You do have a practice schedule – don’t you?

You know, a couple of weeks ago, our Stat of the Week in Golf Improvement Weekly was entitled – “If He Putts Well – He Might Win The Masters.”  It was about Vijay Singh and how well he has been hitting the golf ball, yet how “poorly” compared to the other top PGA Tour Players he has been putting.  If you missed that Stat – we reused it as the The Stat of the Week in this issue of GIW for you to read it.

The point of the Stat was to show that regardless of how good your golf swing is and how well you strike the golf ball – 35 to 40% of those total strokes can be attributed to your putting.  And then if you’d like to get deeper into it (and you should get deeper into it if you want to improve your score), at least another 10 to 20% of your strokes are with clubs you use from 1 yard to 35 yards off the green.

So why do I bring this up? I’m not going to try to bore you with another “Short Game, Short Game, Short Game” rant.  I mean what’s the point - from what I’ve seen – that advice just falls onto deaf ears.

However, being a stubborn Golf Pro that is attracted to controversy and debate – along with always wanting to be correct about my predictions – I must say – Vijay Singh hit the golf ball just as well as anyone in the Masters.  And actually hit the golf ball better than the Champion – Angel Cabrera.  And if Vijay did putt as well as the average Player in the Tournament – he probably would’ve won.

Is this the start of the Vijay Fan Club?

No, don’t take what I’m writing as the official fan site for Vijay Singh – it’s not.  However, Vijay could be the official poster child for an organization entitled “If I Could Putt As Well As I Can Hit A Golf Ball – I Would Be One Of The Best Who Ever Played”.

And this isn’t a rant on Vijay or Professional Golf.  This is a rant about your golf game.  Please continue reading to see how this ties into your golf and improvement.

Vijay hit 52 out of 72 Greens in Regulation – Cabrera hit 50 out of 72.  Now as far as ball striking statistics – Greens in Regulation is King. There’s not another stat (that I know of) that tells you how well you’re hitting the golf ball.  Meaning, if you’re hitting your tee shots into the trees – you’re not hitting Greens on your second shot on Par 4’s.  If you’re not swinging your irons well – you’re not hitting Greens from anywhere on the golf course.  If you don’t hit your Driver far enough – well … nobody hits many Greens when they’re always hitting hybrids and fairway woods to the green.

So the number of Greens in Regulation you hit basically tells you where you stand as far as your ball striking skills.  Or another way of saying it - it tells you how good (or not good) your golf swing is.

And tournament after tournament – Vijay is near the top, along with Tiger as far as Greens in Regulation.

However, Vijay had 122 putts for the four rounds at Augusta National.  While Cabrera only had 112.  Which, almost coincidentally aligns with the fact that Vijay ended up 11 strokes behind Cabrera.  And although this doesn’t perfectly align with the margin of victory by Cabrera over Vijay – it’s pretty darn close and it does show that even though you might have one of the best golf swings in the world – the best golf swing doesn’t guarantee the best score.

As a side note – Tiger also hit 2 more Greens than Cabrera, but he also had 122 putts – the same as Vijay.

Now this isn’t to say that putting is more important than ball striking.  Maybe it is and maybe it isn’t.  It all depends on what your Strengths and Weaknesses are.  If you have a very good golf swing like Vijay – putting is more important at this point.  If you had only 109 putts like Sandy Lyle (2 under par for the tournament and 1 stroke ahead of Vijay) – your golf swing is more important at this point.

The funny thing is that if Vijay and Sandy Lyle had a child – that kid would be sporting a Green Jacket.

So how do you know which is your Strength and which is your Weakness?  I ask this even though I know that 7 out of every 8 Golfers believe that their wedges and putting is their Strength.  And with me going back to the statement that I don’t mind debate and controversy – Trust me – for most of you – your wedges and putting aren’t even close to being a Strength of your golf game.

And as I know – most of you are probably saying something like – “That Solomon, he’s an idiot – he has no idea how good a putter I am.  And how bad my Driver is.”  I say to these Golfers – then prove it by doing the test below.

Prove it by finding your ‘Putts Per Missed Green In Regulation Stat’.  Meaning most Golfers hit between 0 and 6 Greens in Regulation per 18 holes.  So even though it would be great to see you raise your Greens in Regulation to 10 or 12 – which is comparable to a PGA Tour Player – you’re not a PGA Tour Player and you don’t have their skills.  So it would be more beneficial for you to focus on Reality.

Reality says that you’re going to miss more Greens than you’re going to hit – so don’t fight Reality. Turn Reality into a Strength. Here’s how:

For every Green you miss – keep count of how many putts it takes you to get the ball into the hole. For example:  You’re on a Par 4.  Your second or third shot stops 15 yards from the green.  You hit your next shot onto the green and 2 putt.  That would mean that your ‘Putts Per Missed Green’ (PPMG) stat is 2.  If on the next hole, a Par 3, your tee shot lands 5 yards from the green.  Then you hit your next shot on the green and 3 putt – your ‘PPMG’ is now 5 (for the 2 holes) or 2.5 per hole.  Which isn’t very good.

How should you follow this stat?  Every time you play.  How do you know if you’re doing well?  Let me put it this way – averaging 2 PPMG is not good.  If you want to score better – you need to be below 2 PPMG.  If you’re above 2 PPMG – you need to spend more time on your wedges and putting.  Because as much as you work on your Driver and your irons – 7 out of 8 Golfer won’t hit more than 6 Greens in Regulation.  And even if you hit 6 Greens – you still have missed 12 Greens.

And I’ll tell you something else that you might not have ever thought of – The Golfer that hits 0 Greens in a round of 18 holes, yet averages 1.5 PPMG will have a lower score than a Golfer that hits 6 Greens in Regulation, yet has an average of 2.5 PPMG.  And that includes if you1 putted each Green you hit and had 6 Birdies!

1.5 PPMG: 1 wedge shot per hole + 1.5 Putts per hole multiplied by 18 holes = 45 strokes.

2.5 PPMG: 1 wedge shot per hole + 2.5 Putts per hole multiplied by 12 holes = 42 strokes + 6 putts (the 6 Birdie putts) = 48 strokes.

The 1.5 PPMG Golfer would still beat you by 3 strokes.  And that’s if you 1 putted each Green in Regulation (no 2 putts or 3 putts on the greens you hit).  And to further show how powerful this statement is - when’s the last time you had 6 Greens in Regulation and one putted each one for 6 Birdies?

Now – don’t take your PPMG lightly.  And don’t think of it as being a 100% putting stat.  Because a big percentage of your PPMG is based on how skilled you are with your wedges around the green.  Obviously – the more skilled you are with your wedges – the closer your first putting attempt will be from the hole.

Also – don’t start to think that your PPMG is 100% based on your putting and wedges.  A lot of this stat has to do with your PLAN.  Meaning – when you were hitting your approach shot to the green – were you cognizant on where you shouldn’t miss the green.  Did you fail to PLAN a ‘what if’ – meaning what if you did mis-hit the golf ball – would it leave you with a tough wedge shot that would be difficult to get close to the hole?

It’s unfortunate that many Golfers are trained to think of the game of golf as different tasks that often aren’t connected:  Tee shots – fairway woods – hybrids – long irons – mid irons – short irons – chipping – pitching – putting – sand shots.  It’s a shame because most Golfers practice each category separately and put each task into a different slot.

Yet, for a Player – all those tasks are intertwined.  They’re all intertwined by a PLAN.  The Monkey keeps them separated and practices them separately – and that’s why the Monkey is constantly and consistently frustrated with their golf game.  Angel Cabrera didn’t lead the Masters in any of those tasks listed above – so why did he win?

If you watched him play on Saturday and Sunday – can you think of more than one occasion where he missed a Green in Regulation in which he had tough wedge shot that left him out of range for a simple par putt?  I can't recall any - can you?  Do you think he was just lucky?  Or do you think he knew where he could miss a shot and still get up'n'down for Par?

Track your PPMG and see if your average is 2 putts or above.  Then if so, figure out why.  Was it your putting?  Was it your wedges around the green?  Was it your PLAN that left you in tough positions around the green?  Was it a combination of all three?  My prediction is that it's a combination.

Nobody except GMS is talking about how much better Vijay hit the golf ball than Cabrera.  Why?  Because Cabrera outplayed Vijay.  Would you rather be a one dimensional Player like Vijay was in this past Masters or a multi dimensional Player like the 2009 Masters Champ from Argentina?

You want to score better? Find your PPMG.  You want to keep scoring how you’ve been scoring?  Keep doing what you’ve been doing.  It’s your choice.

The Monkey is still spending hours at the driving range fiddling with their golf swing and hitting golf balls even though their PPMG is over 2

The Player is tracking their PPMG, finding why it’s so high and then working to improve it