Rory McIlroy's putting - a disaster that could have been prevented?

[BrendanC]

A disaster today obviously, but was it waiting to happen?

It seems obvious to me (good putter/moderate player) that he is too upright, his eyes are well inside the ball and he is not really looking at it directly when he putts.

So he has no follow through - hence the constant blocks, because if he did follow through he would hammer the ball much too hard.

A real shame but one I think that could have been prevented if Rory had better information.

 

[lia41985]

Do you have any good video of his stroke from the down-the-line view? His putting can definitely get better but I haven't seen any good footage of his stroke.

 

[BrendanC]

 

[BrendanC]

Hard to find good stuff of the putting DTL - he is obviously very upright with very straight arms. The shame is that I think the more he tries to do it 'right', the worse his faults get.

 

[Lifter]

That is a great point. I didn't think Rory's putting was all that good Friday or Saturday either. He was sticking every shot right next to the pin and two-putting! Sooner or later both Tiger and Rory are going to learn how to putt. And when they do, watch out!

 

[ms1170]

It looks like Adam Scott figured out how to putt. I think maybe Tiger should get a long putter, drop Foley and hire Schwartzel's Dad.

 

[mgranato]

A crystal ball isn't very good after the fact. His putting was good enough to fetch him a 4 shot overnight lead, and stll leading standing on the 10th tee. However, no one putts good during the throws of a meltdown. Hitting that tee shot between the kitchen and living room plus the following 6 shots are why he didn't win - not because of an upright posture. Just one man's opinion.

 

[spmurph]

+1

Rory said in his post round interview that his putting went downhill after 10. He said he started to second guess his lines and the speed. He was knocking it close, but not one three putt up to that point. I think his putting is just fine where it is.

 

[Lifter]

mgranato, I felt like McIlroy missed a lot of makeable putts near the hole on Friday and Saturday. He could have had a lead of 6 or even 8 shots. McIlroy's ballstriking the first three days was just unbelievable. That's the thing I really wanna highlight. It's a huge asset that McIlroy can hit the ball that long and straight so consistently. If he improves hit putting just a little bit, watch out!

 

[mgranato]

Augusta's greens are the most severe test imaginable. The cup edges are razor sharp, and you rarely get any love if the ball isn't tracking in the middle 3rd of the cup. It's an insane test when you have your wits about you. When you don't - forgetaboutit.

As Spmurph pointed out, when you don't 3 putt those greens once until after the 10th, I think his putting was pretty squared away.

Makes what Charl Seinfeld did even that much more amazing. Great day of golf.

 

[ggsjpc]

Augusta's greens are the most severe test imaginable. The cup edges are razor sharp, and you rarely get any love if the ball isn't tracking in the middle 3rd of the cup. It's an insane test when you have your wits about you. When you don't - forgetaboutit.

As Spmurph pointed out, when you don't 3 putt those greens once until after the 10th, I think his putting was pretty squared away.

Makes what Charl Seinfeld did even that much more amazing. Great day of golf.

I'm not sure I understand why sharp edges make making putts harder.

Why is that?

 

[Richie3Jack]

'Eyes over the ball' has nothing to do with how well you putt. Plenty of guys don't. Justin Leonard made a career with his putting and stood a mile away from the ball.






3JACK

 

[trickyric67]

history has shown so many different putting styles that work that it is impossible to really make such an observation. I will say however that once his tempo was gone and the smoke hook hit him then putting was sure to follow. I think the shot in the bunker that hit the lip was the final nail in the coffin. he did compose himself and that says good things about his future.

 

[ms1170]

I'm not sure I understand why sharp edges make making putts harder.

Why is that?

They're not sharper. They just have more break than most courses.

 

[18in2hours]

I watched a lot of Euro Tour golf this winter and I seem to remember McIlroy missing a lot more putts inside 5 feet than any other of the "big name" players. Contrast that to Luke Donald who seems to miss no more than 1 per month inside 8 feet.

 

[GPM1985]

His putting could have been better, but let's not kid ourselves. That snapper he hit off of 10 tee and the ensuing trainwreck triple had nothing to do with his putting. After that, I think he just felt too shaken and vulnerable after hitting such an extremely bad shot.

 

[Matt 4-L]

A good kid, I didn't see him dropping any f bombs like some other players when things start to go bad.

 

[mgranato]

I'm not sure I understand why sharp edges make making putts harder.

Why is that?

When you get A+++ quality greens, the rim edges of the cup can be set very "sharp" (as opposed to a slightly radiused edge you might see at a nice country club). The sharper the edge, the less of a chance the ball will have to "catch" the edge or lip in (assuming very good delivery speed, of course). The ball will usually just glide right over or veer a little. Putts you think would normally have a chance, don't. It just "shrinks" the hole that extra little bit.

 

[mgranato]

They're not sharper. They just have more break than most courses.

1/2 right.

 

[BrendanC]

""McIlroy not that good a chipper and doesn't hole out well from 10 feet under. Ditto Westwood. Both top 10 though."

- Re: being wise after the event, I wrote this in Todd Dugan's thread before The Masters started!

@richie3jack maybe 'eyes over the ball' is a bit pop instruction. But in my opinion McIlroy, when he putts, is not looking straight at the ball and from where his hands are he can't make a proper stroke - i.e. his hands have to make a little inside out motion (and block the ball).

You're right, Leonard has a fantastic putting stroke - there is a lovely 'pop' in it.

So three things re: McIlroy - where his head is, where his eyes are, and where his hands are and what they have to do to hit the ball.

I can't quite recall which video, but I think Brian makes the point that you should look straight at the ball (may be one where he is speaking about hitting driver, but I would contend that the point holds).

McIlroy, to me, seems to be looking at the ball through the 'bottom' of his eyes - sort of down his nose. Arguably, this is OK for mid-range putts, not so good from 4 feet and in. John Jacobs makes this point in one of his books - and cites Raymond Floyd as an example of his point that standing taller is particulaly good for mid-distance and long-distance putting.

But on the greens at Augusta, I'm thinking something like Adam Scott's method - where he can see the ball and the line of the putt when he is over the ball - is better.

Agree totally that McIlroy carried himself very well and I was - of course - cheering him on (from Ireland).

And I don't doubt it was really tough to putt out there - and obviously Tiger (putting genius) missed one or two short ones as well.

But most of the other players holed their share of putts (and some) where McIlroy did not, and his technique is a fair point discussion. He actually missed short ones on other days as well.

Personally, I think the putting problems eventually led to the swing problem on 10 as he ended up putting too much pressure on the long game.

Could McIlroy - from his posture - do a right hand only or left hand only putting drill? I don't think so.