Westwoods putting.....

[Tommo21]

Westwoods putting is horrendous. On the back swing of a short putt he’s lifting the putter up in the air by a fair margin when all the best putters keep the club head closer to the ground. He looks hunched over the ball with his elbows up………who the hell is coaching him.

 

[bobmac]

I think hes heading for the yips.
He's known for years he's not a good putter and has tried every conceivable putter and style to no avail (except a V-Easy)
And worrying about it will make it worse.
It's mental with Lee

 

[Imurg]

It's very much a confidence thing in my opinion.
He was sinking everything on Saturday and you don't win 40 tournaments without being abke to putt.
He got spooked on the 6th by a camera and an extra 10 yard carry on the approach, add the 2 hooks into the jungle and they have to knock confidence
He knocked in a good one on the 8th but once the hooks came in you could see the confidence draining away.
For me, he needs a good mind guru rather than anything else....

 

[HawkeyeMS]

It's very much a confidence thing in my opinion.
He was sinking everything on Saturday and you don't win 40 tournaments without being abke to putt.
He got spooked on the 6th by a camera and an extra 10 yard carry on the approach, add the 2 hooks into the jungle and they have to knock confidence
He knocked in a good one on the 8th but once the hooks came in you could see the confidence draining away.
For me, he needs a good mind guru rather than anything else....

I keep hearing people defending his short game\putting with the stat about how many wins he's had but if you look at his recent record in the last 3 or 4 years it's really not that good. Most of his wins in that time have been Asian Tour events or the Nedbank golf challenge. Nearly all of his European Tour wins were Pre-2009.

Clearly when you hit the ball as well as Lee and have been playing as long as he has you are going to have wins, the problem seems to be in the last 4 or 5 years when he should have been seriously contending in big events\majors his short game\putting as let him down and it looks like that has now become mental. Moving to America so he could spend more time practicing was a good move but also puts more pressure on him as people are now looking for that improvement.

 

[Imurg]

Agree
The short game was almost decent this week but he's been neglecting his long game a little to give more time to it and that might be the cause of the hooks.
The short putts he missed yesterday were just weak putts, he simply didn't hit them hard enough.
Others were ramming them in from 3 feet or so, Lee seemed to be trying to cosy them in and that just doesn't work...

Hopefully, given he can practice all Winter at home now, it will show an improvement for next season otherwise it might be the start of another slippery slope

 

[Hobbit]

I think its now more than just dodgy putting/short game. For nearly three and a half rounds he looked like a champion but when he threw in a couple of errors his head went. The expectation that has been built around him is the expectation he now believes, whether that be for winning or for his short game falling apart.

 

[MashieNiblick]

Agree

The short putts he missed yesterday were just weak putts, he simply didn't hit them hard enough.
Others were ramming them in from 3 feet or so, Lee seemed to be trying to cosy them in and that just doesn't work...

I get the impression that a lot of the time Lee just misses on the low side so think this is right. He needs to be more positive.

It was his driver that cost him yesterday though. Funny game!

 

[Fader]

What gets me is the way he always looks at putts after with that look of dejection and the "I can't believe it went that way" face. Seems to me he either isn't positive with his pace after deciding on his line or he just cannot read putts that well anymore.

Superb ball striker but average putter for his level, sure there was something somewhere about him working with Dave Stockton though I maybe confusing him with Rory.

 

[AmandaJR]

I get the impression that a lot of the time Lee just misses on the low side so think this is right. He needs to be more positive.

It was his driver that cost him yesterday though. Funny game!

That's how I see it and it's so frustrating to watch - "hit the damn thing Lee" is often yelled at our TV!

 

[Ethan]

On the PGA Tour, there is a stat called 'strokes gained - putting', which is basically a measure of the extent to which putting improves your score. Lee is 87th, which is far too low for someone of his world ranking. Guess who number 1 is - Tiger Woods. Interestingly, Sergio is number 2.

Also, Lee's scoring average for the first two rounds is 12th, but for the 3rd and 4th rounds, 145th and 131st. You don't win many events going backwards at the weekend.

http://www.pgatour.com/players/player.20396.lee-westwood.html/performance-stats/#uber

 

[Mungoscorner]

I was watching the Golf Channels coverage of yesterdays final round, they highlighted the fact that Westwood hovers the putter rather than grounding it, and that he has the toe down and heel up ?
Most poor putters that i've played with/against tended to do the opposite i.e toe up and the heel down, and most good putters have had the sole parallel to the ground.

 

[pendodave]

Interestingly, Sergio is number 2.

This should make Westwood think a bit. Sergio has had as bad, if not worse, a reputation as a dodgy putter over the years with the same sort of whispering in the press and tv which he must have been aware of. And yet Serg has turned it round. There must be something about the way he's gone about it that Westwood could emulate. Only difference is perhaps that Sergio was a great putter as a youngster, but I'm not sure if Westwood ever was.

Watching Lee, I always get the impression that the right hand comes in to inject a bit of pace, and maybe such an action is hard to keep reliable when the pressure is on. I've certainly never seem anyone leave so many putts short as he did at Augusta and US open over the last few years when in contention.

Plus his driver keeps going awol on sunday which is another thing altogether...

 

[HomerJSimpson]

I don't know where Westwood goes now other than buying a v-easy. I am a big fan of his but its painful watching him struggling. I find it hard to reconcile the bold putter in the RC with the one that seems so nervous and tentative in majors and big events

 

[dufferman]

I'm no expert, but the way his putter sits at address to putts doesn't look right, I can' believe it when I see it. Each to their own, and I'm not saying it's wrong, but it doesn't look right!

I wonder if he was given free range of any putter on the market, would he choose something else which helps his putting?

 

[One Planer]

Steve Stricker putts with the heel up. He's a pretty sharp putter.

I think with Westwood it's a mental issue. He can putt. You dont win the number of tournaments he has if you can't putt.

 

[Roops]

Stricker does, but his stroke is a whole lot better than Westwood's. If you watch Westwood's stroke from the front it's shocking, I mean look away from the TV shocking.........I think he needs to totally change his whole putting approach, it's too fidgety and jerky. He should get on the putting green and just whack balls from one end to the other, forget about the hole and work on an accelerating stroke. Then rein it in to get his distance judgment better. The fiddly, tippy tappy stuff is just not going to cut it.

 

[londonlewis]

I keep hearing people defending his short game\putting with the stat about how many wins he's had but if you look at his recent record in the last 3 or 4 years it's really not that good. Most of his wins in that time have been Asian Tour events or the Nedbank golf challenge. Nearly all of his European Tour wins were Pre-2009.

Clearly when you hit the ball as well as Lee and have been playing as long as he has you are going to have wins, the problem seems to be in the last 4 or 5 years when he should have been seriously contending in big events\majors his short game\putting as let him down and it looks like that has now become mental. Moving to America so he could spend more time practicing was a good move but also puts more pressure on him as people are now looking for that improvement.

He contended in pretty much every major a few years ago (2010 I think, when Mickelson won the Green jacket after that amazing shot from the pines).

From memory Westwood finished in the top 5 in most of the majors he played in (I am sure I will be wrong on that!).
His short game is certainly average in comparison to the rest of the field and definitely poor when compared to his own long game but it would be great to see him win a major.

I once read an interview by one of his swing coaches or caddies (can't remember who). Their argument was the only reason people consider Westwood's putting to be so bad is because he gives himself so many more birdie opportunities than everyone else, so he is going to miss more than everyone else. I'm not entirely convinced but this argument has something to it.

 

[Siren]

He contended in pretty much every major a few years ago (2010 I think, when Mickelson won the Green jacket after that amazing shot from the pines).

From memory Westwood finished in the top 5 in most of the majors he played in (I am sure I will be wrong on that!).
His short game is certainly average in comparison to the rest of the field and definitely poor when compared to his own long game but it would be great to see him win a major.

I once read an interview by one of his swing coaches or caddies (can't remember who). Their argument was the only reason people consider Westwood's putting to be so bad is because he gives himself so many more birdie opportunities than everyone else, so he is going to miss more than everyone else. I'm not entirely convinced but this argument has something to it.

Billy Foster said that. Which ironicly is Westwoods biggest problem, sacking Billy Foster.