Approach-shot wizard and 2013 U.S. Open champion captures playoff victory at Congressional
July 1, 2014- There is nothing fancy about Justin Rose’s swing. It doesn’t provoke the “oohs” and “aahs” of some of his contemporaries, nor does it feature any quirky, attention-seeking traits. All it features is a consistency of form that makes it reliable, technically sound – and tournament tested.
Rose won the Quicken Loans National this past weekend on a difficult Congressional Country Club course that played as formidable as any on the PGA Tour this season. And he did so by displaying not only a clutch putter, but by displaying a willingness to “pull the trigger” with his crisp irons at the right time.
“Everyone knows Sean Foley as a technician, but he’s pragmatic too, and has worked with Justin to replace hard-set positions with feels and triggers,” writes Golf Magazine Top 100 Teacher Mike Adams of The Medalist Club and Hamilton Farm Golf Club. “These triggers exist throughout his motion and allow Justin to ignore mechanics and put his swing on autopilot.”
Adams is one of the Top 100 Teachers who breaks down Rose’s functional iron play in Golf Magazine’s newest instruction book – PLAY LIKE A PRO (Time Home Entertainment Inc., 2013; $29.95, Hardcover). In PLAY LIKE A PRO, Golf Magazine’s Top 100 Teachers – the nation’s most elite group of golf instructors – analyze the techniques and moves of the game’s elite and make them accessible to the average player.
Rose is one of the featured PGA Tour pros analyzed in PLAY LIKE A PRO. His chapter focuses on shot control and leads off the book’s second section – Approach Shots. This is a natural fit for a player who turned a one-time weakness, greens-in-regulation, into a formidable strength by developing swing triggers.
“He starts by moving the clubhead first – a great feeling to establish good tempo,” writes Adams. “He triggers his downswing by pulling his left arm across his chest. Rose then gets the club to wrap around the back of his neck. Keeping this vision in mind is a great way to keep from hanging back and flipping the clubhead at the ball instead of driving through it.
“These are easy triggers that pull the whole swing together and Rose is using them all to become the most consistent iron player on Tour.”
Is he ever. In 2012, Rose led the Tour in greens-hit at 70.34 percent. In 2011, he was 10th (69.48 percent). Last year, he was ninth (68.89 percent). During that 2012 season, Rose was the only player to hit more than 70 percent of his greens and he was 10 percentage points better than the PGA Tour average in hitting greens from places outside the fairway.
Not surprisingly, Rose won the Quicken Loans National on the strength of his iron play. He hit 68.5 percent of his greens, but more importantly, gained 7.2 strokes on the field from his approach shots, highlighted by a 210-yard approach to five feet on the difficult, par-4 11th hole. That final-round shot by itself gained Rose one shot on the field and allowed him to card a ‘3’ on a hole that played 1.65 strokes harder for the field.
Earlier, Rose’s iron play prevented an early exit from Congressional. He opened with a 3-over-par 74, finding himself 83rd on the leaderboard and staring at an eight-shot deficit. A second-round 65 – the tournament’s best round – brought him back into the picture. Sunday, he came up with a clutch par on the 17th hole and a 15-foot water-logged bogey on 18 to force the playoff with Shawn Stefani. Rose then routinely parred the first playoff hole for his first victory since the 2013 U.S. Open.
A functional, simple, trigger-generated swing like Rose’s allows him the luxury of handling difficult courses like Congressional and Merion, where Rose won his U.S. Open title. It keeps him in the hunt; four of his six PGA Tour victories have come from two or more shots behind entering the final round. And it easily translates into something the average golfer can use in his everyday rounds.
“As soon as I contact the ball, I’m thinking ‘low exit.’ I want my right arm and shaft to swing to the left of the target on roughly the same plane as my left shoulder,” Rose writes in PLAY LIKE A PRO. “This type of shallow exit allows your body turn to keep pace with the speed of the clubhead.
“The secret it to keep your left biceps in tight with your body on the follow-through and allow your left elbow to roll against your torso.”
Pulling the trigger on your swing is something every golfer can apply to their games, which is the genius of PLAY LIKE A PRO. In the book, Rose’s triggers and other elements of his solid swing are broken down and analyzed by several Top 100 Teachers. Practice drills that show how to purely strike your irons, develop stability, fix alignment issues and get your club in a natural place on the backswing are also included by Rose, Adams and Adams’ fellow Top 100 Teachers Brady Riggs (Woodley Lakes, G.C., Van Nuys, Calif.), Mike Perpich (RiverPines G.C., Johns Creek, Ga.) and Mark Hackett (Old Palm G.C., Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.)
Pictures of Rose’s swing, Perpich’s ball-striking breakdown and Adams’ trick to get your club on plane during your backswing are ready to scan to video.
GOLF MAGAZINE: PLAY LIKE A PRO
By GOLF Magazine’s Top 100 Teachers
Edited and Introduction by David DeNunzio, Managing Editor-Instruction, Golf Magazine
Publisher: Time Home Entertainment Inc.
Publication date: October 22, 2013
$29.95, Hardcover, ISBN: 978-1-60320-239-8
About the Authors:
GOLF MAGAZINE, one of the most widely read golf publications in the world, presents award-winning features and articles every month to help golfers stay on top of their game. Golf.com provides up-to-the-minute news from the professional tours, live scoring, and course and equipment ratings that can’t be found anywhere else. Its video instruction library features hundreds of score-saving tips and drills from the Top 100 Teachers in America.??THE TOP 100 TEACHERS IN AMERICA, Golf Magazine’s team of instruction professionals, are recognized as the best coaches in the game. There are more than 28,000 PGA of America members, and the magazine selects only the 100 most elite among them to help golfers lower their scores, improve their swing, hammer the ball longer and putt lights-out. For more information, visit golf.com/instruction.
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