Johnny Miller Talks Golf: Golf Digest Magazine

Johnny Miller Talks Golf

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THE SWING

Kenny Perry: Flat-Footed Genius

By Johnny Miller
With Guy Yocom
Photo By J.D. Cuban November 2008

Kenny Perry's swing with the driver is as unorthodox as it is effective. He keeps his right heel on the ground longer into the follow-through than anybody on tour, a move that you see a lot with the short irons but is less common with the longer clubs. The upside for Perry is that it helps him stay balanced and "grounded." It also helps him achieve his natural ball flight (a hard draw) because he hangs back on his right side a bit and rotates the clubface to a slightly closed position with his hands. Perry's move is becoming sort of a trend on tour, though other guys aren't taking it to the extreme he does. The idea is to keep the lower body quiet through impact.

I don't recommend this move for the average player, because the faster momentum with the driver can put a lot of stress on your lower back.

• View Kenny's swing sequence with frame-by-frame analysis

Illustration By John Ueland

players: What If Annika Had Been Longer Off The Tee?; Illustration By John Ueland; As Annika Sorenstam heads into retirement with 72 LPGA Tour victories, I can't help but wonder what kind of career she would have had if she were a long hitter. Not that Annika was short off the tee; she averaged 265 yards for much of her career -- very respectable. But she wasn't a power player the way Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson are on the PGA Tour. Distance is a huge asset, and if Annika had averaged 15 more yards with the driver, she might have won 100 tournaments and been thought of as the best female player of all time.

putting

Dissecting The Nasty Four-Putt Green

Photo By J.D. Cuban

If you've ever four-putted a green (and who hasn't?), the tendency is to stagger to the next tee wondering how it happened.

The four-putt happens one of two ways. The first begins with a long uphill putt on a super-fast green. You hit the first putt three feet past the hole, then miss the downhill comebacker, which trickles four feet by the hole. Then you miss that one -- four putts.

The second scenario happened to Sergio Garcia in the second round of the PGA Championship. It started with a long downhill putt that he left short. The second putt was very fast, and he knocked it a few feet by and then missed the next one. If Sergio had two-putted, he might have wound up in a playoff against Padraig Harrington. Ouch!