Opinion & Analysis

A pair of Japanese stars emerge on the PGA Tour: Which one will shine brighter?

Published

13 years ago

Nov 8, 2013

The number of Asian golfers who have played on PGA Tour are few. Of those, the ones who have achieved significant fame are even fewer. With Hideki Matsuyama and Ryo Ishikawa playing concurrent schedules in the U.S., Japan has delivered a pair of young, marketable talents with global appeal. Given the success they’ve had barely into their 20s, it’s natural to speculate on how far can they go and who will go the farthest.

Based on early returns, Matsuyama, 21, is more likely to capitalize on his initial success and could earn his first win on Tour in the 2013-2014 wrap-around season. He began the year ranked No. 128 in the world, but he is now comfortably inside the top 30. Discounting his lone missed cut at the Sony Open in Hawaii in January, Matsuyama’s worst finish on Tour was a tie for 21st at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational in early August. His consistently strong play carried over into the majors, especially at The Open Championship, where his late-Sunday charge at eventual winner Phil Mickelson raised everyone’s expectations. It also earned him a spot at the Presidents Cup, where just two years ago Ishikawa was making his second-consecutive appearance.

Ishikawa’s professional career has been following a trajectory that should have led to a third Presidents Cup trip this past season. Golf fans have been hearing a lot about his potential for what seems like a long time. Still just 22 years old, he’s been the acclaimed “can’t-miss kid” since his junior days. Back home, Ishikawa has been compared to Tiger Woods — and Brad Pitt — which should give you some idea of his cultural transcendence.

“He came into the sport young and naïve at a time when Japan’s golf industry was lagging behind the world in popularity,” said Dennis Allen, SVP of global business development at the Back9Network. “The LPGA of Japan was more popular than the Japan Golf Tour. And Koreans were beginning to make themselves known on the global stage. He brought a new personality and energy to the sport in Japan.”

Ishikawa didn’t so much step foot into his fame as barrel into it. He won in his first start on the Japan Golf Tour as a 15-year-old amateur in 2007. The following year, he won another event and became the youngest player to reach the top 100 of the Official World Golf Ranking. He followed up his success by winning the tour’s order of merit in 2009 and famously carded a 58 to win The Crowns a year later, the lowest round ever recorded on any major tour.

Ishikawa’s best moments, while notable, have occurred almost entirely on home soil. On the PGA Tour, his record has been equal parts hit and miss. Most American golf fans know of him primarily through his appearances in The Masters, which have all come by way of special invitation and have been negatively received by some critics. Ishikawa himself told reporters earlier this year that he was surprised to have gotten a fifth consecutive invite considering his extensive slide in the world ranking. Like his four previous trips to Augusta, Ishikawa was unable to make a compelling argument that he deserved a spot in the field on merit alone. Perhaps it’s a by-product of trying too hard; very few golfers have been under more media scrutiny or have had to single-handedly carry the torch for their country.

That Ishikawa’s star power has diminished at all is probably a welcome respite. Scenes like the one that happened at his PGA Tour debut at Riviera Country Club, where a mob of Japanese reporters overwhelmed the media center and snapped photos of a television showing Ishikawa being interviewed by an American sports network, reveals much about Japan’s insatiable appetite for all things Ryo.

Andy Yamanaka, an official with the Japan Golf Tour, described Ishikawa as being a near singular influence for generating interest in golf.

“Ryo is the complete package,” Yamanaka said in a 2010 interview. “I’m not sure if it was the same situation with Tiger Woods in the U.S. when he was younger, but I’ve never seen anyone like Ryo in terms of his potential as an international athlete.”

Matsuyama, only a year younger than Ishikawa, hasn’t had to deal with the same media obligations or scrutiny by virtue of his more conventional path through the amateur ranks. A collegiate player at Tohoku Fukushi University in Sendai, the golf world first took notice of Matsuyama in 2010 when his victory at the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship earned him an automatic invite to The Masters. He was the first Japanese amateur to compete at Augusta, and he took low-am honors that year. He followed that up by successfully defending his Asia-Pacific crown, but was unable to overtake 20-year-old Patrick Cantlay to repeat as low amateur champion.

Beyond that, there was a spell of almost two years where very little else was reported other than his win at the Japan Collegiate Championship in 2012 or his ascension to the top of the World Amateur Golf Ranking — both quality achievements.

But that was then. To say that Matsuyama’s last 10 months have been good would be devastatingly modest.

“His ascent to the top has been meteoric by any standard,” Allen said. “No one saw this coming.”

Within the past year and a half, Matsuyama has vaulted up the rankings, going from 210th in the world to 29th. He also bagged three wins in Japan to go along with his stellar play on the PGA Tour.

For Japanese reporters, Matsuyama was clearly the main draw at the Frys.com Open where he finished tied for third. Playing 40 minutes apart during the opening round, two-thirds of the Japanese media had left Ishikawa to follow Matsuyama by the time his fellow countryman arrived to the first tee.

“Until last year, there was just one player for Japanese media to cover. Now we have two,” Sonoko Funakoshi, a writer for Jiji press, said in an interview. “Results wise, Matsuyama has performed better [recently] so he is getting more exposure. If the results change, then Ishikawa will receive more attention.”

What the Japanese have, much to their glee, is a pretty darn good rivalry that doesn’t need help in the form of a media pep rally to sell it. Matsuyama, who just turned pro this past year, has been seemingly unfazed by his new-found stardom and the expectations that come with it.

Whether it’s representing his country at the Presidents Cup or having to be paired with Tiger Woods at Firestone, who was making a run at shooting 59, Matsuyama exudes poise. He has a swing that matches his personality — smooth and calm, with a slight pause at the top as if to say, what’s the hurry.

At 5-foot-11 and 180 pounds, Matsuyama can fill out a golf shirt. His broad, athletic physique is consistent with today’s modern golfer, but he’s not a bomber off the tee. By comparison, the straw-thin Ishikawa actually gets a few extra yards off the tee with his lower, more piercing ball flight.

The key to Matsuyama’s game is accuracy, not distance. Put an iron or wedge in his hand and he turns golf into a game of darts. He ranked No. 1 on the PGA Tour in approach distance from 50 to 125 yards, and was inside the top 10 in four other distance stats. He also led the Tour in GIR percentage in three separate categories. His game is remarkably similar to that of Henrik Stenson, who like Matsuyama, is an average, but streaky putter and who leans on phenomenal ball striking to set up good scoring chances.

Statistics also tell us that Matsuyama’s a closer. His 68.33 final-round scoring average ranked second on Tour and was two strokes lower than his pre-cut average. As for Ishikawa, his final-round average of 72.25 (71.64 overall) reflected the struggles he went through in his first full season on the PGA Tour.

Ishikawa’s disappointing 2013 season can be summed up this way — expectations, both from Ryo and new equipment sponsor Callaway, were higher.

Shoji Akihisa, vice president of sales and marketing for Callaway’s Japan division, said Ishikawa has had trouble adapting to course conditions in the United States.

“He has struggled mainly with adjusting to different grass surfaces and course layouts and it has affected his short game and putting,” Akihisa said. “It takes time to make those adjustments and there’s a learning curve.”

Ishikawa’s 53.27 percentage in scrambling was 160th on Tour and in another key statistic, strokes gained putting, he ranked even lower. Highlights for the Japanese star were few; he recorded a single top-10 finish in 23 starts and failed to earn enough money to remain fully exempt on Tour.

His detractors are quick to point out that the accolades he’s received in his young career have exceeded the results. It’s also been perceived that Ishikawa, who has been worshipped like a rock star in Japan since his teenage years, is unaccustomed to dealing with hardship.

It’s easy for critics to slap a label based on the results of his scorecards; they don’t see the sweat equity. They don’t see Ishikawa, who bought a home in San Diego in the offseason, grinding at the Ely Callaway Performance Center on his off weeks.

“We have a driving range down there and in indoor putting lab,” said Scott Goryl, senior manager of global communications at Callaway. “It was originally built as an extension of our R&D facility at headquarters. Ryo bought a house nearby and accesses it whenever he likes to practice. Phil Mickelson does this as well. He lives 15 minutes away and he comes in quite a bit to tweak his clubs and try out new products.”

Ishikawa told reporters back in March that “Japanese people are watching me all the time.”

“The biggest thing this year is to keep my Tour card,” he said. “They want me to be a Tour player next year.”

Ishikawa’s demanding 2013 schedule included 24 tournaments. It would’ve been exceedingly easy for him to rest up the remainder of the year and bank on his name and global appeal to cobble together a 2014 schedule heavy on sponsor exemptions. Instead, a humbled Ishikawa made it a point to regain his Tour card, competing in the Web.com Tour playoffs where he finished comfortably inside the top 25. His success in the playoffs has carried over into the new season where he’s earned more money in two starts than all of last season combined. And it has people talking about his play, rather than his much-ballyhooed contract with Callaway signed at the start of the year.

Ishikawa had been on Callaway’s radar since he was a promising junior using one of its Odyssey putters. When his long-term arrangement with Yonex expired, Ishikawa had a number of suitors that reportedly included Srixon and Nike. Yonex, of course, held an advantage over everyone, based on Ishikawa’s familiarity with them. But Callaway was persistent, at one point even sending out Allan Hocknell, senior vice president of research and development, and chief club designer Roger Cleveland to a remote course north of Tokyo to play nine holes with Ishikawa and talk shop.

When negotiations concluded, Ishikawa scored a record multi-year deal worth an estimated 600 million yen ($6.8 million) per year, easily eclipsing Ishikawa’s five-year commitment to Yonex that was worth one billion yen during the life of the contract.

For Callaway, the Ishikawa signing was part of a multi-pronged strategy to reinvigorate the brand with younger, hipper talent and to increase its leverage in Asia.

“They are going through a complete revamp of their business model and brand; it’s part of a broader global strategy,” said the Back9Network’s Allen. “They needed new blood to attract different demographics. And one country that they had always done well in over the past two decades was Japan. So it’s not surprising that they picked a young, vibrant, Japanese pro to be their poster boy.”

Japan, which has 2,350 golf courses and close to 9 million active golfers, is the second-largest market after the U.S. for demand. According to Callaway’s Akihisa, the signing of Ishikawa is all about increasing momentum, both in Japan, as well as in China and Korea. In terms of dividends, Callaway’s 2013 first quarter net sales in Japan were up 4 percent over a year ago and were even higher for the rest of Asia (12 percent).

Ishikawa’s equipment contract with Callaway naturally includes apparel, hats, gloves and footwear. His global ambassadorship and distinct sense of style is in itself a marketable attribute that Callaway has leveraged for its premium apparel line that is distributed by Sanei, a licensing partner it has worked with since 2002.

Working with Ishikawa since last October, Callaway and Sanei have fashioned a look that is distinctly vibrant, youthful and brash — qualities Callaway hasn’t been traditionally known for, especially in the United States.

“In Japan, we have a different approach in terms of apparel,” Akihisa said. “It’s a different style and a different price point than what we offer in the U.S.”

To help Ishikawa with his daily itinerary on Tour, Callaway appointed Kenji Shimada to travel with him. Shimada is responsible for fine tuning his equipment, coordinating his outfits, supervising photo shoots and pretty much anything else that might come up. Normally, an agent might handle some of these responsibilities, but certainly not a rep from an equipment manufacturer.

“It’s a unique situation in that there’s somebody traveling with Ryo on the PGA Tour this year to make sure his equipment is dialed in,” Goryl said. “And there’s a practice facility available to him near his home in Southern California. That is all new. I wouldn’t call it an experiment necessarily, but this is uncharted territory for us. It’s probably too early to tell if this turns into a blueprint [for how other signees are treated], but we’re definitely looking for young, talented players with global appeal.”

Callaway’s relationship with Ishikawa is unprecedented, some would even call it extravagant. But it could signal a trend in the industry as equipment companies seek to lock up deals with the next wave of talent hailing from Asia.

“These guys are heroes in their own countries regardless of what they do on the global stage, so the contracts are paid for by sales increases in Japan and China alone,” Allen said.

The best thing to happen to Ishikawa, who has yet to break through and win on the PGA Tour, could be Matsuyama and vice versa. Both players will push each other; it’s a case of pride — both personal and national. It’s good to see a chafed Ishikawa follow up Matsuyama’s strong performance at the Frys.com Open by tying his own career-best finish at the Shriners Hospital for Children Open in Las Vegas just a week later. He’s going to have to demonstrate some consistently strong play during the coming season if he wants to argue his case for being the best young Asian player on Tour. For now, it appears that Matsuyama has a lock on that title.

It will be exciting to watch how their careers unfold during the next decade and measure the influence they’ll have on the next generation of Asian golfers. Consider the impact Se Ri Pak had in South Korea after winning the LPGA Championship as a 22-year-old in 1998. Pak was the lone Korean player on tour at the time. By 2009, there were 47 players who collectively won more than one-third of the events. On the PGA Tour, veteran K.J. Choi ended up paving the way for Y.E. Yang, Seung-yul Noh and Sang-Moon Bae.

What will the Tour look like in another 10 years? Don’t be surprised if Matsuyama and Ishikawa provide those answers.

Opinion & Analysis

Brandel Chamblee PGA Championship Q&A: Rose’s huge McLaren risk, distracted LIV pros and why Aronimink suits the bombers

Published

1 day ago

May 12, 2026

Gianni Magliocco

PGA Championship week is here, and Brandel Chamblee did not hold back in our latest discussion ahead of the season’s second major.

In our 2026 PGA Championship Q&A, golf’s leading analyst made the case that PIF pulling LIV’s funding has left its players competing in a state of confusion, called Justin Rose’s mid-season equipment switch a huge risk at 45, and explained why Aronimink will be a bombers’ delight this week.

Check out the full Q&A below.

Gianni: With the PIF confirming that they’re pulling funding from LIV at the end of the season, what impact do you expect that to have on the LIV players competing at the PGA Championship?

Brandel: I would imagine that they have all been thrown into a state of confusion, and will be distracted, not knowing where they are going to play next year and not knowing exactly their road back to either the DP World Tour or the PGA Tour. Or in Rahm’s case, being tied to a sinking ship for the next few years, likely playing for pennies on the dollar in events that no one cares about or watches.

I doubt this would put him in the best frame of mind to compete at his highest level. Keeping in mind, however, that majors are the only time that LIV disciples get to play in events that matter, so never disregard the motivation they have to prove to the world they are still relevant.

Gianni: Justin Rose switched to McLaren Golf equipment mid-season while playing some of the best golf of his career. What do you make of the change?

Brandel: I don’t really know what to make of Rose switching equipment. It seems a huge risk on his part, even though it is likely, in my opinion, that the clubs he’s playing are similar, if not the exact grinds, to what he was playing previously, with a McLaren stamp on them.

Having said that, at best, it is a distraction when he seemed to be as dialed in with his game as any 45-year-old could be and trending in the majors to perhaps do something that would definitely put him in the Hall of Fame. At worst, given the possibility that these clubs aren’t just duplicates of his old set stamped with McLaren on them, he’s made an equipment change that would take time, and 45-year-old athletes don’t have the time to do such things.

Gianni: Aronimink has only hosted a handful of professional events since it hosted the 1962 PGA Championship. What kind of test does it present, and does a course with less recent major championship history tend to level the playing field?

Brandel: Even though Aronimink has only hosted a handful of meaningful professional events, it has been fairly discerning in who can win there. When Keegan Bradley won the BMW Championship on the Donald Ross masterpiece in 2018, he was the 2nd best iron player on tour coming into that week. When Nick Watney won the AT&T at Aronimink in 2011, he was 2nd in strokes gained total coming into the week.

In 2020, Aronimink hosted the KPMG Championship, and Sei Young Kim won. On the LPGA that year, she was first in greens in regulation, putts per green in regulation, and scoring average on the way to being the LPGA player of the year. And then there is the 1962 PGA Championship won by Gary Player, who eventually became just one of a few players to win the career grand slam on the way to winning 9 majors. It is a formidable test, and if it’s not softened by rain, it will bring out the best in the upper echelons of the game.

Gianni: Is there a specific hole at Aronimink that you think will do the most to decide the winner?

Brandel: The hardest hole at Aronimink in each of the three tour events that have been played there since 2010 has been the long par-3 8th hole, with the par-4 10th being the second hardest, so most of the carnage will happen around the turn, but with the par-5 16th offering opportunities for bold plays and the tough closing holes at 17 and 18, the finish is likely to be frenetic.

Gianni: The PGA Championship has always sat in the shadow of the other majors. What does the ideal PGA Championship look like in your eyes, and what would it take for it to carve out its own identity?

Brandel: The PGA Championship, to whatever degree it suffers from the comparison to the other three majors, is still counted just as much when adding them up at the end of one’s career. Almost 1/3 of Nicklaus’ major wins were the five PGA Championships he won. Walter Hagen won 11 majors, five of which were PGA Championships.

Tiger Woods twice in his career won back-to-back PGA Championships, and those four majors count just as much as the other 11 he won. The PGA may not have the prestige of the other three, but it carries the same weight. Having said that, I preferred the identity that it had as the last major of the year.

Gianni: You nailed your Masters picks. Rory won, Scottie finished solo second, and Morikawa surged to a tie for seventh. Who are your top 3 picks for the PGA Championship and why?

Brandel: I am not a huge fan of majors played on golf courses that have been shorn of most of the trees, although I understand some of the agronomic reasons for doing so and of course the ease with which it allows members to play after errant drives. However, at the highest level, it all but eliminates any strategy off the tee and turns professional golf into an even bigger slugfest. That means that it will likely be a bomber’s delight this week, but fortunately, Scottie Scheffler is long enough to play that game and straight enough to play it better than anyone else.

The major championships give us very few surprises anymore, going back to the beginning of 2012, so the last 57 majors played, the average world rank of the winners has been better than 15th in the world. So look at the highest ranked and longest drivers who are on form coming into the PGA Championship who also have great short games as the surrounds at Aronimink are very challenging. That’s Scottie Scheffler by a mile and then McIlroy and Cameron Young with a far bigger nod towards DeChambeau than I gave him at the Masters.

Club Junkie

A putter that I love and hate – Club Junkie Podcast

Published

5 days ago

May 8, 2026

Brian Knudson

In this episode of the Club Junkie Podcast, we dive into one of the most interesting flatstick releases of the year with a full review of the new TaylorMade SYSTM 2 putters. After spending time on the greens, I break down what makes this design stand out, where it performs, and why it has me completely torn between loving it and fighting it. If you are into feel, alignment, and consistency, this is one you will want to hear about.

We also take a look at some of the putters in play on the PGA Tour last week. From familiar favorites to a few surprising setups, there is always something to learn from what the best players in the world are rolling with under pressure.

To wrap things up, I walk through the process of building a set of JP Golf Prime irons paired with Baddazz Gold Series shafts. From component selection to performance goals, this is a deep dive into what goes into creating a unique custom set and why this combo has been so intriguing.

Opinion & Analysis

From 14 handicap to pro: 4 things I’d tell golfers at 50

Published

6 days ago

May 7, 2026

Jaacob Bowden, PGA

This year my 50th birthday. Gosh, where has the time gone?

As a teenager in rural Missouri, some of my junior high and high school years felt interminable. Graduation seemed light years away. But the older I get, the faster life seems to fly by.

I’m also increasingly aware of my mortality. My dad died recently. Earlier this year, a friend and fellow PGA of America professional and I were texting about our next catch-up. The next message I received was news of his unexpected passing at 48. Shortly after, a woman I dated in college succumbed to cancer at 51.

Certainly, one can share perspective at any age. Seniors help freshmen, veterans guide rookies. But reaching this milestone feels like as good a time as any to do one of those “what would I tell my younger self?” articles.

I’ve had a uniquely varied career in golf. I started as a 27-year-old, average-length-hitting, 14-handicap computer engineer and somehow managed to turn pro before running out of money, constantly bootstrapping my way forward. I’ve won qualifiers and set venue records in the World Long Drive Championships, finished fifth at the Speedgolf World Championships, coached all skill levels as a PGA of America professional, built industry-leading swing speed training programs for Swing Man Golf, helped advance the single-length iron market with Sterling Irons®, caddied on the PGA TOUR and PGA TOUR Champions, and played about 300 courses across 32 countries.

It’s been a ride, and I’ve gone both deep and wide.

So while I can consult and advise from a lot of angles, let me keep it to a few things I’d tell the average golfer who wants to improve.

1. Think About What You Want

Everyone has their own reason for picking up a golf club.

Oddly, as a professional athlete, I’m not internally driven by competition. That can be challenging, as the industry currently prioritizes and incentivizes competition over the love of the game.

For me, I love walking and being outdoors. Nature helps balance my energy. I prefer courses that are integrated into the natural beauty of their surroundings. I’m comfortable practicing alone. I’m a deep thinker, and I genuinely enjoy investigating the game, using data and intuition to unearth unique, often innovative insights. I’m fortunate to be strong and athletic, so I appreciate the chance to engage with my abilities. Traveling feels adventurous. I could go on.

You don’t have to overthink it like I do. For you, it might be as simple as hitting balls to escape work, hanging out with friends, and playing loosely with the rules and the score.

The point is to give yourself permission to play for your own reasons, and let that be enough.

But if improvement is your goal, thinking about your destination—and when you want to get there—is important, because it dictates the steps you need to take. When I set out to go from a 14-handicap to the PGA TOUR as quickly as possible, the steps I needed were very different from those of a working golfer trying to break 90 in six months. That’s also different from someone who just wants a few peaceful hours outside each week, away from work or family.

None of these goals are better than the others, but each requires a different plan that you can work backward from.

2. There Are Lots of Things That Can Work

One of the challenges of golf is that, although there are rules for playing, there aren’t clear, industry-wide standards for how to best play the game. There’s a lot of gray area.

You might hear a top coach or trainer insist that a certain move is the best way to swing or train. Then you dig a bit deeper and, much to your confusion and frustration, another respected coach or trainer says something completely different. I don’t think anyone is trying to confuse you—at least I hope not. It’s just where the industry is right now.

You have to be careful with advice from tournament pros, too. They might be great at scoring, but they’re also human and sometimes just as susceptible as amateurs to believing things that don’t really move the needle. Tour players might describe what they feel, but that’s not always what they’re actually doing when assessed with technology.

I recently ran a test on my YouTube channel (which connects to my GolfWRX article “How to use your hands in the golf swing for power and accuracy”), and, interestingly, two of the most commonly taught hand actions produced the worst results in the test.

Coaches can certainly help. If you find someone you connect with to help navigate, that’s great. But there are many ways to get the ball in the hole. In the current landscape, you may need to seek multiple opinions, think critically, and use your own intuition to discern what seems true and whose advice resonates with you.

I’d recommend seeking someone who is open-minded and always learning, because things constantly change. Absolutes like “correct” or “proper” should raise a red flag. AI can be useful, but it tends to confidently repeat popular advice, so proceed with caution.

3. Get Custom Fit

If you’re serious about becoming a better player, getting custom fit is hugely important. There’s no sense fighting your equipment if you don’t have to. Most better players get fit these days and, if they don’t, they’re usually skilled enough to work around clubs that aren’t ideal.

If you plan to play for a long time, it’s worth spending a little more upfront to get something that truly fits you and your game, rather than continually buying and discarding equipment.

Equipment rules haven’t really changed significantly since the early 2000s. To stay in business, manufacturers keep pushing those limits. If you pull a bunch of clubs and balls off the rack and test them, you’ll find differences. I’ve tested two new drivers and seen a 30-yard total distance gap. Usually, the issue isn’t bad equipment; it’s that the combination of components simply isn’t the best fit.

It’s like wearing a new pair of floppy clown shoes. Sure, they’re shoes—but you won’t sprint your best in them compared to track shoes that fit perfectly.

Be wary of what’s called custom fitting, too. Sometimes the term is used as a marketing strategy rather than an actual fitting. In some retail settings, fitters may be incentivized to steer you toward higher-priced components. That doesn’t automatically mean it’s not the best fit, but you should be aware of potential biases.

I learned a version of this lesson outside of golf. Years ago, I bought a tennis racquet at a big box store from a seemingly knowledgeable employee who thought it would suit me best. The racquet gave me tennis elbow, and I spent months recovering with rest and acupuncture. The next season, I invested more time and money to find what actually fit me, and I walked away with something amazing that I still play with years later.

So if you’re going to get fit, be smart about it.

Find someone you believe has deep knowledge—possibly with certifications, but not necessarily. Make sure there’s a wide inventory across many brands. Check recent reviews for the individual fitter if possible. Make sure you trust that the fitter has your best interests at heart. If they’re wearing a hat or shirt with a specific brand’s logo, proceed with caution. Unless you specifically want a certain brand or look, be wary of upsells, especially if two options perform nearly the same.

Also, while golf is called a sport of integrity, there’s a thread of manipulation in the industry. I once drafted an equipment article for an industry magazine, structured just like one of their previous popular stories, with matching word count and great photos. The assistant editor loved it; it was useful to readers and required little work on his part. But the editor-in-chief nixed the story. When I asked why, I was told it was because I wasn’t an advertiser. It turned out the article I’d modeled mine after was a paid ad cleverly disguised as editorial content.

I really dislike games, clickbait, and fear-based manipulation. I hope this changes, but golfers deserve to know it exists.

4. Distance and Strategy Matter

There’s a real relationship between how far you hit the ball and your scoring average, even at the PGA TOUR level.

I experienced this early in my pro career. I started as a power hitter, swinging in the high 120s and breaking 200 mph ball speed with a stock driver.

Back then, some instructors advised swinging at 80%, so I tried slowing down for more accuracy. That worked fine on shorter, tighter courses. But on longer setups, I was coming into greens with too much club, and par 5s stopped being