TPC Sawgrass is a track where you can easily make a mistake – and I think we saw that all week at The Players Championship, writes Compleat Golfer playing editor LOUIS OOSTHUIZEN.
It’s a similar situation to what will face us at the next Major, the US Open.
After a great start in the first two rounds, which saw me leading going into the weekend, I struggled in the third round. I didn’t hit it great.
I probably tried too much in the windy conditions and missed loads of fairways in the early stages. But, even though I shot a 73, I was still one off the lead and it put me in a decent position going into the final round.
It’s always great being in the mix on the Sunday in a big tournament. It’s a long day because of the wait before going out and you’ve got to try to stay calm. Any nerves that are there are ‘good nerves’, because of the position one is in.
Someone made me aware after I was the halfway leader that only two golfers had won an Open Championship at St Andrews and the ‘fifth Major’ – Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods. I thought I’d have a bit of fun and when I went out there for the final round, I was wearing a belt with a Claret Jug as the buckle. It’s amazing how many people spotted that!
I started out well enough, making birdie at the 2nd, but had a double-drop at the 4th when I found the water. Again at the 9th I had to scramble for a bogey, but an eagle at the 11th brought me back into it. Back-to-back bogeys at 13 and 14 didn’t help before another birdie, so I had another 73 and a tie for second.
But I hit the ball well at times, especially in the second round. I made birdies on both par threes on the back nine and on the 1st I made birdie from a tough spot, my drive having landed deep in the woods on pine straw. I managed to play a low punch with a draw and it ran up to about five feet from the flag.
My putter was also working nicely and I holed a couple of 20-footers to stay in contention.
I’ve been working a bit more on my putting at home – and I think it’s paying off. I’m rolling the ball nicely and feel confident on the greens. That’s a real positive heading into the US Open on a tough course, which is always the case in that Major.
Sometimes a par can feel like a birdie and a bogey can feel like a par. In next month’s instruction feature, I will be focusing on my putting set-up and roll, and how I’ve gone back to the grip I used years ago.
The breeze dried out the greens at TPC Sawgrass and made them firm, so that made it doubly important for the putter to be working during The Players.
Overall it was a good week heading towards the US Open. One of my main targets for the year was improving my FedExCup ranking so it would help me in the earlier stages of the knockout phases later in the year, and a tie for second at The Players did just that. I improved to 32nd after TPC Sawgrass.
– This column first appeared in the June issue of Compleat Golfer
