Adam Scott, left, and Butch Harmon in 2018.
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Butch Harmon, chatting with an viewers of caddies, was preaching to the choir.
He had simply been requested what he thought was the biggest mistake amateurs make, and towards the tip of his reply, he laughed. During the question-and-answer session final week with three loopers as a part of a fundraising occasion for the caddie-focused Evans Scholars Foundation, Harmon knew he had understanding ears.
“They never take enough club,” he stated, his reply recorded in a video shared this week by the Western Golf Association and Evans Scholars Foundation Twitter account. “They take a membership that in the event that they hit it their absolute max, they might attain the opening. I inform them on a regular basis, if it’s a 7-iron, take a 6-iron and swing straightforward.
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“You guys caddying, you know they never take enough club.”
Notably right here, the issue is easy, as is the answer. This has nothing to do with posture, grip, backswing or follow-through. Just fish by way of your bag and discover the decrease quantity. And when you might disagree with the general considered one in all golf’s greatest-ever lecturers, it’s laborious to argue with the worth of taking a clean swing.
The Q&A also gave us a couple of extra nuggets from Harmon.
His biggest golf pet peeve is very like his amateurs-biggest-mistake reply — it also isn’t difficult, however nonetheless is recurring. “Slow play,” he stated. “My gosh, it’s the all-time worst, and Tour players don’t help it any. TV doesn’t help it any, either. Just get on with it.”
The one-time coach of Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Greg Norman also stated he wished he might have labored with Retief Goosen.
And Harmon stated he cried throughout Woods’ win on the ’97 Masters.
The full change from the video is beneath:
“What’s the best golf swing you’ve ever seen?”
“Best golf swing I’ve ever seen would be one that works, to be honest with you,” Harmon stated. “I think the one that looks the nicest are the modern day ones that have nice tempo, Ernie Els or Fred Couples. But I believe in anything that works. There isn’t one way to do it.”
“What is the biggest mistake you see amateurs make?”
“They never take enough club,” Harmon stated. “They take a club that if they hit it their absolute max, they may reach the hole. I tell them all the time, if it’s a 7-iron, take a 6-iron and swing easy. You guys caddying, you know they never take enough club.”
“Who’s a player from the past you wish you could have worked with?”
“Oh, boy. Interesting. I’ve had so much luck and success with great players. I’ve always wished — and this guy won two U.S. Opens — I almost wish I would have had an opportunity to work with Retief Goosen. Retief Goosen has a tendency under pressure to hit pull hooks off the tee. Now, that’s not saying there’s anything wrong with his swing. He just was a guy that I always felt like I could help and make even better. But I never had that opportunity.”
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“Rank the majors: Masters, PGA Championship, Open Championship, U.S. Open.”
“Masters is obviously my favorite because my father won the Masters, but the Open Championship is the true championship of golf,” Harmon stated. “You’re playing great links courses, and it’s the best players from all over the world.”
“What is your favorite golf course?”
“Well, I grew up at Winged Foot, so I’m just going to stick with Winged Foot,” Harmon stated.
“Who’s your favorite caddie of all time?”
“Bones Mackay,” Harmon stated. “Not only a great caddie, but a great guy and a dear friend.”
“What’s your biggest golf pet peeve?”
“My biggest golf pet peeve is slow play,” Harmon stated. “My gosh, it’s the all-time worst, and Tour players don’t help it any. TV doesn’t help it any, either. Just get on with it.”
“What is your favorite Tiger win from your time working together?”
I must say it was his first Masters, in ’97, as a result of after I first began working with Tiger, the neat factor about Tiger was he was very inquisitive concerning the previous gamers,” Harmon stated. “And I told him a story once. I said, you know my father said it was the greatest feeling in the world when he walked up the 72nd hole and he had a five-shot lead, and there’s no way he could have lost the Masters. And I said, someday, you’ll have that opportunity. Well, he had a lot more than a five-shot lead walking up the 18th hole, but I can remember standing behind the 18th green, behind his mom and dad, and it was kind of overcast, but I still had my sunglasses on because I had tears in my eyes because it actually happened.”
