Xander Schauffele won last week’s Sentry Tournament of Champions at Kapalua to open the 2019 calendar season. A shot that got a lot of attention was an apparent topped drive in the final round on the 13th hole.
-8 thru his last 10 holes.
2 eagles on his round.
1 shot behind the leader.Just when everything is going your way …
Golf is hard. #QuickHits pic.twitter.com/6bFGrlCWls
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) January 7, 2019
Well today I saw an interview with Golf Digest where Schauffele suggested that was not a mishit shot:
OK, have to ask about that squirrely tee shot on Sunday on the 13th hole. Is that something that you just laugh off or is it more like, “Whoa? Where did that come from?”
You know, I read a few things about how I topped that shot and I didn’t. That shot I hit was a bumped driver. You can tell from my swing speed that I was hitting it about 40 percent. I had been doing it all week, I just hadn’t been on TV when doing it and I knew I was going to take some crap about the ball speed because I just kind of chipped it out there. It’s a shot I hit when it’s super windy. I didn’t have a 3-iron in the bag so it was either a 4-iron or a 5-wood and I didn’t want to hit a 3- or 5-wood up in the wind and the 4-iron wouldn’t get out there far enough, so I decided to try and chip my driver. On No. 4 at Kapalua I was hitting the same shot and driving it low and watching it run. It’s a new addition to my arsenal.
Man, this is why I love watching the pros. What’s to say we can’t hit similar shots? These guys are so creative in solving problems on the golf course. I’ll admit it, I’m going to start practicing my bump driver a lot more. After reading his thought process, I can see where that would be very useful in my very amateur game.
