater. 

The win gave him a two-year exemption on the PGA Tour, it pushed him into the top 40 in the FedEx Cup, guaranteed him a spot in this year’s first two-majors (the PGA Championship and the U.S. Open) as well as an invite to next April’s Masters tournament. 

“It’s been a long time,” Thompson said, choked up. “I’m really sad my wife and kids aren’t here to celebrate this with me. I can’t wait to see them. Babe, I love ya. I don’t know what else to say, this is so exciting.

“I just played such great golf today. Stayed within myself, believed in myself. I couldn’t have asked for anything more.”

Amanda Balionis rattled off what the victory meant for Thompson’s status, and it became quickly apparent how important it was to him. 

“It’s the world,” Thompson said. “It’s what makes this game so unbelievable. We have to play for our job every year. To know that I have security for two more years, and to get in to all those tournaments. One of my biggest goals was to get back to Winged Foot. That was my first U.S. Amateur. It’s my favorite golf course in the whole world. To get into the PGA [Championship] and get into next week (WGC-FedEx St. Jude) is just a huge bonus. I have to get my mind right for sweating next week [in Memphis], but, uh, oh man. It’s just so exciting.”

The post Michael Thompson overcome with emotions after second career victory appeared first on Golf.