Tiger Woods hits a tee shot last month at the PNC Championship.
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“That’s crazy.”
“It’s crazy.”
“That’s crazy.”
“That’s crazy.”
Four crazies, over seven minutes, so at least Grant Horvat left little question about how he felt. He was stunned. But then he applied Tiger Woods’ move and things clicked. The only crazy thing was the shot quality.
Horvat, the YouTube superstar, and Woods, a 15-time major winner, were talking in a video released Tuesday on Horvat’s channel — which you can watch in full here — and they perused a buffet of items. They talked about how to best hit the fairway woods. And if Woods does indeed take part, a popular topic of late. But it was when Horvat asked Woods to play to hit tee shots under pressure that the first fell.
His response?
Woods said he tries to hit the ball off the heel — and he lands his ball low, maybe about an inch off the ground.
But why lower it? Woods explained.
Horvat said in the video: “OK, I like this. Because I feel like it’s going to force me—if anything, when I go bad, my missus…”
Said Woods: “You fall down.”
Horvat said: “I go like this, yes. So the club turns on me and I’m going to lose it.”
Said Woods: “It keeps you on top and swings more left and, like I said, I’d try to hit it – for me, throughout my career, I’ve always hit the ball off the heel.”
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Horvat said, “You try to hit him on the heel on purpose?”
Said Woods: “Well, that’s how I would squeeze them out there in the game. It’s not about how far I’m hitting it. I’m putting it into play. I’m kicking a heel cut.”
Horvat said: “Interesting.”
A few minutes later in the video, Woods said that by putting the ball down, there is less “variance.”
Said Horvat: “So I’m narrowing it down and it’s actually — it’s going a lot straighter.”
Said Woods: “Less variance to be under, also on top – it’s a tighter spread. And that’s ultimately what we want to have – something more sustainable, right? Not so much – the variance between high and low, they’re tighter, the smaller the adjustments. I mean, you are very good, you just need to make small adjustments, not be so dramatic with the adjustments. I mean, for me, the height of the tee decides it, right?
Horvat said: “Right, 100 percent. I mean, it changes my whole path. When the ball is too high, I naturally go that way to try to hit it and I’m not flexible enough to be like Rory.”
Said Woods: “Well, it’s great and so you can get high bomb draws and that’s great and everything. There is a certain point to this. Now if you have to hit it the other way, the difference between that to then set it up to hit a cut – I like to have a tighter distribution. Granted, I won’t hit it because – the variance of my bomb pulls won’t be the same as the squeezer cuts. I will have a smaller distribution. Which is good. I like that smaller spread.”
Said Horvat: “I just need that ‘get it in the game’ swing because I just haven’t had it lately.”
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Said Woods: “Well, you’ve got times where you’re going to have to get a ball in play and there’s other times where you’re going to have to return one or send one, and use the wind and not use the wind. But to have that shot is nice, nice to be able to have that option.”
Indeed. The question is, is this for everyone? In particular, Woods once remarked players shouldn’t look to YouTube (explosive) if they’re looking to improve – so you know this advice should at least be worth listening to. Which is. But the swings are different; Horvat, for example, is capable. But would the tip scare a higher handicapper inclined to pass the ball? Of course.
Woods, however, embraces that low.
An item in his golf bag makes this point.
Horvat said in the video: “I just can’t believe how low you have it. This is crazy. And you use those short little theses.”
Said Woods: “That’s all I got.”
Said Horvat: “That’s crazy.”
Editor’s note: To watch the full video with Horvat and Woods, please click here or scroll immediately below.
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