Perhaps the most famous shot I ever hit was my chip-in on the 17th hole at Pebble Beach to help win the 1982 US Open. Getting the ball out of the rough and stopping it quickly by a close hole is unnerving for a lot of golfers. 
They’re afraid of hitting it too far, so they don’t make a big enough swing, often leaving the ball in the rough for their next shot. The key is to swing much harder than you normally would. If the hole were, say, 15 feet away, you’re going to have to swing like it’s 30 or 40 feet away. Try this technique: I play these shots a lot like a greenside sand shot. I take a sand wedge, open the face at least 30 degrees, grip the club with a weak left-hand position (left thumb straight down the top of the grip), and then make a swing cutting across the ball from outside to inside in relation to my target line. This causes the trajectory of the ball to be higher, which will reduce its roll out.
The key is to open that face – many golfers forget to do that – and to accelerate the club through the heavy grass more than seems necessary. Make the face exit left of your target with no rolling over of the wrists through impact. Hold the face open like I am here [right].
The bonus of playing this like a bunker shot is it’s forgiving. You can make contact a little behind the ball and still get a good result – as long as you commit to the bigger swing with an open face.
– with Ron Kaspriske
Tom Watson writes instruction articles exclusively for Golf Digest.
