Tommy Fleetwood hits out of a bunker final month in the course of the Dubai Desert Classic.
Getty Images
Tommy Fleetwood, after a pair of waggles and a pair of appears up, hit. And he was completely satisfied.
To a goal possibly 25 yards exterior of the bunker he was in, his ball rolled to inside a couple of ft.
“Love that,” Rick Shiels mentioned.
Indeed. How are you able to not? Fleetwood was enjoying on a video lately posted to the Instagram account of Shiels, a web-based golf sensation, and you may watch the video here and find other videos from Shiels’ account here. Thing is with Fleetwood, between him and sand, it’s a love story, if statistics are your information. Have a glance his rankings on the PGA Tour in sand-save percentage over the previous 5 full seasons:
2022-23: twentieth (57.85 %)
2021-22: ninth (62.22 %)
2020-21: 71st (52.50 %)
2019-20: twenty ninth (56.92 %)
2018-19: fourth (63.54 %)
Of course, when you’re extra of a believer in how expertise carry out below large moments and large tournaments, there’s also this below — the place Fleetwood holed out for eagle from a greenside bunker in his Ryder Cup singles match in opposition to Rickie Fowler. Fleetwood went on to win that match — which clinched the Ryder Cup for Europe.
Good stuff, and we’ve now established some credibility. Because additionally within the Shiels video, over the course of nearly a minute, Fleetwood reviewed his bunker play, and it’s price a evaluation right here, too.
In the video, his steps have been three. First, it’s best to watch the video, and it’s beneath. Below that, we’ll speak about it.
1. ‘Hit one golf ball behind’
In the video, Fleetwood mentioned he wished to make impression behind the ball within the sand, and he was particular the place.
One golf ball behind the golf ball. In the video, he positioned a ball down behind the ball he was desiring to hit, formed a line within the sand together with his iron behind the second ball and moved the second ball out of the best way.
“Everybody talks a lot about bunker,” Fleetwood began within the video. “It’s one of the one golf pictures that you simply’re not gonna hit the golf ball. This is how I set it up very often. So right here’s the ball I’m gonna hit. Now I’ll put one ball instantly behind it and that shall be one strike mark.
“So as a general rule, I’ll try and hit one golf ball behind.”
2. ‘I want my left heel on that line’
In the video, Fleetwood subsequent positioned himself to the place his left heel and his membership have been lined up on the sand line he had created above.
The thought once more was contact behind the ball.
“While we stick on setup,” Fleetwood mentioned within the video, “I’m not making an attempt to hit the golf ball. So each time you truly set as much as every other shot, your ball place is relative to really making an attempt to strike the golf ball. So when you’re on an iron or a chip shot, you’re truly hitting the again of the ball and compressing down after that.
“Whereas in the bunker, you’re trying to hit the sand. So I want my left heel on the line that I’m going to strike and I want the club to actually match that line.”
3. ‘Set the weight nicely on that left side’
In the video, Fleetwood additionally put weight to his left aspect. His membership, his left heel and his sternum have been all on his sand line, behind the ball.
“So we’re going to set the weight nicely on that left side,” Fleetwood mentioned within the video. “So now all of a sudden, I’ve got left heel, shaft and my sternum, they’re behind the ball, but they’re all on this mark and they’re all going to be ready to hit down.”
He then hit to inside a couple of ft of his goal.
