Tom Watson’s ‘little trick’ to help amateur golfers stop missing short breaking putts

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We all know that Tom Watson is one of the greatest golfers to have ever graced the game.

Watson won an incredible 39 PGA Tour titles throughout his illustrious career, including eight major championships.

One of the 76-year-old’s main strengths in his heyday was his ability to hole out from inside 10 feet.

Watson’s greatest win came at The Open Championship in 1977, after going head-to-head with the great Jack Nicklaus at Turnberry.

He is unquestionably one of the most highly-respected players in the game, still to this very day.

And if any amateur golfer wants to improve their putting, especially from close range, Watson is the man to learn from.

Tom Watson’s ‘little trick’ to help amateurs stop missing putts on the low side

The American once took part in an instructional video for Golf Digest.

Watson gave the following tip for right-handed golfers when facing left to right putts.

He said: “Here’s a little trick I use on breaking putts.

“If you have trouble missing it on the low side, the amateur side, this is what I do.

“This is what I do to correct it, it’s just a little bit of a tweak with your grip. Take your left hand and turn it over so you can see one maybe two knuckles with it.

“What that will do is it will keep that clubface from opening up at all, in fact it may shut it down.“

Then he switched his attention to right to left putts for right-handed players.

“If I’m consistently missing this putt to the left, I will take my left hand and go the opposite direction, turn it to the left a little bit.

“This keeps the putter face from turning to the left at all.

“If you continue to have problems missing putts on the low side of the hole, all you have to do is tweak your grip. Strengthen for a left to right putt and weaken it for a right to left putt.“

Percentage of putts under 10 feet made by PGA Tour pros

Mark Broadie, a professor at Columbia University, invented the ‘strokes gained’ concept.

He performed several studies regarding PGA Tour pros’ ability to hole out from 10 feet and in.

Here were his findings:

So don’t get disheartened. Even the best players in the world only make two out of every five 10 foot putts that they face.

The key is to tidy up those short putts inside five feet.

And by using Watson’s tip when faced with those tricky putts with plenty of break, you might just find that you hole out better and, in turn, lower your scores.