Jack Nicklaus on best-ball matchplay strategy
If one player has a 20-foot putt for birdie and his partner has a six-footer for par, who putts first? If the 20-footer is downhill and fast, or otherwise difficult to lay stone dead to the hole, that’s the putt I want to see first. If the player runs the putt for birdie three feet past the hole, the team at least has two cracks at par. On the other hand, if the 20-footer is uphill with not much break, he might want his partner to get the six-footer in the hole so he can go for the birdie more aggressively. If the 20-footer is not especially fast nor difficult – go with your intuition. If the 20-footer were mine, I prefer to putt first – but that’s just me.
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Photograph by Gerry Cranham/Offside via getty images
