News
How He Hit That: Matt Jones' hospitality tent punch
As lies go, it certainly wasn't a conventional one.
Matt Jones blew his tee shot on the difficult ninth at Whistling Straits 30 yards left of the fairway, ending up on the carpeted wooden floor of one of the hospitality tents lining the hole.
The tents are considered temporary obstructions, so Jones had the option to drop -- but he liked the line he had from the midst of the Michelob patrons, so he elected to play from there. He had 165 yards from the flag, and played 7-iron pin high, into the greenside collar. After a mediocre chip, Jones made a bogey.
The trick to playing a shot from carpeted wood -- or any other extremely firm lie -- is to stay stable with your lower body, says Golf Digest 50 Best teacher Kevin Weeks, who is based at Cog Hill Golf & Country Club in Lemont, Ill.
"It's just like hitting it off a mat at the driving range. Play the ball a little back in your stance, keep your legs stable and stay down through the shot," says Weeks. "It doesn't matter if you hit a little behind hit, because the club will still skip into the ball just fine. The only thing you want to avoid is getting active with your legs or lifting up in anticipation of the club hitting ground. Then you can blade it."