You can see what 'saw' has done for O'Meara's putting
By BOB HARIG
Published March 18, 2004
ORLANDO - Long regarded as one of the game's best putters, Mark O'Meara slowly, agonizingly came down with a case of the yips. The formerly smooth stroke became erratic. A short putt became torture.
Not surprisingly, the two-time major championship winner saw his game suffer. He finished 143rd on the PGA Tour money list in 2003, his worst season since turning pro in 1981. And he wondered if he'd ever be a factor again.
"When you have those type feelings, it's very difficult to think that you could stand there on the 16th or 18th green and make a putt to win a golf tournament," said O'Meara, a 16-time PGA Tour winner who begins play today at the Bay Hill Invitational. "If you're out there just playing Thursday and Friday, by Saturday and Sunday the pressure mounts even more and it's going to be quite difficult."
O'Meara tried plenty of remedies. He worked with the long putter. He figured more practice was in order, so he spent hours on the putting green. Nothing worked. Finally, his long-time instructor, Hank Haney, asked him to try a new grip.
O'Meara was flabbergasted. "I can't do it," he said. "I'm a conventional guy."
But he was out of ideas. Haney showed him a variation of "the claw" putting grip used by players such as Chris DiMarco and Mark Calcavecchia last December.
"All of a sudden I had no yip in my stroke at all," O'Meara said. "I went with it that week and I never had one putt where I had any kind of yip in there. So I thought, you know what, I'm going to go with this."
After seeing signs of progress this winter, O'Meara went to the Dubai Desert Classic on the PGA European Tour two weeks ago and won. It was his first official victory since the 1998 British Open. And at age 47, it has given him renewed confidence.
O'Meara places his left hand on the putter in a conventional manner. His right hand, however, barely touches the club. It, in essence, pinches the shaft between the thumb and three fingers. He calls the grip "the saw."
"I'm trying to go get a couple of (endorsement) deals with Lowe's, Home Depot, Black & Decker, Stihl ... ," O'Meara joked Wednesday.
"Putting better has helped me," he said. "It takes a lot of pressure off the rest of the game."
FURYK HURTING: U.S. Open champion Jim Furyk, who lives in Ponte Vedra Beach, will not play at next week's Players Championship, which speaks to the seriousness of the left wrist injury that has kept him out since the Sony Open in Hawaii. Furyk has torn cartilage that he hoped would heal with rest. He skipped his defense of the Ford Championship at Doral two weeks ago.
NO HUSTON: John Huston is 56th in the World Rankings and needs to move into the top 50 by March 29 to get an invitation to the Masters. He elected to skip last week's Honda Classic and this week's Bay Hill Invitational, which may not be a bad thing. Sometimes, depending on their record, players can move up despite not playing.
"I'm taking a little break," Huston said. "I wasn't playing that well and figured I'd take some time off before the TPC (Players). I'll then play Atlanta and hopefully the Masters. If I play well at the Players, that should be good enough."
He tied for ninth there two years ago.
CHINA MASTER: Zhang Lian-Wei received a special invitation to play in the Masters, making him the first player from China at Augusta National. Zhang last year became the first Chinese winner on the European tour.
WINNING FORMULA: It's not hard to figure out how Karen Stupples won her first LPGA Tour event on Sunday in Tucson. She hit 61 of 72 greens, never less than 14 of 18 in any round. Helping was the fact she averaged 296 yards on her eight measured drives during the tournament.
LOCALLY: Next week's Next Generation Futures Tour event at East Lake Woodlands in Oldsmar is offering free admission to spectators. The tournament begins on March 25. ... Crown Golf has launched a rewards program for playing at Bardmoor, Lansbrook and Northdale along with Highlands Reserve near Orlando. It is free to join the loyalty program, and those who join receive discounted rates and will earn points for each round played, along with pro shop and restaurant purchases. The points can be used for free or discounted rounds of golf. Visit www.crown-golf.com for information.
- Information from other news organizations was used in this report.
