It’s Match Play time in the Golf Digest offices. At the start of golf season every year, everyone in the company is randomly drawn into a big bracket. It’s a fun—and at times, heated—competition. And inevitably, it doesn’t take long for some drama to form around the subject of giving putts. Who should give whom Read more…
The results are in and the data is irrefutable: Distance is king in golf, and there’s no better time to build it than when you’re young. Left to its own devices, our bodies begin adding muscle in our late teens and through our 20s, then, conversely, begin shedding muscle mass at an increasingly rapid clip Read more…
CHARLOTTE — Scottie Scheffler has a strange kind of superpower. It’s hard to describe, because I can’t think of any other golfers who have it. The newly minted PGA Championship winner has this interesting quality where he seems more at ease when he’s leading a tournament. When he’s playing poorly—and by that I mean, somewhere Read more…
Scottie Scheffler and his longtime coach, the legendary Randy Smith, unveiled a new move at the PGA Championship this week. At least it was new to my eye, because I haven’t seen the player-coach do this before at a tournament. You can see it right here. Smith grabs hold of Scheffler’s hips and helps twist Read more…
CHARLOTTE — Admittedly, this article became a lot harder to write since I first conceived of it. Bryson DeChambeau was three back at the time I came up with this bright idea but the combination of a bogey-double bogey-par finish down the Green Mile paired with Scottie Scheffler’s par-birdie-birdie finish leaves him six back of Read more…
CHARLOTTE — The 36-hole leader of the PGA Championship works it into his practice swings routine on occasion. So do two former PGA Championship winners in the field. Two players in T-2 coming into Saturday use it during competition, to hit shots around the greens. We’re talking about gripping the club cross-handed. Rather than a Read more…
CHARLOTTE — When players approach the tee of the 577-yard 15th, they’re greeted with a sign informing them that the neighboring 16th hole, which runs left of a lake on the left side, has been declared out of bounds. Again, tournaments often employ internal OB in situations like this because players have been known to Read more…
CHARLOTTE — There’s no bigger red flag than when a pitcher starts losing his fastball. In golf, we measure that by ball speed. And the signs for Max Homa in recent years haven’t been good. Homa ended the 2022 season with an average ball speed of more than 178 mph—faster than 84 percent of the Read more…
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — It was exactly 362 days ago that I wrote about the scourge of mudballs at the 2024 PGA Championship, and now, here we are again, talking about the same issue during the first round of the 2025 PGA Championship. Let’s run through what’s happening… Mudball Basics Quail Hollow Country Club received more Read more…
There is no good reason to suspect Luke Donald would play well at Quail Hollow this week. That is not meant to disrespect a former World No. 1, and potential future Hall of Famer. Rather to underline the gravity of the task ahead of him this week. Quail Hollow is a long golf course, with Read more…
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — It wasn’t the biggest, most complicated, or even revolutionary lesson ever. But it was a good one. A reality check that the rest of us can learn from, and one that changed the course of 2025 PGA Professional Champion Tyler Collet’s golfing life. It came in 2022, on the range at Southern Read more…
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Most coaches stand directly behind the target line when their player is on the range. Like this. Logan Bowles The official term for this view is “down the line,” and it makes sense why coaches default to standing here. Driving ranges at professional golf tournaments—especially majors—can be busy, crowded places. When a Read more…
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Justin Thomas had his revelation during a friendly putting lesson from a fellow PGA Championship winner, Xander Schauffele. The revelation was that his putting practice had grown disorganized over the years—and his putting went downhill as a result. As he explained: “The more I was talking, I’m like, I don’t do any Read more…
There’s a famous stat in aviation that most airline accidents happen during takeoff or landing. The same is true for golfers. Amateur golfers are, put simply and bluntly, at their worst during their own takeoffs, which in golf terms, is getting in play safely off the tee. This was something reiterated by Arccos, who doubles Read more…
Nobody likes hitting iron shots off the heel or toe. But honestly, those aren’t as bad as you think. You know what’s really bad? Hitting the ball high and low on the clubface with your irons. Those clankers can leave you bleeding shots. Here’s why. Sports Scientist and PhD Alex Ehlert has done some really Read more…
Golf, for a lot of us, is our primary form of exercise. Our way of getting some steps in, getting our heart pumping and our muscles moving. And just as there are ways to get better at the game of golf, new technologies are emerging to help golfers improve their health along the way. To Read more…
Think about a batter in the box, or a tennis player getting ready to return a serve. Rarely will you see one standing still, like a statue. They’re moving around, subtly swaying or rocking back and forth. You can spot it in some of the best golfers around too. Lee Trevino is the best classic Read more…
Justin Thomas revealed something interesting after his RBC Heritage victory last weekend: That he went to his friend and Ryder Cup teammate Xander Schauffele for a putting lesson earlier this season. Lots of people seized on that story because, yes, it is interesting. But more interesting was what Xander said to JT. Or, rather, didn’t Read more…
The 2025 Masters was a war between Rory McIlroy and himself. On every possible level. A mental level. An emotional level. And at various points during the final round, a strategic level. “My battle today was with myself,” he said. “It wasn’t with anyone else.” Rory, in many ways, is simply too smart for his Read more…
The practice area before the final group plays its final round is a kind of strategy hotbed. Gamesmanship abounds. Who arrives on the tee first? Who walks in front of whom? And by how much? We saw Jon Rahm put on a gamesmanship masterclass a few years ago, and he ended up winning. Is it Read more…
Australian Golf Digest
