Fulton: Frazar's two simple chip shots help him win

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Harrison Frazar has faced many challenges during his 13-year career, and his first PGA TOUR win at the FedEx St. Jude Classic in Memphis was no exception. He had a one-stroke lead going into the 72nd hole, and hit a beautiful drive down the middle of the fairway. Things seemed to be in place for the veteran to win his first title. But then he pulled his approach shot left of the green into the water. You couldn't help but think that maybe it wasn't meant to be for Frazar.

It's amazing how quickly things can change in golf. One minute, Frazar was thinking about hitting his approach shot into the center of the green, two putting and winning the title. A few minutes later, he was taking a drop and needed to get up and down to force a playoff. Despite the added pressure, that's exactly what Frazar did. His bogey-saving up and down on the 18th hole was just one of many great short greenside shots he executed throughout.

These short little greenside shots can give so many of us fits because they're not exactly a chip shot where you never really hinge the wrists, nor are they a full pitch shot that has adequate arm swing and body rotation in both directions. Rather, these shots are those that sit in between and this week at TPC Southwind, Frazer showed us a couple different ways to hit them.

The first way to hit this shot is to play it as Frazar did on the 72nd hole, letting the clubhead "out" some just after impact. What this means is that when the clubhead strikes the ball, it passes the lead wrist a bit sooner than normal after impact, which creates more spin. It is a higher-risk shot, however, because the low point of the swing arc is closer to the golf ball. Let me explain.

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When the back of the lead hand is flat during a golf shot, it allows the low point of the swing arc to be adjacent to the lead shoulder. As a result, the club head will still be moving down and the shaft will stay in line with the lead arm longer. This is why the best ball strikers peel a divot with their irons that is well in front of the ball. However, when the lead wrist becomes bent, the lead hand becomes the new low point of swing arc, which moves it closer to the ball.

On the final hole, Frazar set up to his short greenside shot with the shaft slightly forward and the ball in the middle of the stance. His backswing allowed for little arm swing with an immediate wrist hinge, creating a situation where the club head could fall into impact supported by some rotation with the torso. Again, as these movements occurred, Frazar's lead wrist softened (bent) just after impact. This allowed the club head to pass the lead wrist, and spin the golf ball up in the air.

Throughout the week, Frazar hit a lot of short greenside shots using this method, however, he also hit some using a different technique. On some short greenside shots, he kept the lead wrist firmer and "held onto it" longer through impact. When the club head impacted the ball, he didn't allow it to pass the lead wrist after impact. He kept the back of his lead hand flat, and had more bend in his trail wrist. As a result, the club shaft stayed in-line with the lead arm longer, allowing the club head to continue to move down further after impact. This technique will take some of the spin off the golf ball and lower the launch angle.

Although the set-up and backswing of the two shots look very similar, what happens through impact with the lead hand dramatically changes how the shot will react. Learn from this week's winner, Harrison Frazar, and try these shots to create the launch and spin you are looking.

Just Because:

I was quite pleased to see Harrison Frazar get his much deserved win in Memphis this week. During the last couple of years, Frazar has been outspoken about some of the struggles he's had playing the game at the professional level. I have always had a great amount of respect for professional golfers. They are some of the most committed and passionate people you will ever meet.

One of the things I liked that Frazar said in his interviews was that he was "just going to play golf and see what happens." It seems like such a simple philosophy, yet it is great advice for so many of us. Golf can play games with us, and lead us to thinking that we need to try harder or do something different that will make the ball to go straighter, longer and find the hole sooner. The game can be frustrating, and when you have played it for as long and at high of a level as Frazar, those frustrations can magnify.

The truth is that no matter what the game means to you or what role it plays in your life, at some point you just have to step up to the ball, trust it and let it go. If it goes in -- it goes in and if it doesn't -- it doesn't.

Good for you, Harrison Frazar!