Sang-Moon executed a low-trajectory, high-spin shot en route to victory. (Pennington/Getty Images)

By Mark Immelman, Special to PGATOUR.COM

Lord Byron‘s event at TPC Four Seasons always attracts a stellar field as the PGA TOUR’s finest travel to the Lone Star State to pay homage to one of golf’s greatest champions and finest men.

The course layout is demanding from tee to green and play is normally defined by the warm and gusty North Texas winds. Hence it is those players who can flight the ball and control their shot trajectory (and make putts) who normally prevail around the firm and fast course conditions. This year, however, a band of severe Wednesday night thunderstorms changed the personality of the course and the first round became a birdie-fest with Keegan Bradley leading the assault on par with a 10-under 60.

The winds kicked up over the next three rounds and scoring became tougher. In the end it boiled down to a battle between the two members of the final Sunday pairing, Sang-Moon Bae and Bradley.

Both combatants were tied at 12 under as they headed up the par-5 16th. After getting their second shots into position, Bae faced an uphill pitch from about 40 yards and Bradley faced a pitch of about 50 feet from right of the green. Bae drove a low-spinning wedge into the green which gripped and spun back to about 5 feet from the cup. Not to be outdone, the gusty Bradley clipped a low and aggressive spinning wedge shot to just inside of his playing partner. Both shots were absolutely gorgeous and certainly worth learning how to play.

How to play the low, spinning wedge shot:

This shot starts at address. Move the ball back to around the middle of the stance and favor your lead foot (left for right-handers) as you set the bulk of your weight there. Lean the shaft slightly to the left (for righties) as you set your hands a little ahead of the clubface and the ball.

As you make your backswing, hinge your wrists up to steepen the shaft plane which will assist you to make a crisp, descending strike. It is recommendable to make a slightly shorter backswing as this will give you the freedom to accelerate through impact without the fear of the shot going too far.

Begin your downswing by rotating your lower body back to the left and swing your arms down through impact with the lead arm closer to the body and the left hand leading the clubface through impact. That lead hand should retain control of the action throughout the delivery so that the trail hand does not shut down the clubface. Once contact has been made, swing and extend the arms past the body into a shorter, balanced follow-through. Once again, the lead arm and hand should dominate the delivery and holding the club a little tighter with the last three fingers of the left hand will certainly help.
Get out and practice this shot; it will surely shave strokes off your score.

Good luck

Mark Immelman, the brother of PGA TOUR professional Trevor Immelman, is a well-respected golf instructor and head coach of the Columbus State University (Ga.) golf team. For more information about Mark and his instruction, visit his web site, markimmelman.com or follow him on Twitter @mark_immelman or “Like” Mark Immelman Golf Instruction on Facebook. He also has a golf instruction e-book called “Consistently Straight Shots – The Simple Solution” available on iTunes/iBooks.

Derek Ernst's steady putting helped him to his first PGA TOUR win. (Ehrmann/Getty Images)

By Mark Immelman, Special to PGATOUR.COM

The Wells Fargo Championship Strike Those Putts Crisply Quail Hollow Country Club is one of the true gems of golf in North America. Quail (as the membership affectionately dubs it) boasts a nice mix of left-to-right and right-to-left doglegs, a good blend of difficult and easy holes and some strategic undulations from tee to green. It rewards good play, but it will quickly penalize errant play, making Quail Hollow an excellent tournament venue and the Wells Fargo Championship a highly respected event on the PGA TOUR.

The classic layout – which will host the 2016 PGA Championship -- is scenic, undulating and always in immaculate shape. Sadly, due to a recent turf management wrangle, the course “lost” a number of greens. Those that survived were undoubtedly worse for the wear.

Thankfully many of the top players in attendance came out in support of the club and the greens. A good majority of them managed to make their fair share of putts on the uneven surfaces.

Week in and week out on the PGA TOUR, the final result is very much a function of the players’ performances on the greens. This week was much of the same, but due to the inconsistency of the surfaces, those players that were not striking putts cleanly and solidly were found wanting so much more. Therein lies our lesson that we can learn from the pros:

Strike your putts crisply: By definition, the interaction between the putter and the ball is no different to that of an iron or a metal-wood and the ball. Just as you need to strike an iron shot flush to go the given distance, you need to strike the putter flush to ensure that the ball performs correctly. Often times on super-fast greens, however, a player can slightly miss-hit (thin) a putt and it can still go in. That error can be disguised on perfect surfaces, but it will certainly not happen on slower, inconsistent greens.

Without fail I will address the quality of any golfer’s putter-on-ball contact before I consider any other putting stroke issues. All too often I encounter putting strokes that are structurally sound, but do not make consistently clean contact with the ball because the player has never considered where the base of the swing arc is and how that relates to the ball position.

A quick and very easy drill to help you figure out that very conundrum is to practice the “Quarter Drill.” Place a quarter on the ground and address it as if it was your golf ball. Go ahead and make your stroke striving to make contact with the quarter (enough to move it a few inches). If you miss the quarter then obviously your stroke has not “bottomed-out” correctly or the ball position is incorrectly located for your style of stroke. Either of those errors will largely result in poor quality of contact -- a sure-fire way to poor distance control (especially from long distance) or inconsistent putting on grainy or slow greens.

Adjust your putting posture and the release of your putting stroke until you can strike the quarter consistently. If you have done so and you still struggle to make consistent contact with the coin then vary its position (either forward or back) slightly. Then when you can consistently hit the coin, replace it with a golf ball, make the same stroke and watch how the ball reacts more positively to your putter. That is proof of sweet-spot contact -- the first port of call to good putting.

Just for the record, if your struggle with excess body or head movement during the putting stroke, then the “Quarter Drill” is also for you.

Practice this simple exercise whenever you are on the practice green. I guarantee you will see your putting improve.

Good luck.

/mi

Mark Immelman, the brother of PGA TOUR professional Trevor Immelman, is a well-respected golf instructor and head coach of the Columbus State University (Ga.) golf team. For more information about Mark and his instruction, visit his web site, markimmelman.com or follow him on Twitter @mark_immelman or “Like” Mark Immelman Golf Instruction on Facebook. He also has a golf instruction e-book called “Consistently Straight Shots – The Simple Solution” available on iTunes/iBooks.

Graeme McDowell showed patience on his way to victory at Harbour Town. (Lecka/Getty Images)

By Mark Immelman, Special to PGATOUR.COM

Every year the players invited to The Harbour Town Golf Links for the RBC Heritage look forward to an easy-going week in the relaxing Southern surroundings of the South Carolina Lowcountry. Hilton Head Island is undoubtedly a pleasant change from the mental and emotional rigors of the previous week’s major championship.

Atmosphere of the town and the venue aside, Harbour Town Golf Links is a gem of a golf course that places a premium on shot location and accuracy. Its honor roll, which now includes 2013 champion Graeme McDowell, includes such accurate ball-strikers as Jim Furyk, Boo Weekley and Brian Gay. Year in and year out, it rewards players who have every department of their game on point.

McDowell put together one of the rounds of the day when he shot a final round 2-under 69. Perfect but for a three-putt bogey on the final hole, McDowell was in complete command in some very challenging conditions as winds gusted up to 30 mph and par became golden in many instances.

It certainly made for compelling viewing, and there are a couple of observations I would like to share ...

Don’t play until really ready: Fresh off a birdie that jumped him into the lead, McDowell flushed a tee-shot through the back of the par-3 17th hole. With the wind whistling across him toward the Calibogue Sound, he hit a neat pitch shot to about 4.5 feet beyond the cup. After reading the line he addressed the important par putt, but as he was settling into position, a gust of wind kicked up and unsettled him. He pulled out of the address and reset himself mentally and physically. He then readdressed the putt only to have the same situation occur as the wind increased in intensity. He reset himself again and waited for the conditions to settle. Finally, once he was convinced and ready, he addressed the putt and knocked it home for the par to retain his lead.

Not that I am advocating slow play, but I do want to stress that you must not play until you are completely ready and comfortable. McDowell’s actions were the perfect example of this very important key to consistently successful shots. So if you are doubtful or unconvinced, whatever you do, please do not just get up there and hit it anyway. As the legendary Gary Player advised me: “Treat each shot as if it was the most important shot in the world and the last shot you were ever going to hit.”

Understand aerodynamics: Remember that your golf ball operates just like an airplane does. In other words, the laws of aerodynamics apply and you must be cognizant of them when playing in the wind. The best advice you can apply is a little ditty I learned a long time ago and one that I pass on often to players of all skill levels: “Swing easy when it is breezy.”

That said, to get a little more in-depth, you must consider that your ball spins, and it is backspin coupled with the ball’s velocity that elevates the ball. Think of the velocity as the plane’s engine and the backspin as the plane’s wings.

A couple of playing examples: if your plane was taking off into the wind, it would be more apt to climb upward and slow down. So when you are hitting into the wind you must strive to reduce the spin to avoid the “stand-up effect." Conversely, if your plane was taking off downwind it would need more lift to climb into the air. Similarly your golf ball will need more spin to stay airborne and take advantage of the downwind assistance. Finally, if your plane was turning – to the right or the left – into the wind, it would slow down. If it was turning in the same direction as a cross-wind, it would go faster. So if you draw the ball against a left-to-right breeze it would hold up and go shorter; if you draw the ball with a right-to-left breeze it would go further. On the flip side, a fade against a right-to-left wind will die, and a fade with a left-to-right wind will accelerate.

So take your time and treat each shot with the respect it deserves and apply the laws of flight. I am sure that you will play more consistently in variant conditions.

Good luck.
/mi

Mark Immelman, the brother of PGA TOUR professional Trevor Immelman, is a well-respected golf instructor and head coach of the Columbus State University (Ga.) golf team. For more information about Mark and his instruction, visit his web site, markimmelman.com or follow him on Twitter @mark_immelman or “Like” Mark Immelman Golf Instruction on Facebook. He also has a golf instruction e-book called “Consistently Straight Shots – The Simple Solution” available on iTunes/iBooks.

The Arnold Palmer Inv. is a home game for Tiger Woods, but he treats it like any other week. (Greenwood/Getty Images)

By Mark Immelman, Special to PGATOUR.COM

It appears that nobody is a match for Tiger at any event staged at Arnie’s Place. Once again, he navigated his way around the challenging Bay Hill Club and Lodge layout en route to the navy blue champions jacket and the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard title – his eighth. In doing so he tied the legendary Sam Snead for the most tournament titles in a single event.

His performance was impressive as always, but his work on the greens was the stuff of which stories are written. I certainly could spend time writing about Tiger’s putting stroke but to me there were two less-tangible lessons we can learn from the new world No. 1’s play:
The Home Game – Do it properly: The Bay Hill golf course is like Tiger Woods’ backyard and it is as close to a home game as anything for him. Not only is Arnold Palmer’s noted golf facility adjacent to Isleworth, where Tiger lived for the bulk of his professional career, it is also the site where Woods has enjoyed numerous tournament triumphs. He had notable success there winning eight tournaments (seven professional and one amateur) before his victory last week. In essence it may as well be a home game for Woods.

Most competitors fail to perform as well as they would like when they enter a tournament staged at their home venue. In my opinion, the reason being is that they make too much of the fact that they are playing at home and they go into the event with a lot of expectation and anticipation. The result of these two emotions is normally an increase in tension and tension is as big a “swing-wrecker” as anything. So play your home game like Tiger did. Approach it as you would any other tournament. Dot your “I’s” and cross your “T's” in preparation. Cover all of your bases as you would in any other tournament but trust your local knowledge of the course and use it to fortify your confidence and your trust. Then go out there and strive to relax and execute your plan. Tiger certainly did and all week long he appeared to have a quiet confidence about him.

Par 5s – The key to low scores: Tiger Woods manhandled the par 5s at Bay Hill, playing them in a whopping 14 under. (His total for the 72-hole tournament was 13 under.)

I often pass on the following adage to the tournament golfers I teach: Make 3s on the par 3s and 4s on the par 5s and you will have the nucleus for a good score. If you want to make low scores and be a good tournament player you have to take advantage of the golf course’s soft under-belly, the par 5s. To do so, employ a blend of strategy and power. Don’t just get on the tee of the par 5 and swing for the fences. Pick your spots to attack and defend. The worst thing for your scorecard is to have to pencil a 6 or a 7 on there because of a silly decision or an unwarranted attack or bold play. (For the record, Woods only made one bogey on the par 5s all week.) Attack when the time is right and you are in good position to do so; defend when you must and remember that sometimes even Tiger Woods has to lay up on a par 5. So to ensure that you are consistently able to convert on the par 5s, be savvy and set aside practice time to work on your wedge play.

Good luck
/mi

Mark Immelman, the brother of PGA TOUR professional Trevor Immelman, is a well-respected golf instructor and head coach of the Columbus State University (Ga.) golf team. For more information about Mark and his instruction, visit his web site, markimmelman.com or follow him on Twitter @mark_immelman or “Like” Mark Immelman Golf Instruction on Facebook. He also has a golf instruction e-book called “Consistently Straight Shots – The Simple Solution” available on iTunes/iBooks.

By Mark Immelman, Special to PGATOUR.COM

TPC Blue Monster last week, the Copperhead Course this week. The past two events of the “Florida Swing” on the PGA TOUR have had the competitors testing their skills on golf courses with reptilian leanings. Both venues certainly have a fair amount of bite but the Copperhead Course at the Innisbrook Resort is perennially more vicious thanks to a stretch of the three homeward holes known as the “Snake Pit.”

At 460 yards, No. 16 (The Moccasin) is a bruiser of a dogleg-right par 4.  It is flanked by trees on the left and a water hazard on the right that stretches all the way to the green. Sneak past No. 16 unscathed and an uphill 215-yard par 3 (The Rattler) with a narrow green surrounded by deep bunkers awaits golfers. After navigating The Rattler safely, competitors are faced with the tough par-4 18th (The Copperhead).  A tight, uphill hole with an unforgiving green, No. 18 measures 445 yards and is as daunting a closing hole as any on TOUR.

So to win the Tampa Bay Championship presented by EverBank, the contenders not only have to outwit and outplay their competitors, they have to survive the gauntlet that the Snake Pit presents. Its challenge is best qualified by 2011 champion, Gary Woodland: “If you’re two back and have signed your scorecard and the leaders are still out there, you’re definitely hanging around to see what happens.”

After posting a 63 and an 8 under total for the championship, Boo Weekley had to hang around to see how the leaders would navigate the Snake Pit and I am sure that he liked his chances.  All manner of challengers came up short but in the end Kevin Streelman played the Snake Pit in 1 under and in doing so he doubled his one-stroke lead and recorded his first win on the PGA TOUR.

So what can we learn from Streelman’s trip to the winner’s circle at Innisbrook? In my opinion, there are a few things and once again, proficient putting is one of them -- Streelman ranked third in the all-important strokes gained-putting statistic. So go and work on your putting.

Secondly, you must keep a positive attitude and never give up no matter the circumstances.  In 2007, Streelman was battling the odds at the first stage of q-school. For all intents and purposes, with about six holes to play, it looked as if he was going to miss advancing to the second stage. Well, we all know that in golf things can change in an instant -- such is the nature of our great game. All of a sudden the momentum swung and Streelman birdied four of his last five holes to qualify. Now, six short years later he is a PGA TOUR champion. Oftentimes, it appears as if the odds are stacked against you and failure is imminent. At that time, remind yourself to stick to your guns, stay positive and keep swinging with conviction and self-belief as you never know when the tide can turn. As the great Jim Valvano once said: “Don’t give up, don’t ever give up.”

Thirdly, it is crucial to trust yourself and your game when the chips are down.  Streelman hit one of the shots of the tournament when he “held” a faded 5-iron up against the right-to-left breeze on the par-3 13th hole. The super-gutsy (the hole was cut close to the water on the right of the green) and impressive shot was one that Streelman had been working on and by his own admission his trust and belief in the things he and his coach were working on were key to him attempting and pulling off the shot.  For the record, the iron shot translated into a birdie 2, which served as a platform to him closing out the win.

So learn from the likeable Duke graduate. … Always stay positive, never give up and trust your technique. After all, what good is it to work hard at something and then not trust it and attempt it under pressure?  As Streelman’s coach, Darren, said to him: “When you pull it off on Sunday it will be a good shot.”

Good luck,

/mi

Mark Immelman, the brother of PGA TOUR professional Trevor Immelman, is a well-respected golf instructor and head coach of the Columbus State University (Ga.) golf team. For more information about Mark and his instruction, visit his web site, markimmelman.com or follow him on Twitter @mark_immelman or “Like” Mark Immelman Golf Instruction on Facebook. He also has a golf instruction e-book called “Consistently Straight Shots – The Simple Solution” available on iTunes/iBooks.

By Mark Immelman, Special to PGATOUR.COM

Tiger Woods was the epitome of power, control and poise at the World Golf Championships-Cadillac Championship at The TPC Blue Monster at Trump Doral this past week.  

Always the happy hunting ground for him, TPC Blue Monster became Woods’ canvas this year.  His artistry was reminiscent of his exploits circa 2000 – high shots, low shots, draws, fades, Woods had it all on command, but perhaps his most dominating performance came on the greens.  Woods took only 100 putts for the week – an average of 25 per round – and “flushed his putts” as he described his performance with the putter. 

That said, in my opinion, Woods does not get the credit he deserves on the greens.  He is an incredible putter, especially when the pressure is on.  He certainly has a beautiful and fundamentally sound technique and it is with this in mind that I would like to list a few observations of his mechanics. 

Posture perfect: In my opinion, Woods’ putting posture and grip are worth emulating.  He addresses the ball (which is located just left of the middle of his stance) with a relaxed, yet very square stance.  He bends from his hips and allows his arms to hang neatly from his shoulders.  He employs a model “Reverse Overlap grip” with the forefinger of the lead hand resting over the little finger and ring fingers of the trail hand.  The handle of the club rests snugly through the palms of the unit of his hands which helps to reduce excess wrist action.  It also appears that he holds the putter grip with a very light grip pressure.   Strive for a correct grip and perfect posture like Tiger’s as these two elements provide a fantastic base from which to make efficient and correct putting strokes.

Cadence is key: Woods’ stroke exhibits flawless tempo and cadence.  He swings the putter head back and forth with basically a “1-2” rhythm and as he does so, the blade never ever gets too high off the ground.  Copy this cadence as you make your stroke as good tempo helps to improve strike quality, direction and distance control.

Hold that finish: It is a cliché but every great putter maintains a stable body and a still head throughout the stroke and to the finish.  To achieve this, employ the following image to improve your stability and hit more consistent putts.  Imagine that the putter is a very long pencil that you are holding with both hands.  Then make your stroke back and forth with good rhythm imagining that you are drawing a very fine half-moon with your “pencil” on the ground.  Any excessive speed change or wrist action will darken that pencil line and more than likely throw it off path.  So swing that pencil back and through and then hold your finish for the count of 2 seconds or until you hear the rattle of the ball in the cup.  If you do this correctly you will sense how the swinging mechanism of your shoulders, arms and putter has moved from the start to the finish with very little excess movement.  That imaginary pencil line should be neat and it should arc on and off the ball to target line – just like Tiger.

Good luck.

/mi

The PGA TOUR got its taste of the match play format this week at the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship. Whereas most weeks are contested over 72 holes of stroke play with the lowest score winning, the Accenture champion went through a series of six match play contests in which the goal was to simply win more individual holes than his opponent.

There are not many tournaments in professional golf that use the match play format and it is for that very reason that events like the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship so intriguing to watch. This week’s event at the Golf Club at Dove Mountain in Arizona was no different. Some wicked weather patterns changes from snow to perfect days to chilly high winds accounted for lots of birdies and eagles, just as many balls in the desert and out of play, and a fair share of upsets. The event was a spectators’ dream and it certainly offered us all some great viewing in addition to plenty of opportunities to learn from the world’s top 64 players.

Not many of us get to play competitive Match Play but I do have a few observations from this week’s event that can equip you mentally for if and when you do:

• Momentum – A big deal in Match Play: As is always the case, there were numerous matches where a competitor was handily up against his opponent but a long putt or a crooked bounce or a timely birdie switched the flow of the match completely. The most notable example of this was in the Stricker/Poulter semi-final. Stricker birdied the first to clinch a 1-up lead. Poulter won the second to square the match but then Stricker hit a magnificent 5-iron to six feet on the third, a tough downhill par three. Poulter hit the green but faced a wild forty-footer with multiple breaks. Andvantage Steve Stricker. Incredibly, Poulter holed the birdie putt and it completely took the wind out of Stricker’s sails. He missed the short birdie attempt to halve the hole and Poulter seized the momentum and the match (indeed he admitted in a post-round interview that the putt was indicative of the nature of match play and it turned the momentum of the match). He went on to pitch in for birdie at the sixth and eagle the par-five eight to take a commanding lead which he never relinquished. The take-away from this anecdote is that no matter the state of the game, you should keep your head as the momentum can change and the favor can switch with one stoke. The key is to use a sound approach and good decision-making to keep yourself in the game so when that momentum-swinging event happens, you are either in position to take advantage of it, or in position to not let it affect you adversely.

• Strategy: The best way to ensure success is to study the course and adopt a strategy that will best maximize your strengths whilst disguising your weaknesses. Once you have that strategy, be disciplined and stick to it. Realize also that successful match-players keep the pressure on their opponents at all times. Commit to memory that pressure is telling and it is bound to uncover a player’s weaknesses, no matter how good that player is. Keep the pressure on a player by positioning tee-shots so that you hit your approach shots to the green first. There is nothing more difficult than to top an approach shot that is already on the putting surface, and continually having to do so puts added pressure on a player. Also, do not give putts too early or too freely. Make your opponent mark the ball and wait and make him/her putt everything outside of two feet. You will be surprised at the results. Not to mention the fact that you will probably get into his/her head with your approach.

• Every dog has its day: The very nature of Match Play lends itself to results that are unexpected. The match is over 18 holes at the most, and it is against one player and not a full field of players. That being said, if you are the underdog, remember that everything about the format of play lends itself to surprises. At the Accenture Match Play this week there were, by my count, 23 (of 64) matches where the higher seed was beaten. That equates to nearly 36 percent of the games. In other words, just more than one out of three matches were upsets. So take note and write this on your competitive heart. If you are the favorite, don’t go to sleep on your opponent; don’t drop your guard and focus intently on every shot! If you are the underdog, play your game and keep pressing; focus intently and remember that the nature of an 18-hole match play game allows for anything to happen.

Good luck.

By Mark Immelman, Special to PGATOUR.COM

PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. -- There were many storylines and certainly many lessons we could learn from John Merrick's win at the Northern Trust Open. Among those I considered was playing with a lead as the defending champion, which Bill Haas had to do, and playing a short, dangerous par 4, which Riviera's devlish 315-yard 10th is. Finally, I settled on the concept of swing rhythm and timing, something Merrick clearly exhibits.

Bob Jones once stated that “rhythm and timing are the two things which we all must have, yet no one knows how to teach either.” There are a few factors one can consider to promote improvement in this delicate area of the swing.

Merrick swings the golf club with a languid and timed grace. His swing has a wide arc and its tempo is smooth and unhurried.  It is enviable to say the least. Realistically, it is impossible for everyone to swing the club as smoothly and slowly as Merrick -- your swing needs to mirror your personality and manner. Hence if you are upbeat I would venture that your swing should carry and upbeat tempo -- Nick Price and Web Simpson are good examples of this. If your personality is easy-going and relaxed, you should make every effort to swing the club in a similar fashion. 

Swing tempo is one thing. Timing is entirely another. By timing, I mean the coordination and sequencing of the moving parts in the swing. Good timing of the swing is considerably more important than tempo. I have seen many slower swings that are mis-timed and I have seen many brisk swings that are perfectly timed. So in your swing maintenance, remember that slower is not always better, well-timed is.

If you are looking to work on your swing’s timing you should begin is with a firm understanding that the swing’s purpose is to present the clubface in the correct fashion so as to deliver the desired shot. Too many golfers embark on swing adjustments without the requisite understanding of how the adjustment will influence the clubface’s attitude at impact.

From there, remember that the movement of the legs, the torso, the arms, and the wrists should all work at a speed which allows them to arrive at impact in the correct manner.

The two most typical timing errors I often encounter are: 1) A shoulder-rotation that spins out of the downswing, leaving the arms and the club behind and 2) A late release of the wrists and a late rotation of the forearms approaching impact.

Both of these timing issues can be easily remedied with a simple exercise.

Grab an outdoor broomstick, the kind with the corn bristles, and grip it like a club with the bristles in an upright fashion. Make a swing back and through into a balanced finish -- note that the swing may feel flatter than your regular action. Strive as you do so to sweep the bristles along the turf in the area where impact would be. Do this a few times and you will sense how the bristles of the broomstick create resistance through the air and how your body has to wait for the arms and the broom in the transition and into the downswing. You may also feel how the muscles in your core and your legs engage to provide a stable hub for the swing. Pay attention to all of these feelings as they are indicative of a well-timed, properly sequenced swing.

Once you have a sense for the speed and time at which elements of your swing move, grab your golf club and strive for the same action as you hit shots. Initially the club may feel lighter, but you will get used to it fairly quickly. This is also a great drill to promote and develop the muscle groups that are used in the golf swing.

Remember, tempo is important but timing is where it’s at.

By Mark Immelman, Special to PGATOUR.COM

Brandt Snedeker has found a way to channel his inner Tiger Woods. 

Since the start of the 2012 FedExCup Playoffs he has had two victories, at the TOUR Championship by Coca-Cola and this week at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, and seven out of 11 finishes in the top 10.  His form has been torrid and over this period of play he is a collective 134 under and has only shot over par three times. 

Arguably the hottest player in the game, Snedeker was in complete command at Pebble Beach. He triumphantly made his way into the winner’s enclosure by posting four rounds in the 60s and winning by two strokes.

There is a lot to like about the affable 32-year-old Tennessean. There is also a lot to learn from his game and the way he approaches his craft:

Be decisive: Once he is over the ball, Snedeker wastes no time in pulling the trigger.  Indeed, I would list him as one of the most decisive and fastest players in the game. Do not be confused, though, Snedeker does not hit shots with careless abandon at all. He and his caddie, Scott Vail, carefully consider every factor that could influence the upcoming shot before Snedeker pulls a club and addresses the ball. And once he is over the ball there is no wasting time. In my opinion, this is a great way to play as it reduces the chance for doubt to creep in and potentially ruin the shot. So, just like Sneds, think the shot through thoroughly but when the club is in your hand and you are over the ball, be decisive, don’t hang around and pull the trigger.

Make a balanced pass: Sneds is not one of the longer hitters in the game but that does not slow him down. In fact he is, in my opinion, one of the most explosive players on the TOUR thanks to his prowess with a putter in his hands. I love how he embraces his strengths and does not appear to get wrapped up in the search for power off the tee. Never will you see Snedeker make an unbalanced swing or a swing that is violent and lacking poise. Whether he is hitting a wedge or a driver you will always see Snedeker in a balanced and complete follow-through. I love this approach as I firmly believe that the follow-through is evidence of what has come before it. So just like the current FedExCup points leader, swing with discipline and at a pace that allows you to make a balanced follow-through.

And as always, remember the putter defines the golfer. So invest in your putting and log some practice on the putting green -- it works for Snedeker; I promise it will pay dividends for you.

By Mark Immelman, Special to PGATOUR.COM

Phil Mickelson brought his electrifying best to Phoenix and led wire-to-wire to win the Waste Management Phoenix Open by four shots. It was a result that was never really in doubt after he surged to a four-stroke lead thanks to an opening-round 60 that was nearly a 59 and included 11 birdies. The rest of the week was much of the same.

Statistically, Mickelson was without peer. He led the field in greens hit in regulation with 63 of 72 hit. Not only did he hit his targets, he got the ball close to the hole. At one point, he was averaging a mere 20 feet from the cup per approach shot. Mickelson was also pretty sporty with the flat-stick. He averaged 27.5 putts per round and ranked fifth in the field in strokes gained-putting. He was 40-for-40 from inside 3 feet and was 60-for-65 on putts of 10 feet or less.

What a difference a week makes.

Just a few days earlier, Mickelson shot a lackluster four-round total of even-par 288 to tie for 51st at Torrey Pines, 14 strokes behind Tiger Woods. Mickelson's play was littered with errors from tee to green and on more than a few occasions he missed short putts on the Poa Annua greens.

It begs the question, “What did he do differently? Why the sudden change in fortune?”

Mickelson’s response was telling and it bears a lesson for us all: “Certainly tying for 37th and 50-something doesn't really indicate this kind of play coming the next week, I understand that, but it did not feel far off. I felt like I was ready to click.” 

Mickelson knew that despite his average fortune his game was sharp and there was no need for concern or overreaction. The day before the tournament, he solicited the advice of his swing coach, Butch Harmon, and in a little more than an hour they made one minor “tweak” to his take-away and the swing began to click. The fine adjustment coupled with a driver change was the catalyst to the Hall-of-Famer notching up his 41st victory.

What you can learn from Mickelson: When things aren’t going completely according to plan it is not always necessary to enact major change. During times of adversity it is important to maintain a balanced and clear-minded approach. Resist every urge to make knee-jerk and reactionary changes in the hope of finding something that will hopefully work. Sometimes it just takes a revisit to your fundamentals -- perhaps with that person, instructor or pro whose opinion and eye you trust -- to find that little something that was off-kilter.