Mondays are a good day to make statements, not Friday.
Make a conscious effort to loosen your hands and let your arms feel soft when you're at address. Take the club back a bit shorter, and feel as if you're cracking a whip on the way down - not tensing up to smash something hard.
From the rough, I'd use a 6-iron, play the ball back an inch or two and swing down on a steeper angle to catch the ball first. It also helps to aim slightly left and open the clubface at address. You'll get more height on the shot, and the club will cut through the grass more easily.
I plot the par 5s back from the green and make my plan. If I can reach the green in two shots, I'm going to be aggressive off the tee. But if 's a three-shot hole, the goal changes. You want to put yourself in position to hit your favorite shot to the green.
Throughout my career, I've been sponsored by several different equipment companies - Lynx, Titleist, Callaway.
In 2002, the 2000 Engelbrecht Els wine was released in South Africa and received high ratings.
There's so much more to life than golf. Family is always first.
Unless it's a dead-straight short putt, you should focus on a spot somewhere along the line you want to roll the ball on.
If you can hit your 3- and 5-woods with confidence from the fairway, par 5s become birdie opportunities, and 420-yard par 4s are a lot less scary.
I use a 1994 South African 5 rand coin to mark my ball. It reminds me of my '94 U.S. Open win at Oakmont.
I'm sure you have a hole at your course where you love to hit the tee shot. You can't wait to get up there and bomb away because the fairway is wide, or the hole always plays downwind.
Contours on the second half of a long putt have more impact on how the ball rolls because it's going slower. Adjust your speed if that last part is playing uphill or downhill. Don't get fooled by an early slope or break.
You should never get set over the ball and then aim your putter face. If you do it in that order, you can easily lose sight of your intended line. Instead, aim the face down your line first, then settle your body into position.
The good kind of spin - backspin - comes from hitting the ball cleanly, then making a divot after impact.
With shorter clubs, your ball position should be just back of middle, to really promote hitting the ball first on a downward strike.
The biggest mistake is trying to pinch down on the ball and ripping out a big divot, often hitting the ground before the ball. You'll dig up some turf, but you won't create much backspin.
I almost never hit a shot all out, and I make a conscious effort to swing my long clubs just as I do my wedges. Keep this in mind when hitting your fairway woods.
During a tournament, I'm not thinking about mechanics at all. I'm in scoring mode.
From a good lie in the middle of a fairway bunker, I'll make the same swing as I do from an average fairway lie. I'll dig my feet in slightly and keep my lower body stable so I won't slip, but I don't change my club selection or setup. It's only when the ball is sitting down in the sand that I'll make some modifications.
When you get to the tee on a really long par 5, I know what you're feeling. You want to let the shaft out on the driver and try to bomb it down there. I get the same feeling. But a big tee shot is not always the best strategy, especially on a long hole.
