Fulton Blog: A lesson in putting from McIlroy

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Rory McIlroy only had one three-putt all week at Congressional Country Club.

Well let's see, what part of Rory McIlroy's game should we talk about? After this week's performance at the U.S. Open, we could probably learn from every facet of this young man's game.

How about how to hit over 300 yard drives every time? How to hit tight fairways? Or, maybe we could talk about his ability to hit nice and high long irons and laser-like mid to short irons? Don't forget about that phenomenal short game that works from tight lies, heavy rough and even the sand. The list goes on and on, but none of these areas are as impressive as what he was able to do with his putter over 72 holes at Congressional Country Club.

All week you heard the commentators make references to the time Rory spent with Dave Stockton concerning his putting. One of the things the two worked on was keeping the lead wrist solid through impact and all the way to the finish, and the merits of this practice became apparent as he made putt after putt for four straight days.

The significance of the lead wrist in putting is to be able to return its condition to impact just as you assembled it at address. If you can do this, then you gain control of the club face at impact which is critical if you want to hit the putt on line.

One of the most common errors in putting is for the lead wrist to break down, disrupting the angle of the club face resulting in a ball that will roll off line. Club face angle in putting is absolutely critical as so many of us fail to control its condition at impact. What's important to understand, whether you arc the putter or prefer a more straight back -- straight through stroke, is the putter face needs to be looking down your intended target at impact. The style of stroke used should be the one that allows the lead wrist to return to its starting condition at impact with minimal breakdown.

Today on the PGA TOUR, you are seeing lots of different styles with the goal of improved consistency at impact and more putts made. From the claw to the cross-handed grip, to long putters who are fastened to the lead forearm, to belly putters, etc, etc. -- club face control is wanted by all.

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What's great about Rory's putting is that not only does his left wrist return to solid at impact, but he sustains this just past the ball to post-impact. At the TOUR Academies, we call this position the "end point" and encourage our students to train their putting stroke to it. All week, Rory was solid to the end point, not allowing for the putter to decelerate or for any steering action to take over.

To help improve the end point, one of the things we do in our TOUR Academy golf schools is get our students to think about a simple cadence of A-B-C. "A" represents the backstroke; "B" the end point and "C" allows for the head to turn and track the ball with the trail eye. This cadence is simple but effective and can allow anyone to train their putting stroke all the way to its end point.

An element that causes the breakdown in the lead wrist through impact is "C" occurring before "B." At all levels of golf, the temptation to look too soon is present and can considerably disrupt the path of the putter head and/or the angle of the putter face. I really enjoy watching players like McIlroy when they get this cadence going, because you can see just how committed they are through the stroke. As a result, the player becomes more instinctive and receives better feedback from each stroke.

When working on cadence, you want to be careful, however, that you don't get too much of a "pop" in your stroke. Oftentimes, when a student learns to keep the lead wrist more passive through impact and to a more stable end point, they start hitting or popping at the ball. This is not what you want and can lead to inconsistent distance control. With that said, when working to the end point, try to keep an even pace with the putter head both back to "A" and through to "B". This will allow for a more even length stroke and acceleration through impact.

Rory McIlroy's putting was just superb this week at the U.S. Open. There is so much we can all learn from his stroke and I recommend to all of you to watch his stroke at least fifty times before you go to bed at night.

Just Because

It's only fitting this week in the "Just Because" section that I continue with this year's U.S. Open winner. I can't remember a time I rooted for a European player so much to win our own nation's championship, but for so many reasons it simply felt like the right thing to do.

Now don't get me wrong, there is nothing I would like more than to see our American young guns step up and win a major title or for Tiger and Phil to get back to some form of their dominance, but after what happened at this year's Masters and how impressive he has been since, it was Rory's time.

In so many ways, McIlroy has shot an injection of life into the game of golf. As I sit here and write this week's blog, I not only feel more optimistic about the direction of the game and what it means to our industry, but happy as a fan to see the game moving into the hands of our next generation of players.

Today, two days after the U.S Open, the youth of this game all over the world are talking about Rory McIlroy and how much they want to be more like him. Not only is this a good thing for the industry, but it makes the job of parents and educators across the globe just a little bit easier. Think about all the qualities as a parent you would like to see in a role model and all the things you would like for him or her to have when it comes to the game of golf.

Qualities of Rory McIlroy

• Great Golf Swing - Check
• Solid Short Game - Check
• Repeatable Putting Stroke - Check
• Balanced Approach to the Game - Check
• Great Attitude - Check
• Good Manners - Check
• Respectful to Others - Check

You get the point - Rory McIlroy seems to have it all and is the type of young man you would let baby-sit your kids all summer.