Texas Children's Houston Open

Memorial Park Golf Course



The Loop

This is how you cheat the wind

July 18, 2014

Rory McIlroy and Dustin Johnson put up the gaudiest scores, but Sergio Garcia's round had more flash. He holed his approach shot on No. 2 for eagle and hit this head-high stinger off the tee on No. 3, complete with vapor trail:

The trick? A downward blow from an adjusted ball position. "On TrackMan, the average tour player hits down on the ball three degrees with a 3-iron," says Lukas McNair, a senior instructor at the Hank Haney Golf Ranch outside Dallas. "Here, he's bringing the angle of attack to five degrees. He moves the ball back in his stance so his head is in front of the ball at address, hits down and makes an abbreviated followthrough with a low arm swing."

Garcia makes the shot look routine with a long iron, but it takes big-time clubhead speed to do it with those clubs. "You can go out and hit that shot yourself by making those adjustments, but you might want to try it with a shorter iron," McNair says. "Sergio's speed and control of the club with his irons is unbelievable."