If you’re looking for one of the greatest golfing collapses on the golf course in the recent years, most people would probably look back to Mcllroy leading the final round of the Masters at Augusta, playing some amazing golf then his world just fell apart. He ended up hitting a tree on the side of the 10th, go into someone’s back garden, 3-putting the 10th, the 11th, 12th. I think he 3-putt, hooked into the river on the corner on 13. That was his Masters over.
He took a little bit of time to come back from that but then he’s come back with great advantages. Now world number 1, two major titles to his name. The one guy you’ve got to put a lot of credit to for that recovery, apart from Mcllroy himself, is Dave Stockton.
Dave Stockton was the coach that Mcllroy sought out to try and improve his putting stroke, particularly under pressure, particularly back-nine on a Sunday in a major championship when his putting stroke deserted him at Augusta. He’s now got a very, very good solid putting stroke.
You might argue that Stockton’s approach is not about his putting stroke but about his putting routine. He’s changed the way he approaches the putts. He’s changed the way he thinks about the putts or even doesn’t think about the putts.
Stockton’s very much about the approach of a feel putting stroke, a good, fairly fluid routine. If you watch Mcllroy now, he doesn’t overly study putts. He doesn’t change his routine even under pressure, have a couple of good reads of the putt, walks into the side of it, one putting stroke, one practice stroke. Sets the ball, 1, 2, 3, and the ball is hit. He doesn’t get there frozen over the ball for too long and then miss the tiddly short ones like he did at Augusta that time when he collapsed.
So Dave Stockton, one of the greatest — well he’s a good player to be fair as well but certainly a very good coach and the go to guy for putting strokes.
