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Watching the pros putt….

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jpgolf

“JP”
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The professionals make a lot of putts. During weekly coverage we see a lot of MISSED putts, also! After watching pro golf on TV… do you usually feel better - or - worse about your own putting..?
 
I’m always practicing my putting, trying to get better. But, when I see Tour guys missing relatively short putts - it makes me feel better about my game. Yeah, it’s a different world out there… but, it lets me see that everybody misses.
 
The stats are interesting for sure, the greens even more interesting. If you ever get the chance (or maybe you already have) to go to a Tour event, park yourself at the practice green.

It’s hypnotizing.
 
What amazes me is how good they are at lag putting.
 
I feel no better or worse about my putting.

I'm well aware that I am not as good as tour pros.
 
It's the lag putting allowing them to save par from what would certainly be a 3 putt bogey for most non-pros.

The second thing that always sticks out to me is the high % from 6-8' to save par as well.

My wife got me a really decent indoor putting green for Christmas and I have been putting a LOT with the goal of improving my 6-10' percentage.
 
I don’t need to watch pros to know my putting is an abomination.
 
The main thing I notice is how painfully slow most of them are.
 
If you watch golf on TV you think they make every putt and hit every shot close. That’s basically all they show.

Now go look at the PGA stats for proximity to the hole, driving accuracy, putting… not what they show you on TV. Plus they only show the leaders, they’re not showing the group that has 3 guys shooting 78, 78 and 80.

Go to an event and follow a mid pack guy for 18 holes. You’ll see a lot of Ho hum and crooked shots.
 
I don’t compare my game to the pros. I’d get smoked if I putted on the greens they play, and they’d probably have a field day on the greens I play.
 
OldeDude said:
The main thing I notice is how painfully slow most of them are.
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Yeah, but if I took that much time to read ‘em, I might make a few more….😜
 
Aside from the actual putt , there’s an awful lot of caddie and player , discussion and deliberation . Which fascinates me as only the player actually scores ? lol
 
Looking at putting stats is eye opening. Watching on tv makes it look like they make a much higher percentage of putts than they actually do. Tv doesn’t show the misses that don’t mean anything outside of the featured groups. On Sunday they will totally show the T34 player draining a 53’ triple breaker because it is an amazing putt and still largely meaningless.

A couple of pga tour putting stats that jumped out at me when I looked at them. Just outside of 10 feet it’s a coin toss. At 32 feet the 1 putt an 3 putt percentages are roughly equal.
 
Their ability to lag putt is amazing. I always feel like I can either lag putt well in a round or I've got a few going in. When I get them going in, but they miss they miss by 4 feet past the hole - if that makes sense. To see them so frequently getting it within inches from 10 feet or more out is pretty astonishing.
 
Hitsnmisses said:
Aside from the actual putt , there’s an awful lot of caddie and player , discussion and deliberation . Which fascinates me as only the player actually scores ? lol
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What blows my mind is when they are mic’d up you would think the player had no clue to what he’s doing. How can the player have no idea where to aim to hit a shot?? Why does the caddie have to keep telling the player how good they are, you got this shot, make sure you breathe, stay in the moment etc…. Jesus 🙄
 
Typhoon said:
What blows my mind is when they are mic’d up you would think the player had no clue to what he’s doing. How can the player have no idea where to aim to hit a shot?? Why does the caddie have to keep telling the player how good they are, you got this shot, make sure you breathe, stay in the moment etc…. Jesus 🙄
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That is an interesting point and observation in that top pros, especially the youngest crop have come up from a very young age with a full "team" in their ear for damn near everything. Making decisions on everything from what to eat, how to workout, how to practice, diagnosing their swing issues, planning their schedule, etc. then they enter the world of the hyper-caddy on the course where the player seems to make very few solo decisions for 4 days........it is another world really.

Compared to all of us trying to make every decision on the course, club, distance, wind, strategy, green reading, on the fly swing adjustments.....when to hydrate (seriously I have heard caddies remind their player to take a sip of water and eat a snack)........

Again, different world.
 
River19 said:
That is an interesting point and observation in that top pros, especially the youngest crop have come up from a very young age with a full "team" in their ear for damn near everything. Making decisions on everything from what to eat, how to workout, how to practice, diagnosing their swing issues, planning their schedule, etc. then they enter the world of the hyper-caddy on the course where the player seems to make very few solo decisions for 4 days........it is another world really.

Compared to all of us trying to make every decision on the course, club, distance, wind, strategy, green reading, on the fly swing adjustments.....when to hydrate (seriously I have heard caddies remind their player to take a sip of water and eat a snack)........

Again, different world.
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Thank you…. I grew up caddying and playing golf. You think for yourself right? I would like to see what that’s guys do if they played without a caddy. I have no doubts about talent, but that only gets you so far.

It reminds me of the “Stan the Caddy” episode from Seinfeld. Kramer asking Stan what to wear, then at the end has Stan offer the bad advice in the courtroom.
 
River19 said:
That is an interesting point and observation in that top pros, especially the youngest crop have come up from a very young age with a full "team" in their ear for damn near everything. Making decisions on everything from what to eat, how to workout, how to practice, diagnosing their swing issues, planning their schedule, etc. then they enter the world of the hyper-caddy on the course where the player seems to make very few solo decisions for 4 days........it is another world really.

Compared to all of us trying to make every decision on the course, club, distance, wind, strategy, green reading, on the fly swing adjustments.....when to hydrate (seriously I have heard caddies remind their player to take a sip of water and eat a snack)........

Again, different world.
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Eat Protein Bar GIF by SnickersUK
 
I enjoy listening to the folks who talk about the green, the break, the speed.

and I like periodically checking tour pro stats.

2024
Putting from 6 feet-69%
Putting from 10 feet-Tour average -37%

Just puts putting difficulty into perspective for me. Reduces my stupid expectations.
 
Watching them got me to think I should be spending time on the practice green. In retrospective of my brushes with breaking 80 last year a couple of putts would have made the difference.
 
Pops said:
What amazes me is how good they are at lag putting.
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This right here. Its amazing how most of the time the end up with a tap in no matter the distance. Of course they do miss from time to time as well and I do think the tv makes it look closer than it is on occasion but lag putting definitely impresses me more than anything.
 
Hitsnmisses said:
Aside from the actual putt , there’s an awful lot of caddie and player , discussion and deliberation . Which fascinates me as only the player actually scores ? lol
Click to expand...

That always felt wrong to me. There was one yesterday where the caddy was straight up telling the player the line to take and he went with it. Basically takes an individual sport and makes it a pseudo 2-man team sport. While we're at it carry your own dang clubs. Let me also save you some time by adding this now:

yelling.png
 
PuffChippy said:
That always felt wrong to me. There was one yesterday where the caddy was straight up telling the player the line to take and he went with it. Basically takes an individual sport and makes it a pseudo 2-man team sport. While we're at it carry your own dang clubs. Let me also save you some time by adding this now:

View attachment 9242346
Click to expand...
I’d watch that. Seriously mic them all up and make them play without a caddie. I’ll even be generous and say motorized push carts instead of having to carry.
 
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