Golfing News & Blog Articles

The final major of the year commences at Walton Heath. Plus, Lytham gets a Women's Open, PGA Tour's '24 schedule has major ramifications, plus notes on Thomas, Harman, U.S. Women's Am and more.

Our golfing failures are caused by our perfect expectations for each shot. Yes, we watch the successes of pros on TV and expect that we can create those successes on the golf course too. Unfortunately, your progress in golf should be taken one step at a time. Like losing weight, you can’t do it over night. Set a plan for your game and take advantage of your progress.

Work on Improvements in Every Component of Your Game: You have to accept the fact that you have weaknesses in your game. List them and then go to work on each segment of your game:

1/ Driving to Hit the Fairway: Trying to drive for distance is a killer for most golfers. Set a goal to hit more fairways (or par 3 greens) for all of your tee shots. Hitting out of the rough, behind a tree or OB are all killers for your next shot. Why not focus on hitting the fairway with an iron, a fairway wood or your driver but keep moving up to longer clubs as your success in hitting fairways improves. [Pros are happy to hit 14 out of 18 drives to hit their target.]
2/ Approach Shots: If you know that your chance of reaching the green is a low percentage shot, why not layup on the safe side of the green (away from traps and penalty areas). It’s so much easier to pitch and roll a shot onto the green.
3/ Reading the Green from the Fairway: Hitting the green and rolling off into the fringe can be another killer shot. Determine where your shot will land and roll before you take your approach shot. Take advantage of the roll to give yourself a change for a 2-putt green.

4/ Practice to Cut Your Putts: Practice putting is the best way to cut strokes on every round that you play. Don’t expect to improve your putting without practice. You can only learn to reduce your putts by learning the feel for putting and reading greens. At least 40% of your practice time should be spent practicing your putts from every distance. Learning to make a good lag putt and then sink your second putt. A single putt green is just a bonus.
5/ Reading the Break: You may have 2 or 3 breaks in your putting line, but the slope closest to the hole is the most critical as your ball will break more as it slows down near the hole. Look at the line for any putt from the slope below the hole and again from behind the line from your ball to the hole. You need a good feel for the direction of the break and the distance of your putt.
6/ Short Putts NEVER Go In: Always putt to ensure that your ball will pass the hole by up to 2 feet. Even a 3-foot putt should be hit firm enough to pass the hole by at least a feet to avoid the many imperfections on the surface of the green next to the hole as most damage on the surface is done by golfers as they remove their ball from the hole. When you consistently pass the hole by up to 2 feet with every putt, you will learn to account for less break at the hole.

Practicing with GOLFSTR+ is a good starting point for every club in your bag. Stick to your plan to hit more fairways; make realistic layups or approach shots, hold more greens and make more 2 putt greens. If you make a poor shot, ensure that your next shot gets you back on track. Buy your GOLFSTR+ today at www.GOLFSTR.com

Scheffler is hoping TaylorMade's Spider putter provides the sparks he’s been searching for as the playoffs commence.

The post Scottie Scheffler looks set to give TaylorMade prototype putter a shot at FedEx appeared first on Golf.

With the PGA Tour and the PIF making nice, LIV players might soon have a road back to the Tour. How many of them would take it?

The post LIV players might soon have path back to PGA Tour. But do they even want it? appeared first on Golf.

Handicap Indexes are crucial to golf's fabric, but many people misunderstand them. Here are five things to know.

The post 5 things you *need* to know to understand Handicap Indexes appeared first on Golf.

Subpar co-hosts Colt Knost and Drew Stoltz make their picks for the FedEx St. Jude Championship at TPC Southwind in Memphis, Tennessee.

The post 1 parlay we love plus picks, sleepers for the 2023 FedEx St. Jude Championship appeared first on Golf.

The LPGA's brightest stars are set to tee off at Walton Heath Golf Club in Surrey, England, for the last major championship of the 2023 season.

On this week's episode of GOLF's Subpar, David Woods and Sean Foley explain why Rory McIlroy started using their ProSENDR training aid.

The post Why Rory McIlroy started using the Tour’s hottest new training aid appeared first on Golf.

Here are nine takeaways from PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan’s private media talk at the FedEx St. Jude Championship.

The post Saudi deal, health and regret: 9 takeaways from Jay Monahan’s private media talk  appeared first on Golf.

Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler, who finished first and second in last season's FedEx Cup playoffs, arrived at this week's FedEx St. Jude Championship at TPC Southwind with high expectations -- and new putters.

Jack Nicklaus' putt on the 17th hole at the 1986 Masters is one of the most iconic moments in golf history. Here's more detail about that historic putt:

Event: The 1986 Masters Tournament, one of golf's major championships, held annually at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia.

Date: April 13, 1986.

Situation: Jack Nicklaus entered the final round of the tournament trailing the leaders. He was 46 years old at the time and considered past his prime. However, a remarkable charge on the back nine of the final round changed the course of the tournament.

The Putt: On the par-3 17th hole, Nicklaus faced a lengthy putt for birdie. The putt was approximately 40 feet, and Nicklaus had to navigate the undulating Augusta National greens. The crowd watched in anticipation as Nicklaus lined up the putt.

Rory McIlroy officially has made his seventh consecutive Ryder Cup roster for Team Europe, and Jon Rahm will be making his third appearance.

PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan is back to full health and determined to finalize the business agreement with the Saudi backers of LIV Golf.

There's a difference between a bad day on the greens and a trend of bad putting, so we're here to help you solve your putting issues.

The post Top 3 reasons to change your putter and start putting better appeared first on Golf.

MyGolfSpy Ball Lab is where we quantify the quality and consistency of golf balls. Today, we’re reviewing the 2023 Maxfli Tour S. To learn more about our test process, click here.

About the Maxfli Tour S

The Maxfli Tour S is new to the Maxfli Tour range this year.

The “S” is for “soft” and while it is the softest of the Maxfli Tour balls, it’s definitely not a reimagined Softfli.

Like the rest of the Maxfli Tour line, the Tour S is produced for DICK’S Sporting Goods by Foremost in Taiwan. With regard to quality/consistency, we regard Foremost as the best of the factories not under direct OEM ownership.

As we always do in our Ball Lab, we analyzed Consistency, True Price, Compression, Weight, Diameter, Defects, and Core-Centeredness. Below you can see the key takeaways and a deep dive into what we found.

The Problem

There are few things worse than being in the middle of the fairway or next to the green with a wet, dirty club while your towel is attached to your bag on your cart, 30 yards away.

The Solution

The StickIt Magnetic Golf Towel — a microfiber waffle-weave towel that snaps to a magnetic patch that allows you to bring with you wherever you go and pick it up as easily as hovering your club over the magnet. It even comes with a metal putter grip plug to go into the top of your putter so you can use that to pick it up.

How I Found It

During a recent early-morning round, the amount of dew and grass left on my club after every practice swing was super annoying. I typically have my towel attached to my bag (with a carabiner) but strapping it to my belt loop is less than ideal (not to mention a fashion faux pas), so I went looking for another option.  I happened upon this option on Amazon and with a near five-star rating from more than 2,500 reviews, it felt like a no-brainer to try out for about $25.

How it Worked (and didn’t)

The StickIt Magnetic Towel has a pretty simple concept: Attach a magnet to your golf towel so that you can easily pick it up with any club in the bag, making it easier to bring with you wherever you are.  The argument could be made that, you know, you could just bend over and pick up your non-magnetic towel, which is fair.  But for anyone with even the slightest lower-back issue, something like this feels like a God-send.

The towel is high-quality, super absorbent, and the waffle-knit allows for some good scrubbing of clubs and balls. I had zero issue getting my clubs clean, even when taking what I like to call a “healthy” divot (read: digging to China).  

It’s no secret that the PAYNTR golf shoes perform very well in the MyGolfSpy shoe testing. In 2022 and 2023, they cleaned up in both the spikeless and spiked golf shoe categories. We thought it would be helpful to break down what each of our favorite PAYNTR models does best.

PAYNTR X 001F (Most Comfortable)

The PAYNTR X 001F is the most comfortable spikeless shoe of 2023. This distinction is not just when testing against other PAYNTR shoes but all golf shoes in our test. 

It seems the comfort comes from an incredibly soft microfiber upper combined with an underfoot EVA foam. The fact that this is a spikeless shoe certainly doesn’t hurt the comfort level. 

Comfortable spikeless golf shoes don’t always score well in the stability and traction category but the PAYNTR X 001F was an exception. If you want a great summer shoe, you can also find this in a mesh option. It isn’t great for wet days on the course but is very breathable. 

PAYNTR X 003 F (Best Value)

When looking for the best golf equipment, gear and accessories, we can’t help but keep your budget in mind. The X 003F from PAYNTR does an incredible job with spikeless performance without breaking the bank. 

The Rules of Golf do not cover the disposal of cremains. But local laws and golf etiquette do. Here's what you need to know.

The post Is it legal to scatter a loved one’s ashes on a golf course? | The Etiquetteist appeared first on Golf.

Full 2023 FedEx St. Jude Championship tee times for Round 1 on Thursday in Memphis, featuring Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm and more.

The post 2023 FedEx St. Jude Championship tee times: Round 1 groupings for Thursday appeared first on Golf.

The 2023 FedEx St. Jude Championship kicks off this week in Memphis Here's how to watch the event, including a full TV schedule and tee times.

The post 2023 FedEx St. Jude Championship: How to watch, TV schedule, streaming, tee times appeared first on Golf.