Speaking of Elite British Golfers ....

I found this to be a fascinating read. Mid irons separate the good professional from the great?

http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB10001424127887324128504578348441614652074-lMyQjAxMTAzMDAwOTEwNDkyWj.html?mod=wsj_valettop_email

Heard it said before that Woods' major differential cf. the rest when he was at his peak was exactly those iron shots from ~150-220. Most of the other stats didn't show Woods as outstanding cf. the rest, but with those mid-/long- irons he was noticeably better.

Reasonably interesting article apart from the daft myelin comment.

I think it would have been more interesting to spend time with another long-time Foley student, Stephen Ames, dangerously short of myelin these days.

Sr,
Interesting article but don't you think every teacher has their own little thing? And Thanks!

Quite prepared to believe how important the mid-to-long irons are but surely more important that a golfer can putt also.

Then the truest differentiator on the biggest stages is the ability to will the ball into the hole, like Woods in his prime, like Poulter in the Ryder Cup. Like Poulter a few weeks ago in his quarter final with Stricker, the faith to see the ball going in from everywhere. Course, he lost it completely for the semi-final and no amount of excellence from 150+ yards would have helped.

To me, Rose is the poster child for bags of talent, kind of wobbly under the gun save for a handful of moments of true inspiration. Bags of money since last year's Caddie but no wins.

Foley is over-rated, IMO.

No student, while under his tutelage, has ever won a major.
No student, while under his tutelage, has ever finished as high as 2nd in a major.
No student, while under his tutelage, has ever been serious contention during the 4th round of major.

Justin Rose back-doored a 3rd place in PGA Championship, thanks to a final round 66. He never had a chance to win. He has only one other top 10 since Foley started coaching him

Tiger finished T3 in the OC last July. Finishing several strokes behind Els. Again no real chance to win because Adam Scott was so far ahead.

Mahan has never had a top 5 finish in major and Ames/O'Hair has not done much either.

GPB

Foley is only over-rated (if, indeed, that is the case) because TW chose him to help get him back on track. Since TW is winning again, you could say that maybe Foley isn't that bad after all.

NBS-

TW can win tournaments with GPB as his instructor.

navyblueshorts wrote:GPB

Foley is only over-rated (if, indeed, that is the case) because TW chose him to help get him back on track. Since TW is winning again, you could say that maybe Foley isn't that bad after all.

I think most of his problems weren't swing related but more mental. He struggles to think for himself so needed someone to tell him how to think again.

Any one of these golf gurus looks better/worse depending, in large part, upon the quality of golfers they are able to attract to their stable. And how that golfer is playing of late.

Butch was the be all and end all at one point, but hardly turned around all his pupils, etc.

At the end of the day I'll suggest the most powerful thing they can impart is simple confidence.

Love Foley's passion; hope it continues to work for his pupils, most notably TW and Justin Rose.

GPB wrote:NBS-

TW can win tournaments with GPB as his instructor.

Maybe, but it wasn't working that well for Haney around '09-'10 now was it? Who knows whether he's brilliant really?

navyblueshorts wrote:

GPB wrote:NBS-

TW can win tournaments with GPB as his instructor.

Maybe, but it wasn't working that well for Haney around '09-'10 now was it? Who knows whether he's brilliant really?

Yes, he only won 7 tournaments in that span. Granted all of them were before Fire Hydrant.

Woods' swing was all over the place latterly under Haney. Do you dispute that? The facts of the matter are that while in cahoots with Foley, he's improved significantly. He may have done that anyway but it seems a bit churlish to dump on Foley.

"Broadie and Foley both believe that the key differentiating factor between a great player and a good one is their prowess with long approach shots, from 150 to 250 yards."

this goes against the consensus doesnt it?

I would argue that TW's resurrection is mainly due to the teachings of Lindsay Vonn.