The King is Dead – Long live the King! The Career stats of Arnold Palmer. Golf Chats is a website to encourage discussions on various subjects relating to the game of golf. I am Mel Sole, Director of Instruction of the Mel Sole Golf School and SAPGA Master Professional. I invite you to enter into a discussion on this or any article on the golfchats.com website. The input is for the entire subscriber base to learn something new each time! Please post your comments below. Keep it clean and tasteful. We are here to learn from one another! All of us agree that Arnold Palmer had a fantastic career, no doubt about it. But in a time where wins and money on the PGA mean the measure of a golfer’s greatness, Arnold Palmer had an even more amazing stat. From 1974 to 2004, a span of 30 years, Arnold did not have a victory but still made more money in endorsements than any other golfer on the planet! Why? Because everybody loved Arnold Palmer and would buy anything he put his name on. From car dealerships (I bought my Cadillac from an Arnold Palmer dealership in 1997) to car and tractor oil, golf course design, etc. Heck, he even had a drink named after him! I don’t know of any person alive or dead with the charisma, charm, and aura that Arnold had. Thank you so much, Brentley Romine, of Golfweek for these amazing career stats. Thanks for everything you have done for the game of golf, Arnie! You will be sorely missed.
Arnold Palmer, pictured at the 2016 Arnold Palmer Invitational (Getty Images)
Here is a look at Arnold Palmer’s legendary golf career, by the numbers.
• • •
Brief look
Major championships: 7 (Masters: 1958, ’60, ’62 and ’64; U.S. Open: 1960; British Open: 1961 and ’62)
Professional victories: 95
PGA Tour victories: 62 (fifth most all-time)
Champions Tour victories: 10 (five majors)
Ryder Cup appearances: 6 (1961, ’63, ’65, ’67, ’71, ’75; U.S. went 6-0; 22-8-2 career individual record)
World Cup appearances: 6 (1960, ’62, ’63, ’64, ’66, ’67; U.S. went 6-0)
Amateur victories: 26 (includes 1954 U.S. Amateur)
The Top Putters on the PGA Tour and the Putters that got them there!
Golf Chats is a website to encourage discussions on various subjects relating to the game of golf. I am Mel Sole, Director of Instruction of the Mel Sole Golf School and SAPGA Master Professional. I invite you to enter into a discussion on this or any article on the golfchats.com website. The input is for the entire subscriber base to learn something new each time! Please post your comments below. Keep it clean and tasteful. We are here to learn from one another!
Great Putters are born!
I have always believed that if you practice, hard you can become a good putter, but great putters are born. I personally don’t think the equipment they use would make them any better or worse on a day-to-day basis. You just have to see how often these great putters change their equipment to see it is more a feel and visual thing. On any given day, a putter can look and feel great, and the next day feels like a lead pipe in your hands.
I had the good fortune to play a lot of golf with the late great Bobby Locke, who, to this day, is still regarded as one of the best putters ever. He used a hickory shaft blade putter for most of his career and never changed. The same can be said for fellow countryman Gary Player. He still uses the putter that won him all his majors! So what can you learn from this article? Find a putter that you really like, stick with it, and practice your putting stroke diligently to become a good putter!
David Dusek of Golfweek presents the top putters on the PGA Tour, and their strokes gained stats that allow us to see just how good these players really are with the flat stick in their hand.
“The wand chooses the wizard. It’s not always clear why.”
During a chat with Harry Potter, Mr. Ollivander, the owner of a magic wand shop, said, “The wand chooses the wizard. It’s not always clear why.”
The same holds true of putters. Several guidelines can help players find a putter that suits their stroke, but there is a healthy amount of art to blend in with the science. For example, face-balanced putters tend to benefit golfers who have a straight putting stroke; players who have an arched putting stroke tend to favor toe-down putters. Likewise, the ideal length and lie angle should position the hands directly beneath the shoulders.
The best putters on the PGA Tour use a wide variety of blades and mallets. Some feature a classic look. Others are colorful space-age designs. The one thing they have in common: They all have been custom-fit to match the player’s stroke.
Below is a list of the golfers who are the current top 10 players in strokes gained putting on the PGA Tour, along with their putter.
1. Jason Day
Jason Day is the top-ranked putter on the PGA Tour this season. (PGA Tour/Chris Condon)
Strokes gained: +1.106 His putter: TaylorMade Spider Limited Red
Jason Day’s putter / Courtesy of TaylorMade
2. Steve Stricker
Strokes gained: +.930 His putter: Odyssey White Hot #2.
Is Driver loft more relevant than the angle of attack?Golf Chats is a website to encourage discussions on various subjects relating to the game of golf. I am Mel Sole, Director of Instruction of the Mel Sole Golf School and SAPGA Master Professional. I invite you to enter into a discussion on this or any article on the golfchats.com website. The input is for the entire subscriber base to learn something new each time! Please post your comments below. Keep it clean and tasteful. We are here to learn from one another!When I listen to club fitters talk their lingo, I am always caught between awe and this nonsense? Spin rate. The angle of attack. Launch angle. And ball speed are all words used in this gray area of the golfing world. But, I think it’s time the average golfer started taking notice of these figures. The PGA and LPGA players are all maximizing their total distance with the use of these figures. Obtained by club fitters using launch monitors like FlightScope or Trackman. So it senses that this would make a HUGE difference to golfers who have less than perfect swing mechanics. I sometimes hear students say, “My swing is not consistent enough to have a club fitting.” On the contrary, it’s these golfers who will benefit the most from having clubs that will suit their inconsistent games! Thanks so much to David Dusek of Golfweek for this interesting article!
Zach Johnson typically hits upward into the ball with his driver, creating a high launch angle that helps maximize distance for his swing speed. (PGA Tour/Stan Badz)
Many manufacturers have in recent years touted extremely low-spin drivers as if they were some kind of just-made-legal, performance-enhancing drug that can unlock more distance and lower scores.
Better materials and manufacturing techniques make them possible, but a simple question begs to be answered: How much backspin does any player really need with a driver?
Matt Rollins, a PGA Tour rep for Parsons Xtreme Golf, laughed in a way that immediately indicated the opening of Pandora’s Box when asked that question a few weeks ago at TPC Boston.
“There’s a bunch of things that factor into that,” Rollins said. “If you have a low-launch guy, say 8-, 9- or 10-degrees, you’re going to want to stay in the 2,400 to 2,600 spin rate. But if you have someone like Zach Johnson, who launches everything around 13- or 13.5-degrees, we’re trying to hit 2,000 or 2,100 to maximize his carry distance.”
From a physics perspective, any player’s ideal driver spin rate will determine launch angle.
Compared to his peers, Zach Johnson does not swing his driver exceptionally fast. To maximize how far his tee shots fly, he needs to send the ball high into the air. Johnson’s high launch comes from the 9.3 degrees of loft on his driver and a slightly upward swing path into the ball – known as a positive attack angle. His ball will balloon if he creates too much spin in combination with his positive attack angle, robbing him of both carry distance and roll.
The Secret to a good club fitting is knowing which questions to ask!
Golf Chats is a website to encourage discussions on various subjects relating to the game of golf. I am Mel Sole, Director of Instruction of the Mel Sole Golf School and SAPGA Master Professional. I invite you to enter into a discussion on this or any article on the golfchats.com website. The input is for the entire subscriber base to learn something new each time! Please post your comments below. Keep it clean and tasteful. We are here to learn from one another!
Mizuno Club Fitting.
I have always been fascinated by club fitting, and I do Mizuno club fitting at my school. However, not all club fitters are made equal. Like everything else in this world, there are so-called experts, and then there are real experts. The challenge is how to find them. David Dusek of Golfweek does a great job of laying out the foundation for you. Know what questions to ask, and you can’t go wrong. Good luck!
Walking into a store that is filled with the latest equipment, computers, high-tech cameras and other fancy devices can be intimidating for players who never have worked with a custom-fitter. It shouldn’t be that way.
A good fitter can transform a player’s game.
Helping the player hit the ball farther than ever and reduce the severity of misses.
Golfweek asked several well-known fitters for a few tips and questions that amateurs should ask.
Nick Sherburne
Founder and master fitter, Club Champion
clubchampiongolf.com
“After you get fit for the clubs, be sure to ask who is going to build your equipment. Everybody has gone to a demo day, hit a club and then purchased it, only to discover that the club they bought never feels quite as good as the demo.
“There are lots of little things that go into making a golf club perform at its very best, and making two clubs play the same takes time and skill.
Club Champion fitting in Orlando, Fla. / Golfweek/Tracy Wilcox
Golf Chats is a website to encourage discussions on various subjects relating to the game of golf. I am Mel Sole, Director of Instruction of the Mel Sole Golf School and SAPGA Master Professional. I invite you to enter into a discussion on this or any article on the golfchats.com website. The input is for the entire subscriber base to learn something new each time! Please post your comments below. Keep it clean and tasteful. We are here to learn from one another!
How do you become one of the best players in the world? By hitting your wedges close!
Some mediocre ball strikers on the PGA Tour have made a very nice living with this one club! And I must say good wedge players are also usually good putters. A really lethal combination. It did surprise me that Zach Johnson, who I thought would be in the top 2 along with Luke Donald, was only 8th, and Luke did not make the top 10! Maybe Luke needs to go and work on that wedge game that took him to the #1 spot in the world. Thanks to David Dusek of Golfweek for putting together this informative list!
Adam Scott leads the PGA Tour in proximity to the hole on shots hit from within 100 yards. (Getty Images)
1. Adam Scott: 11 feet, 2 inches
Titleist Vokey Design SM6 (48 degrees bent to 49, 54, 60 degrees), all with True Temper Dynamic Gold AMT X100 shafts
The bomb part of the “bomb-and-gouge” strategy makes people’s jaws drop and eyeballs strain. Drives that fly 320 yards do that.
But the other part of “bomb-and-gouge” – stuffing a wedge shot close to the hole after hitting the aforementioned mentioned blast – is just as impressive. And modern wedges are designed to help players lock in on the flag.
Until fairly recently, most manufacturers designed wedges with the same grooves in each club, regardless of the club’s loft or where golfers were most likely to use the club. Now, several companies give pitching wedges and gap wedges grooves similar to those found in irons because the lower-lofted wedges basically are approach-shot clubs. Designers then use different, wider grooves for sand and lob wedges. Clubs used more in rough around the green and sand.
And there are several high-toe wedges available that give players more hitting area when the face is open wide. There are more sole grinds and bounce options available, too. Several wedges have material taken out of the heel and toe to make it easier to slide the leading edge under the ball on tight lies.
When a player has a shot from within 100 yards of the hole, he or she almost always reaches for a wedge of some kind. Below are the 10 players who lead the PGA Tour in proximity to the hole on shots hit from the fairway within 100 yards from the hole, along with their average distance to the hole and their wedges. When it comes to getting it close, they’re the best in the business.
2. Rickie Fowler: 11 feet, 4 inches.
Cobra King Pro Muscleback (47 degrees), with KBS C-Taper 125 S+ shaft; Tour Trusty (53, 57, 62 degrees), with True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400 shafts
3. Stewart Cink: 12 feet
Titleist Vokey Design SM6 (48, 52 degrees), with Nippon Modus 3 120 TX shafts; (56 degrees bent to 57, 60 degrees bent to 62), Nippon N.S. Pro WV 125 S shafts
T4. Chad Collins: 12 feet, 3 inches.
Fourteen RM-22 (47 degrees), MT-28 V5 (52, 56 degrees), RM-22 (60 degrees), all with Dynamic Gold S400 Tour Issue shafts
T4. Hideki Matsuyama: 12 feet, 3 inches.
Srixon Z 945 (46), Cleveland 588 RTX 2.0 (52, 56, 60 degrees), with True Temper Dynamic Gold S400 Tour Issue shafts
Hole by hole flyover of the US Open venue Oakmont CC.
Golf Chats is a website to encourage discussions on various subjects relating to the game of golf. I am Mel Sole, Director of Instruction of the Mel Sole Golf School and SAPGA Master Professional. I invite you to enter into a discussion on this or any article on the golfchats.com website. The input is for the entire subscriber base to learn something new each time! Please post your comments below. Keep it clean and tasteful. We are here to learn from one another!
Today is the start of the United States Open Golf Championship.
In my opinion, along with the British Open, these are the top two Championships in Professional and amateur golf! I say amateur because the word “Open” means that anybody can try and play and possibly win these prestigious tournaments! Yes, the Masters is a fantastic tournament, but it is an elitist group by invitation only. And the other major, the PGA Championship, is only for professional golfers. No amateurs allowed. So I hold these two Open Championships in high esteem. The US Open is run by the USGA, and it amazes me each year how they can set up the course so that even par is a good score. The competitors know they are in for a battle when they step to the first tee, and they had better be mentally, physically, and emotionally prepared, or the course will chew them up and spit them out like a bad-tasting lemon! Below is a hole-by-hole flyover of the Oakmont CC, host of this year’s tournament, to give you a good idea of what the players are about to face. Thank you so much to Golfweek for providing these superb videos of the course. Enjoy!
One of the best golf photos at the Par 3 Contest at Augusta!
Golf Chats is a website to encourage discussions on various subjects relating to the game of golf. I am Mel Sole, Director of Instruction of the Mel Sole Golf School and SAPGA Master Professional. I invite you to enter into a discussion on this or any article on the golfchats.com website. The input is for the entire subscriber base to learn something new each time! Please post your comments below. Keep it clean and tasteful. We are here to learn from one another!
Professional Photographers have been known to wait a lifetime to capture a perfect time that describes that moment perfectly. This happened at the Par 3 contest before the 2016 Masters Tournament when Gary Player holed out on the 7th hole, to the thrill of everyone present. David Yarrow captured that moment and described it as his best photo ever! Read how Adam Schupak of GolfWeek describes David Yarrow’s perfect shot in capturing Gary Player’s perfect shot!
Gary Players makes his 4th ace at the Par 3 Contest!
Gary Player reacts in front of a photographer of his hole-in-one at the Master’s Par 3 Contest. (David Yarrow)
AUGUSTA, Ga. The ageless Gary Player made his 31st career hole-in-one, acing the 115-yard seventh hole of the Masters’ Par 3 Contest.
There were a record nine aces on April 6. But the shot of the day belonged to renowned wildlife photographer David Yarrow, who captured the 80-year-old Player making his record fourth ace in the contest.
“I’ve shot Maradona winning the World Cup and historic moments at the Olympics, but I think this is the greatest sports photo I’ve ever shot,” Yarrow said.
He previously assembled Gary Player’s African Wildlife Conservation Portfolio as a tribute to Player’s late brother, Ian, a conservation pioneer who spearheaded efforts to save the White Rhino from near extinction. Yarrow was Player’s guest at Augusta – his first time shooting the Masters since 1996 – and had special access to shoot The Big Three
Armed with a Nikon D810 camera, Yarrow headed out to the par-3 course with few preconceived notions. He set up at the seventh hole for one simple reason: “It frames so well, and I thought I could simply get a shot of the gallery clapping for three of the greats of the game as they walked up the hill,” he said. “Nothing special.”
If you have $55 million to spare – Greg Norman is calling!
Golf Chats is a website to encourage discussions on various subjects relating to the game of golf. I am Mel Sole, Director of Instruction of the Mel Sole Golf School and SAPGA Master Professional. I invite you to enter into a discussion on this or any article on the golfchats.com website. The input is for the entire subscriber base to learn something new each time! Please post your comments below. Keep it clean and tasteful. We are here to learn from one another!
Several former PGA Tour golfers have recently put their homes on the market.
Are things getting that bad in the golf industry? Ben Crenshaw has just listed his house in Austin, TX, for a more modest $5.7 million. Greg Norman’s home is nothing short of spectacular and has a total of 8 acres of land. Extravagant, I know, but as one of golf’s most successful players and businessmen, he certainly deserves it. Be sure to go to the link below to see some of the beautiful pictures of the house, inside and out. Thanks to Allen Etzler of Golfweek for exposing us to a world we don’t often see!
Greg Norman’s estate. ( Photos Courtesy of Norman listing )
It already has been a busy year in golf real estate, and Greg Norman joined the party by putting his estate on the market for a whopping $55 million.
You read that right.
Norman bought the 8-acre estate in Jupiter Island, Fla., in 1991 for $4.9 million, according to the property appraisal records, and its most recent appraisal notes the total value has increased to slightly less than $22 million.
The estate contains seven buildings that add up to about 26,000 total square feet and comes with a putting green, a gym, a game room, a tennis pavilion and court, and even a two-bedroom, two-bath guest cottage that is right on the water.
The main residence is a four-bedroom, 7 1/2-half bath that was built in 1902 with a large kitchen, wet bar, game room, wine storage and home theater.
You know, everything you would expect a $55 million house to have.
Let’s raise our hats to the oldest living PGA member!
Golf Chats is a website to encourage discussions on various subjects relating to the game of golf. I am Mel Sole, Director of Instruction of the Mel Sole Golf School and SAPGA Master Professional. I invite you to enter into a discussion on this or any article on the golfchats.com website. The input is for the entire subscriber base to learn something new each time! Please post your comments below. Keep it clean and tasteful. We are here to learn from one another!
I recently celebrated my 50th anniversary as a member of the South African PGA. But I have a long way to go to catch Gus Andreone, who will have been a member for 77 years, on May 30th of this year. If I make it that far, I will be 95, and I was 19 when I turned Pro. Gus turned Pro when he was 27 years of age. I look forward to the day when I will be able to go out, like Gus, and shoot my age regularly. Thanks go to Adam Schupak of GolfWeek for this enlightening story!
Gus Andreone, 104, is the oldest PGA member.
Gus Andreone, 104, is the oldest PGA member. ( Tracy Wilcox )
They called Gus Andreone the Night Rider. The colorful nickname was bestowed upon him as a 15-year-old caddie at Pittsburgh’s St. Clair Country Club because of his willingness to loop for a member named Dr. Goldman in the day’s last, feeble light.
For years, the caddie yard was the academy from which underprivileged students graduated into the game. Andreone’s family was so poor that his shoes had holes in the soles. One time, to quicken the pace, he picked up the doctor’s ball with his toes and advanced it some 50 yards. Dinner was calling.
“He had no idea,” Andreone recalled. “He said, ‘I’m hitting that ball pretty long.’ I got a kick out of that.”
The caddie yard gave Andreone a place where he felt welcome and a sense of purpose. It also instilled in him a dream to make a living at the game he loved and not as a coal miner like his father or in a mill like his older brothers. Today, Andreone, who turned 104 on Oct. 11, is the oldest PGA member. He is the living embodiment of the PGA, having seen as much change in the game as anyone since the humble beginnings of the PGA 100 years ago.
So many of his stories begin with the phrase, “In my day.” He learned the game when hickory was still king, with right-handed clubs because lefties were in short supply. It was a time before irrigation, with buckets of sand and water awaiting groups on every tee, and when a 250-yard drive was considered a wallop.
“Nowadays, these fellas can do that with an iron,” he said.
Being around the game was enough incentive to arouse the excitable curiosity of a teenage boy. He picked up his swing by studying the technique and habits of better players. Soon, the course became a magnet.
He went from earning 60 cents a bag to $30 a month tending to the shop, and was still a second assistant on the day he gave his first lesson to Mrs. A.C. Clarke. Afterward, she patted him on the back and thanked him for the lesson. “Right then I knew,” Andreone said. “That was it. Golf would be my life.”
He served a five-year apprenticeship and was elected to PGA membership on May 30, 1939. Even when he joined the military and served under Gen. George S. Patton in the “Ghost Division” that helped liberate Europe in World War II, golf was never far from his mind. When his tour of duty ended in 1946, his captain urged him to re-enlist.
“I told him I had some unfinished business,” Andreone said.
The Top 10 Stories of the 2015 LPGA Season – #2 was epic!
Golf Chats is a website to encourage discussions on various subjects relating to the game of golf. I am Mel Sole, Director of Instruction of the Mel Sole Golf School and SAPGA Master Professional. I invite you to enter into a discussion on this or any article on the golfchats.com website. The input is for the entire subscriber base to learn something new each time! Please post your comments below. Keep it clean and tasteful. We are here to learn from one another!
What a great season for the LPGA! In a year where two new stars emerged, the current #1 player upped her game, and some of the older players showed their grit, it was a standout year! Read on as Beth Ann Nichols writing for Golfweek, gives us her take on the last 12 months.
From left: Gerina Piller and Juli Inkster at the 2015 Solheim Cup ( Getty Images )
By Beth Ann Nichols
From Lydia Ko’s historic season to a memorable – and controversial – Solheim Cup, here are the top 10 moments on the LPGA in 2015, according to Golfweek’s Beth Ann Nichols:
10. Kris Tamulis won in her 186th start on the LPGA, in her 11th year on tour, at 34.
On a tour dominated by youthful storylines, Tamulis’ victory gave hope to the grinders. It proved especially heart-warming given that her caddie, Thomas Frank, aka “Motion,” lost his home in a fire earlier this year while he worked for Tamulis in Hawaii. They’re easy to root for.
By Associated Press
9. Amy Yang’s “perfect nine” on Sunday at LPGA Keb Hana Bank Championship.
She didn’t get the attention she deserved because of the time zone difference in South Korea. Yang birdied every hole on the back nine Sunday to shoot 9-under 27, the lowest nine-hole score in relation to par in LPGA history. Yang joined Hall of Famer Beth Daniel as the only LPGA player to post nine consecutive birdies.
(Photo by Matt Sullivan/Getty Images)
8. For a second time, Brittany Lincicome eagled the 18th hole.
The hole location was the same in 2015 at the ANA Inspiration as it was in 2009 when she hit the hybrid of her life. This time, Lincicome’s eagle forced a playoff against pal Stacy Lewis, and she won on the third extra hole. Lincicome led the field that week in driving and total putts.
7. Brooke Henderson didn’t just win the Cambia Portland Classic.
She owned it. The 18-year-old ended her quest for an LPGA card in a dramatic finish, setting a tournament scoring record of 21-under 267. Her eight-stroke margin of victory also smashed the previous record of six set in 1999 and 1986. AND Henderson Monday-qualified for the event. She wasn’t yet a member of any tour but rose to No. 18 in the world.
By Associated Press
6. Inbee Park’s brilliant final-round 65 at the Ricoh Women’s British Open at Trump Turnberry.
Put her seventh on the LPGA’s list of all-time major winners with seven. Whether or not it gave Park the career grand slam is up for debate, but she has now won four different majors. The 27-year-old ended the season by becoming the youngest player in tour history to earn enough points to qualify for the LPGA Hall of Fame.
To see the rest of the top 10 stories of the 2015 LPGA season, go here!
