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The Golf Fix: Champions Clinic - October 17, 2011 (21:15)

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Masters champion Charl Schwartzel, U.S. Open champion Rory McIlroy, Open Champion Darren Clarke, and PGA Champion Keegan Bradley join together at the PGA Grand Slam of Golf for a unique clinic at the picturesque Port Royal Golf Course in beautiful Bermuda. Hosted by Michael Breed.

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-Welcome to the beautiful island of Bermuda. It's a special Gol...

-Welcome to the beautiful island of Bermuda. It's a special Golf Fix, the PGA 2011 Grand Slam of Golf. All four major champions to help you with your game. Let's do this. -The Golf Fix, with Michael Breed. Brought to you by SkyCaddie. -Some of the beautiful sights here from the island of Bermuda and the 2011 PGA Grand Slam of Golf at Port Royal Golf Course, the host golf course for this event and it is quite a place. The weather is certainly cooperating. It's going to be a great show. I'm Michael Breed, the host. You know that we've only got a few shows left this year but you want to reach us. I know you do. I want to help you with your game. Do you know how to do it? It's very simple. Our e-mail address is the golffix@golfchannel.com <mailto:golffix@golfchannel.com>. Telephone number 800-842-9987. Twitter and Facebook, we just went over 30,000 on Facebook. And the videos, send those videos to us. All right, I told you that we have the four major champions. Charl Schwartzel, he won the Masters. He is gonna be talking a little bit about short game. Then Rory McIlroy, the US Open champion. He's gonna be talking about driving. Darren Clarke, Open champion winner. He's gonna be talking a little bit about impact position and ball striking, something you definitely don't want to miss. And then Keegan Bradley, PGA champion. He is gonna be talking about the-- the belly putter, that thing that's got the craze on tour now. Well, he's gonna be discussing all of that stuff. So, I know it's gonna be a great show for you. You don't know want to go anywhere. Up first, our youngest major champion winner. -2011 US Open champion, Rory McIlroy. -An unreal performance from Rory McIlroy. -Rory McIlroy, US Open champion now joins me. Rory, thanks for spending a little time here. -No problem. -So, we're talking about the driver. Certainly something that work pretty nicely for you and your-- and your US Open win at Congressional. Talk about being consistent. So many people struggle with getting that ball on the fairway consistently. -Yeah. -You managed to do it. What kinds of things do you go through? -I mean for me to get the ball in the fairway, I think the most important thing is-- I mean you need a consistent shot and chip, you know. You need to know what you do with the ball, you know, 90% of the time. And for me and especially that week at Congressional, it was a draw, you know. A lot of the holes, you know, turn slightly from right to left and that really suited my eye especially for that week because I felt comfortable hitting my shots, so. You know, that's the first thing and then, you know, always, you know, have a couple of swing thoughts. I mean for me, I feel like balance is a big key for me in-- in my driving. -Good ahead and-- and talk about that. -Yeah. -So, you're talking about balance just through-- -Balance and-- and stability, you know, the whole way throughout the swing. So, I mean, I would-- you know, I would-- I would stand maybe a little wider with my driver and then obviously the-- the rest of the clubs. It really feels I have to get myself into a good, you know, athletic position where I'm ready to-- to hit the shot. -Where do you feel your weight in your feet, toe-heel relationship because you're talking about balance. Does it-- -I mean it's more-- I mean it's more in the-- -Arches? -Yeah, more in the arches for me. I really feel as if, if I can engage my legs, my-- my quads and my hoods and really feel really stable over it. It means I-- I have a base from where the-- some-- from where to swing. -So, you kind of widen your stance. Get the weight sort of in the arches there. And then, what's the-- what's the thought that you're gonna have as you-- as you're taking that club back other than picking out your-- your target? -I like to think of-- on the way back, keeping it nice and wide. Keeping it here and, you know, really, you know, extend-- you know, I try to-- I keep my left arm very straight through the swing anyway but really just trying to take it away as-- like a one-piece stick away and just take it wide into the club here. And then if I-- and I know if I get in a good position there again. -All right, could you just show us how that works? -[unk]. -So, your-- your key is more feeling and your left arm going back there? -Yeah. -Is that what you're thinking? -Yeah. Obviously, just try and pick a target right there. You know, get your set up nice and wide and feel-- feel stable. -Beautiful there. And-- and, when you're thinking about tempo obviously because a lot of people-- you know, when you're thinking wide, a lot of people are starting to-- to move a little faster-- -Yeah. -but your swing almost looks like there's a pause at the top there. Is-- is that something that you're thinking about as you're preparing to hit that shot? -Not-- not particularly. I mean I-- I always think that you have-- you need to give yourself time to hit the shot, you know, it's makes on the way back out. I'll go there and-- yeah, I'll try. It's like a-- it's almost like a-- a spring or, you know, you sort of you wind yourself up and then from there. And once you get to the top, then you can just let it all unload. -So-- so, let's hit one more here as we look at that. So, there's not a conscious thought of pausing but you're definitely slow to the transition. -Yeah, definitely. I mean if that's a thing with me, my fault would be I get a little quick in the transition and, you know, which obviously, you know, you can, you know, open yourself up too much and it probably can get behind you or, you know-- so, I have no choice. -A lot of bad stuff can go. -Yeah. -All right. So, show us that here as we head to a break. -So, nice and stable. Slow to the top. -And then just hit it as far as you possibly can. -Well, that's the plan. Yeah. -It kind of works. I can't even see that far. -I see the splash. -Rory, thanks man. -Thank you. -I appreciate you stopping by. -No problem. -All right, we'll get ahead to a break. When we come back, we're talking about some impact with Darren Clarke. We'll be back. You're watching the Golf Fix. Welcome back to the special edition of the Golf Fix from the island of Bermuda. Now, it's time to catch up with our oldest major champion. -2011 Open champion, Darren Clarke. -Darren Clarke has its major. -Joining me now, Open champion Darren Clarke. Darren. -How do you do? -Congratulations. What a-- -Thank you. -what a major champion. What a win. -Uh-huh. -How much did that mean to you? -Well, as usual, you know, well it's a-- have been a lifelong dream to win the Open Championship. And, you know, it just happen to be my week and I got there with many years of trial and I got-- I did got there in the end. -So, when you're playing in that championship-- -Uh-huh. -you grow up in these windy conditions. -Uh-huh. Uh-huh. -Impact and flight in the golf ball, doing all that stuff critical. -Uh-huh. Uh-huh. -There's a lot of people out there. They're struggling with their impact positions. -Yeah, yeah. Yeah. -It's time for you to teach now. -Uh-huh. Okay. Okay -Just take a little bit about what you think about as you go through this. -Well, a little bit of a-- obviously, whenever we're playing in a little bit of wind is very important with trajectory of golf balls to control that. And-and for me have been grown up and playing on links, that whole thing is heading up for flight in the ball a little bit lower. So, basically I move the ball back in my stance a little bit but make sure that I'm turning through the ball the whole time. My whole body has kept on turning. What I see a lot with-- with amateurs when they're playing is that they got a long iron in their hand and they end up going-- they try to scope it and then held it up in the air. You know, all the modern technology these days are designed for to get the ball on the air. So, I think the biggest thing for amateurs would be with their long irons. It would be-- especially as trying to hit down on the ball, hit down on it. It makes the ball go up. So, I see so many of them who are trying to scope and help them there all the time. -Is there a drill that you have to assist you with? I know some players like that maybe practice hitting at a divots or something like those. -Yeah, yeah. -Is there a drill that you-- that you perform? -A little but I-- I only got 90 with the short iron. I get my left-- my left foot over my right and trying to keep my balance to make sure I keep turning on to hit that way. -All right, let's go ahead and let's show that one. That one looks like that's right out of a circus by the way. -Wait. Wait, wait, wait. It is right over the circus but it's only you had only 60 to 70 yards. But it's not ahead that 230 yards over there. -We're not paying to that right now. Just show that drill. We'll let you-- we'll let you flag on here in a second. -Well, then let's-- let's go. This one is just basically is a-- it's a sharp one. This one over right there, I'm trying to keep my balance the whole time. -Uh-huh. -I'm trying to make sure that I turn my body through this way. What I see most-- most amateurs end up going this way and trying to scope it. -Right. -Scoping-- scoping doesn't work. -You're trying to help that thing out of them. -Yes, exactly. Trying to help them there. You don't need to help them in air. The club on your swing will get in air. You don't need to help them there. -And, do you have any image at impact of where the shaft is? Just, you know, like you were talking about-- -Uh-huh. -the average players kind of scope it-- -Yeah. -and that shaft is swinging and backwards when you're coming to impact. -Well, for me when I'm playing on-- on links, I'm playing at some really windy hours. I was trying to have that-- the vision of-- of where-- of my hands are-- are leading the ball a little bit. I don't want to get them away on this way but I just want to make sure that my balls were there. My hands are ahead of it. The club face won't trap in the ball the whole time. Trapping it, not steep but trapping it to make sure I'm turning at this impact. -So, the angle of approach is not coming in from here. -No. No, no. -It's actually moving along the ground but the hands are leading the club there. -It's just coming in normally because my ball position is a little bit farther back and I'm just trying to make sure that my hands lead all the time. -And as a rule, do you play the ball position a little bit farther back than it was? -Yeah, always. Always although not-- but not everyday. But, when I'm playing at windy conditions, yes I do. -Right. -Yes, definitely. -All right, now we-- now, you can get a chance to show it off here. -Oh, yeah. We got to [unk] a little. -No big deal. -Yeah. -230 yards to back hole location with the water on the left just there. -Yeah. Yes, yes. Because your draw feel at high or low, whatever. Just-- this is one of where you sort of just get it on the green. -Yeah, just do it. -So, we're gonna-- we're gonna [unk] really and get out of here. -How do you pop the next ball? -Let me-- let me see if I can do it. My darn, don't lean behind. I'm sorry. I'm stupid up in the air. That's-- that's number one but you'll see here. You see my body hopefully will turn all the way through it. That's not bad. -I just thought that-- right at it. -That's not bad. But, you can see here that I'm finished. I'm finished turning through right here. My-- my whole-- my whole body has turns through this way. What I see a lot of amateurs is that their shoulders go up and they stay back here. So, it can squeeze in the hands and then have to come in and-- I'm-- I'm trying to manipulate the golf club. You got to let the-- the ball get on the way of the-- of the club and keep turning through. -Well, that's certainly was a pretty good. -That was clever. -I don't hear any of the -I will take that one. -people out there making any noise by the way. I mean they-- -They might-- they must saw me very, very good. -they must have-- they must have glued their hands in their pockets. There you go. Now, they're talking to this. -Get one for the old guy. -Exactly, Darren. Thanks so much. Congratulations for being in here. -No problem. Thank you. -All right-- -Thank you. -and we got to take a little break here. We're gonna catch up with Charl Schwartzel up in a short game here. We'll be right back. Keep watching the special edition of the Golf Fix. -Welcome back to the Port Royal Golf Course in Bermuda, the home of the 2011 PGA Grand Slam of Golf. We're finished with two major champions. It's time now to bring in our third. -2011 Masters champion, Charl Schwartzel. -Charl Schwartzel takes the Masters of 2011. -Charl Schwartzel joins me right now. And Charl, congratulations on that major championship-- the Masters. One of best to ever go, right? I mean you're gonna win one. That's not a bad one to start with first of the year. -I'll take it. [unk]. -Yeah, I bet you will. -That was fantastic. Thank you very much. -And those four birdies that you made at the end of the-- the round there on a Sunday are certainly impressive but you-- you got off to the hot start that you needed and sort about, you know, a birdie from off the green at Augusta National on Sunday. You had those-- the crowd behind are sure one that's exciting. -Yeah, I mean I got-- I mean a fantastic trip on one, you know, just to get on the green was-- was a great achievement in my mind and all. And then, obviously holding that second shot on three-- -Yeah. -I have to go four shot that leads from-- away from Rory. -And the wedge is working. So, a lot of the players are missing a lot of greens at-- at home. They're watching on TV here and now they're all relying upon you to help them shoot lower scores. You're so-- just talk a little bit about, you know, what you do as you-- as you see, we got a shot here or maybe-- I don't know, maybe 60 feet of green that we're working with and then another maybe-- I don't know, a 7 or 8 yards of-- of fairway here. But, what kind of-- just talk a little bit about the basics of what you're doing when you get in here. -Well, I mean chipping. You know, you got such a big variety. You got so many options. I mean I think that's what makes chipping so exciting, you know. I mean if there's a specific shot that we got here, we got set-- a lot of green. You know, I can use probably a lob wedge probably all the way up until 5-iron to chip this. There's so many options but I can promise everywhere we used to go, I used to grow up going more on the [unk] than-- when it's supposed there in that-- over on links courses would chip the ball a bit more on the ground. -So, when you're right here-- -So, I mean I say the first thing you would look is you would see what sort of shot you feel comfortable with. -Right. -You'll visualize and you'll see, you know, and pretty much enough for me from here. I probably use a sand wedge and pitching on that top of that there and just throw at the top and then like a feet over. -Okay. -So, I would-- that will take the club. So-- so, talk to the basics here now in setting up. Do you have consistent ball positions? Are you-- is that absolute or is it kind of abstract then? -Once again, you know, depending on what shot. You got so many options. -So, you're moving the ball position-- -Yeah, moving. -whenever you want to hit but depending on whether you want a high ball shot. -Move it forward-- forward. You can get the ball coming out of high and release off. Move it back which I think you want for this. Get the ball coming at low with a little bit of spin. -Okay. So, let's go ahead and hit one here and let the-- all of the fans up on the stands there just applaud like crazy. But, in fact, you know, we're not gonna putting pressure. But, if you hold it, it wouldn't disappoint. -Okay. So, I would stand here sort of feel the shots and just got over what I-- what I see and how far when I pitch it. But, the most important thing when I stand here is to think of rhythm. I think chipping has a lot to do with rhythm. I may get quick and things can go wrong. -That's looking pretty good right there. So-- so-- yeah, they like it. Yeah. -[unk]. -And, while they [unk]. So, when you're in here, you're thinking about rhythm and tempo and it's something that so many people don't pay attention too. -Exactly. -How about weight distribution? Are you-- are you aware of what you're doing with your weight distribution? -Yes. Your weight distribution like I said, you know, I mean you've got so many options. You put the ball forward and you want to let it fly higher all over-- all over the very same [unk]. And then, you know, and that will-- that will help you get the ball up and then shot like this. I have the weight mostly on the front. Almost 70% from the front foot and the ball slightly back. So, that will get the ball coming out much slower, you know, into the-- into the slope and with a little bit of spin once it gets over there. -Beautiful. All right, let's do that. -So, that I think, you know, I mean for consistent chipping probably the front foot would be better than-- than it was in the middle. -And a fairly narrow stance as well there too, right? -Exactly. -Beautiful. -Come on. Let's go in the hole there. -I think that's short. -We need a little bit more-- -Put a right club. -All right, nice work though. Nice work and congratulations-- -Thank you very much. -on you being in here. All right, we're almost done. We've got one more major champion left. That's Keegan Bradley talking about the belly putter. We'll be back. It's the Golf Fix. -Welcome back to our special Golf Fix from the 29th PGA Grand Slam of Golf. A few people that I'd like to introduce you too. First of all, the PGA of America President from the Hillendale Country Club in Phoenix, Maryland-- Allen Wronowski. PGA of America Vice President from the Legends Golf Club in Franklin, Indiana-- Ted Bishop. PGA of America Secretary from the Merlone-- Malone Golf Club in Malone, New York-- Derek Sprague. PGA of America Honorary President from the Okemo Valley Golf Club in Ludlow, Vermont-- Jim Remy. PGA of America CEO from Palm Beach Gardens, Florida-- Joe Steranka. And finally, Bermuda's Minister of Business Development and Tourism, Minister Patrice Minors. Thank you all very much for having us here. All right, it's time for our final major champion. -2011 PGA champion Keegan Bradley. -A rookie no more. -I'm now joined by the 2011 PGA champion, Keegan Bradley. Keegan, congratulations. It's a nice place to be here. Not a bad view, right? -Yeah, thank you very much. It's-- -Well done. That's what that-- -It's cool. -that's what that victory does for you. It gets you the-- a chance to participate in this great event. So, you made this-- the switch to this-- this putter two and a half years ago and where you made some key putts coming down at the stretch particularly on that 16th hole after what people would call a bounce back on the 15th. -Yeah, yeah. I switch two and a half years ago and it was just one of those things where I just grab it and it felt perfect. And, I made a few tweaks to it and now where it's-- but, it's really nice for me and it feels really comfortable. -All right. So, let's get in here and talk a little bit about what you like about it so much and-- and how you go about using it because there's a lot of different ways to-- -Right. -anchor that to your body there. -I put-- I put it straight in my belly button right in the middle. That way, I know each time it's in the same spot and that's what I love most about the belly putter is that I put it in and I put it down and it's the same every time and I can kind of forget about mechanics. So, I just kind of put it straight in like this and then I'm locked in. I'm like this every time. Nice. -Yeah, that will work. -Yeah. -Come on, guys. I can't hear anybody. Yeah. So, how is that different than what you were doing before with the conventional putter? -You know, before, I-- you can kind of grab a putter and it might not feel right for me. It feels the same every single time. I put it here. I grip it in the same spot. I have a mark on my grip. And, it's just something that I can kind of repeat without even thinking about it. -So, you're not event thinking about like when you hold the club and how to grip it. It's the same every single time. Your distance to the ball is the same every single time and the swing is the same every single time. Is that right? -Right, yeah. All of the variables are kind of gone and you kind of can-- can just feel it and know what's right. -So, when you're standing over a putt like this or say-- let's say the putt on 16th or-- I mean you had a bunch of key thoughts that you made particularly in those closing holes and in the play off. Is it-- is-- are you putting more visually? Are you taking practice strokes to-- to feel this? How does these all work? -Yeah. I-- I don't take any practice strokes. It's all visual from-- from there. I'm just picturing the hole in my line and know mechanics and then I can just right then about ready to hit it. I can see it in my-- my mind and I see that thing going in. -So, when you go out and you're practicing, are there some drills that you're gonna use to-- to teach yourself speed with that? Or, is it just-- I mean is it-- it can't just be-- if it's as simple as just putting it in there and go ahead and hit it, you know. We all switch, right? -Yeah. -So, there's got to be some special stuff you're doing. -Right. Yeah. I-- I check my alignment a lot. I put a penny here and I put two tees out about halfway and I try to put through the tees and-- -It just so happen we have two tees for you here. -Oh, perfect. -So, if you want to-- -Oh, yes so. -go through that. -So, about right in-- right in here, I'll-- I'll put the tees down about like that. It'll gonna be a little closer and you got-- you got to line it up nice and then you-- this is where you kind of check your alignment to make sure it's-- it's good. -And, does that helping you to find let's say the apex of the putt? That putt is gonna-- -Right. -that will be a little bit of a different break than what we're hitting before. But, does-- does that help you focus on a spot that's somewhere out here-- -Right. -when you're actually putting and you don't have the tees? -Yeah. Although when I'm putting, I try to think about anything but the stroke, about my line, about the hole and this kind of get your mind off of making the putt and more focused in on your line and-- and what you're trying to do. -All right, here we go. -Yeah. -So, this is it. This is for your second major, right here. No pressure at all. -Great. -Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Nice job. -Thank you. -Well, thanks so much. -Thanks. Thank you. -I really appreciate that. All right, I know you got a lot after that. Just put that thing in there, find your spot and hit it over. Just listen to Keegan. He's a great guy at the St. Johns. Why say no? All right, Keegan, thanks again and congratulations for being here. -Thanks. Yeah. -All right, I hope you enjoyed our special Golf Fix from the 29th PGA Grand Slam of Golf in Port Royal Golf Course here in Bermuda. I want to thank all four of our major winners for contributing their insight into helping you improve your game. And I want to remind you, go see a PGA Professional. I'm Michael Breed. Thanks so much for watching the Golf Fix.
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Tags:

Charl Schwartzel
Darren Clarke
US Open
Golf Course
Augusta National
Rory McIlroy
windy conditions
Palm Beach Gardens
Masters champion
Country Club

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