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Follow these steps in your pre-shot routine to increase your chances of success for every shot you hit.

Step 1: Switch On Your Golf Brain

You’ll need to make the transition from broad focus (in between shots) to narrow focus during shots. Whatever conversations or thoughts you were having in between shots need to be put aside and all your attention must go to the shot at hand.

Step 2: The Thinking Phase

The thinking phase is where your thinking about the shot is done. It’s important that it’s done here and not over the ball, where your mind will need to be quiet. The purpose of the thinking phase is to pick the optimal shot given:

The challenge ahead of you (the golf course layout and weather conditions)The risk reward of each possible option and your confidence level in each

Thinking phase questions:

“Where is the good and bad miss?”“What is the lie like and what’s the wind doing?”“What are the options available to be?”“Which is the shot/target with the greatest reward that I feel at least 75% confident I can execute?”

Once you feel confident about your type of shot, you need to prime your body and mind to execute it.

CBS Sports’ Final-Round Coverage of @WGCFedEx is Most-Watched Sports Broadcast of Weekend pic.twitter.com/ulxT9SkR2T

— CBS Sports PR (@CBSSportsGang) August 4, 2020

The Clippers/Lakers NBA return on Thursday won the week (barely), but CBS’s coverage of the WGC FedEx St Jude was the highest rated weekend sports broadcast, according to ShowBuzzDaily. The telecast featured a wild final round eventually won by Justin Thomas.

More impressively, it was played against increased sports competition returning from the COVID-19 breaks and summertime weather that often puts a huge damper in ratings (see the 2019 comparable weekend below).

The numbers marked an upgrade over last year’s dreadfully rated FedEx St Jude and the Wyndham Championship, played on a comparable weekend in 2019.

The 2019 numbers:

Still not convinced COVID-19 is taking its toll on golf OEMs? We’ve already taken a look at Acushnet’s second-quarter performance. Now it’s time to take a gander at Callaway’s Q2 2020 Financial Report.

On the face of it, the Callaway numbers tell a story that could scare the hell out of management and investors alike. But upon further review, the picture is very similar to Acushnet’s – not great, but it’s not the Seventh Sign of the Apocalypse, either.

Once again, we must declare we are not, nor are we claiming to be, financial experts or investment counselors. We’re golf industry enthusiasts who like to read and learn what all this accounting stuff means.

The Specifics

Callaway’s Q2 2020 Financial Report shows net sales of $297 million for the quarter. That’s down 34% from the $447 million in sales during Q2 last year, and it’s right in line with the $300 million in sales reported by Acushnet for Q2.

The Q2 Net Profit story is startling. There isn’t any.

Jason Day and Brendon Todd shot 5-under 65s Thursday to share the first-round lead of the PGA Championship at San Francisco's Harding Park. Nine players, including two-time defending champion Brooks Koepka, are just one shot back.

PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan was nailed by an errant tee shot by Matthew Fitzpatrick at the PGA Championship on Thursday.

The two-time defending champ put himself in position for a third. Can Brooks Koepka do it again? Will TPC Harding Park show its teeth? We get you set for Round 2 of the PGA Championship.

A lot has changed for Tiger Woods over the years, including his willingness to embrace the adoring galleries that helped buoy his comeback. Now, amid silent sidelines, Woods tries to pull off the improbable yet again.

The wedge is the club that should be replaced most often in your lineup. How frequently should you replace yours?

4:00  – What causes wedge wear and how often should you replace them?24:56  – Most Wanted: The Best Players Distance Irons of 2020

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The post When Should You Replace Your Wedges? | #NoPuttsGiven 50 appeared first on MyGolfSpy.

My story for The Athletic on Tiger’s solid opening round at Harding Park focused on the weird start, group vibe and Tiger’s slight miss at 8 that prevented an opening 67.

ESPN.com’s Bob Harig focused on a similar theme—the surreal start to the round when three of the game’s biggest names were met with silence.

Alan Shipnuck at Golf.com focused on Tiger’s ability to get the most out a so-so day.

Highlights from the featured group that goes at 1:58 pm PT Friday.

Bryson DeChambeau broke his driver on the seventh hole of the PGA Championship while leaning over to pick up the tee. PGA rules allowed him to then repair the club using a new shaft.

Top-seeded teenager Rachel Heck opened a big lead early and then had to hang on to beat Therese Warner in 18 holes to advance to the second round of the U.S. Women's Amateur on Thursday.

Danielle Kang, fresh off her victory at Inverness, opened with a 7-under 64 in the Marathon Classic for a share of the lead with Lydia Ko.

Martin Kaymer, who was forced into a period of inactivity while in Germany during the coronavirus pandemic, rebounded from missing the cut last week to shoot a 66 in the first round of the PGA Championship.

The price of a Starbucks latte.

A Triple-Triple at In N Out.

The student rate for a month of Spotify.

All seemingly good deals.

$4.99 for a month of ESPN+ so that you can watch the pre-ESPN PGA Championship coverage?

The CBS crew and ESPN+ broadcast had plenty of focus on the Featured Group of Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy and Justin Thomas, which meant we ended up hearing more than maybe they expected as the players waited on the 4th tee

In a nutshell, Tiger explained to Rory why Dodger fans don’t like the Giants-themed golf bags this week, why both think the NFL is doomed and why Tiger does not see MLB lasting past another outbreak.

Rex Hoggard breaks down the conversations here at GolfChannel.com as they looked at McIlroy’s bag.

“Giants’ colors, couldn’t do it,” Woods said.

“I don’t know enough about baseball,” McIlroy said.

“What team do you root for back home? Soccer?” Woods asked.

The Northern Irishman is a Manchester United fan.

“So, Liverpool. It would be like having Liverpool colors on your bag,” Woods said. “That’s how much we hate the Giants. I wouldn’t do it.”

The clip:

Tiger Woods, using a new putter, posted a 2-under 68 in first-round action at the PGA Championship in San Francisco.

Cormac Sharvin of Northern Ireland shot a course-record 8-under 63 Thursday to take a one-shot lead after the first round of the English Championship.

Tiger Woods could've easily played his way out of the PGA Championship in his opening round at TPC Harding Park. He was, after all, spending a lot of time in the rough. But when it was all over, he'd fought his way to 2-under 68. Here's how it happened.

Jeremy Turnage reports from Augusta on Mayor Hardie Davis saying he wants golf even if means the likelihood of no fans on site for the rescheduled 2020 Masters.

“I think that based on everything I know about what’s taking place at Augusta National, they’ve been on the front lines of reviewing what the PGA is doing. I think, as you see, the tournament’s happening tomorrow -- the PGA Championship at TPC Harding Park -- without fans. And that’s likely what probably will happen here in Augusta. We have a tournament without fans.”

Davis did say, however, that he has faith that the ANGC can move forward with a Masters tournament with fans provided the proper precautions are put in place.

“Do I believe that the Augusta National Golf Club can do it better than anybody? Absolutely,” Davis said.

Add the PGA Tour to the list of organizations cutting staff during the pandemic, reportedly around 50 this week according to several sources. Many of the cuts involved longtime employees presumably offered early retirement. The news comes as the PGA Tour has lost 11 tournaments due to the pandemic, but has not lowered purses for tournaments. Earlier this year, the PGA Tour signed a new $700 million a year television deal with CBS, NBC and Golf Channel commencing in 2022.

The PGA Tour issued this statement:

As a result of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the PGA TOUR – much like many other organizations – has had to identify ways to streamline our operations. While it is never easy to say goodbye to valuable members of the TOUR family, this week’s targeted job cuts will allow us to most efficiently deal with the current climate and prepare for 2021 and beyond.

The news comes as construction continues on the new Foster And Partners designed headquarters where more office space has now been freed up.