By:
Zephyr Melton
January 21, 2023
On the HGV Match of Champions, Danielle Kang shared her reasoning for aiming away from the pins at Lake Nona.
Getty Photos
Welcome to Play Good, a daily GOLF.com game-improvement column that may enable you to play smarter, higher golf.
ORLANDO, Fla. — Typically the very best methods in golf are counterintuitive.
We’ve all heard the recommendation that going bombs away off the tee and getting it as near the inexperienced as attainable is statistically advantageous. Superior analytics again up the declare, and distance has change into king within the sport.
However as you get nearer to the outlet, getting as shut as attainable to the pin isn’t all the time sound technique. Being on the inexperienced at 45 toes is healthier than being 20 toes away within the tough. For that purpose, typically you have to intention away from the flagstick.
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Take Danielle Kang’s second spherical on the Hilton Grand Holidays Match of Champions, for instance. On the 18th gap, with the pin tucked on the again of the inexperienced, she opted to play to the spot that gave her probably the most margin for error — the center.
“So there are two varieties of golf pictures,” Kang mentioned. “Both you choose 7-iron, punch draw, and get it as shut attainable; otherwise you hit the 8 and provides your self a putt, and that’s what I did.”
The technique labored to perfection. Kang hit her 8-iron to the middle of the inexperienced, giving herself a birdie look, and poured within the putt to cap a three-under 69. If she’d performed the aggressive shot — the one which obtained her nearer to the outlet — she would’ve introduced far more hassle into play, and her margin for error would’ve been slimmer.
“Typically you simply obtained to waft,” Kang mentioned. “I’m not getting my 8-iron to that pin in any respect, however I do know I can get it to the center. But when I attempted to run it there is a chance to get it shut, so I’m not making an attempt to hit it far, however I’m favoring the fatter a part of the inexperienced extra so than making an attempt to knock it stiff.”
It may not be the “attractive” play, however it’s the one that offers the very best likelihood at eliminating the large quantity. And in golf, that’s by no means a nasty factor.
Zephyr Melton
Golf.com Editor
Zephyr Melton is an assistant editor for GOLF.com the place he spends his days running a blog, producing and modifying. Previous to becoming a member of the workforce at GOLF.com, he attended the College of Texas adopted by stops with Crew USA, the Inexperienced Bay Packers and the PGA Tour. He assists on all issues instruction and covers novice and girls’s golf.