Rory questions importance of a good short game

Slightly surprised about his view.
The short game will win you events. It might not put you in position to win them.
Just look at westwood..
he would have won at least 2 majors witha better short game.
 
I don't see anything that earth-shattering in what he says.

He's pretty much spot on, for me.

If you don't have a very good long game, you won't win much and Luke Donald winning one matchplay competition doesn't change that.
 
And how many major tournaments wins does that boy wonder, the kid who was arguably in the early 00's the best tee to green player (even better than tiger himself) Sergio Garcia got?

If he just had half of what tiger has on the greens he would have won a hell of a lot more than he did.

I side on the 'drive for show putt for dough'line.
 
If you want to win you and be great you need a complete package.

You can quote the recent thing from Paddy if you like 'If I played a 20 handicappers shots from 100 yards and in they would be off 5'.

Thats still + 5 and probably 10 worse than what he is looking to shoot round most courses on average.

Luke donald played had a great long game over the weekend to win, his long game just isn't as long as some others but was much more consistant last week.

Got to be a mix of the both.
 
I think Rory might mean that his best scoring days come when he hits good irons rather then chips and putts well. He generally has a pretty good long game and players who hit a lot of greens will probably miss more putts than those who chip it up close.
 
I have often thought this. If your iron play was good enough to not miss greens, ever, then chipping would be an irrelevance, ditto for bunker play too.

As long as you can putt.
 
I think Rory might mean that his best scoring days come when he hits good irons rather then chips and putts well. He generally has a pretty good long game and players who hit a lot of greens will probably miss more putts than those who chip it up close.
Click to expand...

Spot on!
 
"I don't care what anyone says about the short game being the most important. It's not. The long game puts you in position to have putts to win tournaments. Guys say you have to have short game to win tournaments and it is not the case. Not at all."

Can everyone else really be wrong?? Surely not... :D
Click to expand...

If that isn't a mis-quote then it's the biggest load of boll**** I have ever heard.
 
does noone else see the short game as having to be good to make up for longer iron inadequacies though?
You have more chance of birdies on the holes you hit in regulation than chipping in, argue with that one. Regardless of how that quote came about, putting yourself on the green will give you more opportunities and percentage of seccess than trying to hole one from the rough or off the green.
To me, putting is still the most important, it can be the real difference between an average score and a great score (or vice versa if your cup is half empty).
 
I think if your long game is that good that it will put you on the greens and put you in a strong position, but like most amateurs and pro's you dont always hit the greens so you need the short game to recover.

I think its easier to have a great short game than to have a great long game. If you have both then your just really special!
 
With that outlook he is going to win a lot of money but sadly no majors. The guys putting is not good enough to win him the big ones on tough courses where scrambling is going to count. Majors ain't birdie fests, par golf where making par from missed greens to tough flags on hard fast greens is what counts.
 
Didn't he hit 34 out of 36 GIR when he was leading in Dubai recently. When he wins tournaments, like he did at Quail Hollow, wasn't it because he was hitting a lot of greens.

I kind of understand where he's coming from. If you don't miss a lot of greens and only miss them a by a fraction when you do then your short game becomes a little redundant. BUT how many players can have their long game that switched on all the time?

His theory might hold some water in the upper echelons of the professional game but to me and most amateurs it's completely non sensical. :D
 
To us hackers, it is a daft notion, but with the mindset the pros use, you really dont want to have to chip onto every green, you would rather be putting. Doesnt always happen in practice but it is a mindset.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Orikoru
Short Game Thoughts
4 5 6
Replies
118
Views
5K
Klimski
Klimski
T
Just how good is Scheffler?
2 3
Replies
52
Views
2K
Voyager EMH
Voyager EMH
F
Playing a practice shot during a competition round
2
Replies
38
Views
2K
D-S
D
P
Why are people A-Holes when playing MATCHPLAY?
5 6 7
Replies
121
Views
16K
Sid Rixon IV
S
HomerJSimpson
Roll Up Group Handicaps
31 32 33
Replies
646
Views
38K
HomerJSimpson
HomerJSimpson
Top