A big reason why amateur golfers struggle to shave shots off their score lies on the greens.
Putting, whether amateurs like it or not, is arguably the most crucial part of the game. After all, the short stick is often the most used club in the bag.
One key area where amateur golfers fall short is three-putting. You’ve just hit two great shots to the green only to take three, sometimes four strokes, to get down; it’s disheartening, frustrating, and, in some cases, a round wrecker.
Thankfully, there is hope. Rory McIlroy focusses on two big fundamentals within his stroke to improve his consistency, and Tiger Woods uses the same drill before every round.
Of course, the technicalities within a putting stroke are important, but there are also aspects of green-reading that amateurs perhaps neglect.
Padraig Harrington’s putting tip
Padraig Harrington, speaking in a recent social media clip, believes many amateurs actually under-read putts. The Irishman believes adding two feet extra break will result in fewer three-putts.
“If you want to lag a putt or get down in two, there’s a little trick to it. Amateurs under-read their putts by a factor of three. The actual point of the break is three times higher. There’s a trick to getting the ball close,” Harrington said.
“This is about four feet of break left to right; if you go higher and add another two feet of break onto it, the ball will tend to settle closer to the hole. You can see how it’s hanging up there. I am never going to have much of a putt, two-and-a-half, three feet downhill, which is quite acceptable to me.
“If you miss high, the ball tends to stay above the hole and it still has a chance of dying in. If you miss it, it finishes two or three feet above the hole, which is a safe distance. If you miss a putt with the same pace as that low, it goes about three times as far below the hole. A putt that you miss high might stay two feet, the same putt low will finish six feet. On a long putt, always add a little bit of break if you’re trying to get down in two.”
How often do amateur golfers three-putt?
The three-putt statistics paint a pretty bleak picture for those golfers at the higher end of the handicap spectrum.
According to stats from Arccos, a 20-handicap golfer will average at least four three-putts per round. Clearly, there’s a two-shot improvement to be made with relatively little work.
Moving slightly further down the handicap chart, a 15-handicap player will three jab 3.3 times each round and a five-handicap player just three times.
A scratch golfer will three-putt, on average, 1.6 times a round. For those floating around the ten handicap number, becoming more frugal on the greens could be the difference when looking to get down to low single figures.
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