John Daly might be famous for his grip-it-and-rip-it style, but don’t disrespect the man’s short game!
Because John Daly led the PGA Tour in driving distance for nearly a decade, golf fans focus mainly on his distance and power off the tee. His long, exaggerated swing led to bombed drives, plus his laid-back approach to the game made Daly a must-watch player.
But in reality, Daly’s chipping might have been the strongest part of his game. He once said that he grew up playing on a football field with no grass and had to develop a short game to survive.
Daly’s 1995 Open Championship win at St Andrews was hailed not as a long-driving clinic but as a masterclass in chipping and putting on the firm links greens.
He’s now closely associated with his one-handed chipping routine, which Daly said is designed to practice one key element of the short game that even Tiger Woods got wrong.
What John Daly tried to tell Tiger Woods about his chipping
When quizzed about his one-handed chipping drill, in which Daly takes shots from off the green with only his left hand, he explained that it was to practice something that Woods has done wrong in his career.
He told the Golf Channel, “I’ve tried to reach out to Tiger a lot of times with his chipping when it went bad. You can’t chip when your shoulder’s up. How that left shoulder gets up on him, you can’t drive into the chip.
“So the blessing for me has always been the left arm chipping, but look at the left shoulder. It always stays low through impact. Once that shoulder stays low through impact, all you’ve got to do is change the loft of the club to hit a flop or to hit it low or whatever.
What’s more important to a successful round of golf than being good from 150 yards and in?
He was asked if he changes the trajectory of chips by changing clubs, and Daly replied, “Changing golf clubs and of course, changing loft.
“I mean, this is a 50. I hit that really low, but I can lean a little left, open the face up, come a little more, get up a little bit high side, and in because it’s a wedge. And then flop it a little bit.”
What’s also helpful about Daly’s advice is that it allows you to focus on one key part of the swing, and not cloud your head with swing thoughts.
Why John Daly was right about Tiger Woods
In truth, chipping was never Woods’ biggest strength. He was so incredible with his approach play, gaining as many as 2.22 strokes to the field with his irons in 2006, that his play around the green play didn’t need to be relied upon when he was at his best.
Since 2004, Woods never gained more than a stroke to the field around the green, and in 2015, he had his worst ever season in that department. He lost 0.87 strokes around the green that season, and had a meltdown with his chipping at the Waste Management Phoenix Open.
How many majors would Tiger Woods have won without his injuries?
There, he was seen blading chips over the green in amateur fashion, and when you watch the footage, Daly is exactly right. Woods’ left shoulder comes up on impact on all of his bladed shots.
So if even the greatest golfer of all time would benefit from Daly’s golf tips, so can you.
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