Thu, Nov 26 2009
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Short game keys Black's success Consistency is what Black wants to achieve.
“That means not only hitting the shots you have to hit, but coming to the golf course every day and giving it everything you have,” he said. “If someone beats you, hey, you pat them on the back, congratulate them and try to beat them the next time.” So what does Black consider the weakest part of his game? That’s easy: The driver. If he is hitting fairways, his score reflects it. His length off the tee means that he’s hitting irons into par-5s and short irons into long par-4s. But when he’s not hitting the driver well, his score also reflects that. That brings us to the part of the game that Black spends most of his time practicing and that he believes is his strength: the short game. “I’ll spend hours working on shots from 80 yards in,” he said. “The short game can make up for mistakes off the tee. I have confidence that if I can get the ball close to the green, I can get it up and down. I feel as though I can always give myself a good look at a putt. Sometimes I don’t make them, but sometimes I do.” I remember a comment decades ago by Bill Parker, then head pro at Twin Hills Golf and Country Club and a nine-year veteran of the PGA Tour. He said that the difference between an amateur, a club professional and touring pro is how they handle the stroke-saving shots. An amateur might have a bad day and still scramble for a 78, he said, while a club pro might hit it all over the place and turn in a credible 72 or 73. But a touring pro, he said, will covert a poor ball-striking round into a 67 or 68. Black may try the Hooters Tour on a full-time basis later in the summer. But everything depends on how much work he gets to put in on his game this winter and how he is playing early in the spring. If his game is on, he probably will give it a go. As for working on his game, he says that he and Smith work on simple things and on swing thoughts. “Every day, I learn something, whether about a short shot or a long shot,” he said. “So many people want to make the game difficult. They want to use new terms and all the new video stuff. Marshall is so basic. He doesn’t care what kind of swing you’ve got. It’s the six inches behind the ball and six inches in front of the ball that make up the only foot that matters. I bought into that. I had gone to others and they would say ‘you have to change your swing, you’re too quick or you’re too this or you’re too that.’ After about 20 changes, I’m lost.” 
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