Josh Gregory (Augusta State Golf Coach)

“In our 6 years of working with Dr. Mo at Augusta State, I have seen dramatic progress made in our mental approach to the game and in our short game.  As a coach, I have learned so much from Mo on how to structure our short-game and wedge practices so my players will perform better under the gun.  My goal as a coach each year is to contend for and hopefully win an NCAA Championship . . . with Mo’s help, this has become a realistic and attainable goal.” – Josh Gregory, Head Men’s Golf Coach, Augusta State University

Larry Penley (Clemson Golf Coach)

“I can’t say enough good things about Morris and the job he has done for our team.  His energy, enthusiasm, and conscious effort to improve each player has made a tremendous impact on our program.  We couldn’t have won the 2003 NCAA Championship without his help.” – Larry Penley, Head Men’s Golf Coach, Clemson University

Tom McKnight (Champions Tour)

“Working with Morris has had a tremendous positive impact on my mental approach to each golf shot and my overall game.  He has helped my game reach a totally new level. Thanks Dr. Mo!” – Tom McKnight, Champions Tour

Lucas Glover (PGA Tour)

“As a Tour player there are so many things you can get caught up in if you are not careful – perfecting your swing, watching other players, playing the money list instead of the golf course, etc. What Mo has helped me do is simplify what I need to be focused on and then given me sound advice on how I should go about practicing the concepts we are working on.” – Lucas Glover, PGA Tour

Charles Warren Interview

Charles Warren was a two-time winner on the 2004 Nationwide Tour and finished the year ranked 8th on the Nationwide money list.  Prior to his back-to-back wins in late July & early August, Charles was ranked 56th on the money list and had had a poor start to his year compared to his finishes on the Nationwide Tour in 2002 (16th) and 2003 (25th).  Charles’s year started to turn around in late May after missing second-stage U.S. Open qualifying by one shot. At that time we had an honest discussion about how his game, and in particular his putting, had not improved in several years and what it would take for it to become significantly better.  Following is an interview I conducted with him in early September during a week off.

Dr. Mo: What has been the biggest difference in your play from prior to May until early September (now)?
Charles: My putting has been much better.  I still haven’t had an A+ ball-striking week yet, although I have had some very solid weeks, but my putting has been the difference.  I’ve made a lot of 8-12 footers and haven’t missed hardly any short ones.  I have a lot of confidence in both my medium and short-length putts now.

Dr. Mo: Has your practice and preparation been different lately, and if so, how?
Charles: My practice is much more structured now and it leads to more quality work getting done.  In May and early June it had more quantity also, but I’ve cut back some on the quantity, but not the quality.

Dr. Mo: What do you mean by structure?
Charles: Well I used to go out and putt and work on different distances or maybe work on my stroke, but I didn’t have a set way of going about it (practice).  Now I have different drills for different aspects of putting and I do the drills for pre-determined periods of time, say 20 or 30 minutes.

This way my practice is much more purposeful and once I leave, I know exactly what I’ve accomplished & I think this helps instill confidence in my putting.  I guess the best way to say it is in the past I didn’t know exactly what I wanted to get done or if I had accomplished it once I left (the putting green).

Now I know what I want to get done, how long I’m going to work on it and which drills to utilize to ensure that, and when I leave, there’s no question about whether I got it done or not.

Dr. Mo: O.k., let’s switch to another subject.  Talk about the mindset you have when you are in contention to win a tournament.
Charles: I love it. I love being in the hunt.  That’s when it is really fun for me.  I kind of get into a zone.  Not a zone where everything is necessarily going great, but a zone where I don’t care as much.

I don’t think about negative possibilities (of where the ball might go), I just more or less see-and-do.  I see where I want the ball to go and I just try to get the ball to go right there.  But I’m not worried that the ball might not get there, I just kind of expect it to (go where I want it to go).

Dr. Mo: And how is this different from your mindset when you make the cut close to, or right on, the number and you are not in contention?
Charles: When I just make the cut I don’t try to do anything differently (than when in contention after 2 days), but I do probably put pressure on myself to get off to a good start on Saturday.  And then if I don’t get off to a good start, I can lose interest.

I try to fight it (losing interest) by giving myself small “in-round” goals (i.e. 2 birdies in the next 3 holes), but it can be a struggle.  That’s something I continue to work on and although I’m getting better, I can still improve, and hopefully I will.

Dr. Mo: What do you have to improve from 2004 to have success on the PGA Tour in 2005 (players finishing in the top 20 on the Nationwide money list at years end automatically qualify for the PGA Tour in 2005)?
Charles: Well in a way everything needs to improve because the competition will be against the best in the world.  But in another way, nothing needs drastic improvement.  That’s one thing I need to be careful of — not trying too hard to improve and making changes that aren’t needed.

But if I had to pick areas that I need to improve, that I need to be better at more consistently, I would say putting, wedges, and driving accuracy.

With putting my good days now just need to be my average, solid days next year. As far as my wedges are concerned, I need to give myself better chances again more consistently. I need my average wedges to end up 5-10 feet away as opposed to 12-15 feet away.  And that just takes good disciplined practice, which for me with my wedges, is behind my putting and my irons.

And my driving just needs to improve in terms of fairways.  I didn’t hit many unplayable drives this year, but I also didn’t hit enough fairways.  And next year the fairways will be tighter so I just need a little more consistent accuracy off the tee.

Dr. Mo: What will you do differently next year on tour vs. your other year on tour, 1999 (in 1999 Charles qualified for the PGA Tour via Q-school following college)?
Charles: Well first off my preparation in the off-season prior to the year will be much better.  I mean I prepared the best I knew how in 1998, but now I know what I really need to focus on and more importantly, how to go about practicing it.

A second thing I’ll do is focus more on myself, my game, my progress week to week than I did in 1999.  Back then I probably paid too much attention to other players and what they were doing, and I didn’t stick to what had made me a successful college player — and that was having confidence in what I was doing and letting others watch me as someone who knew what he was doing. But that (paying too much attention to others) probably isn’t too uncommon for a rookie like I was and so I’ve learned from it.

And the last thing I’ll do differently is not really something I’ll do, but rather just some things that are different which should help me.  I have a much stronger team supporting me now primarily with my wife traveling with me, but also I’ve been with the same caddy and sports psychologist (Dr. Mo) for several years, and my swing teacher has my game built around really solid fundamentals, much better than they were even just two years ago.

So I don’t know that I’m necessarily doing anything different per se, but my foundation is really solid right now.  And so hopefully that will lead to a solid year on tour.

Lucas Glover Interview

In the next to last week of the 2005 PGA Tour, Lucas Glover won the Funai Classic in Orlando, FL with a score of 23 under par.  It was his first win on the PGA Tour and put him in position to qualify for the season-ending tour championship (which he ultimately made with a good showing (tie for 35th) the following week).  The win and the 2005 season are a good illustration of the progress Lucas has made from 2001 when, after missing qualifying through Q-School, he didn’t even have status on the Nationwide Tour.  Following are questions I asked him during the week of the Tour Championship.

Dr. Mo: What did you learn from your experiences at Atlanta & New Orleans (in contention on the last hole) that helped you coming down the stretch in Orlando?

Lucas: Well it was a little different because I was behind instead of ahead or tied.  I just thought about keeping everything in front of me and staying aggressive.  The two close calls were a big help at Funai because I had been there before and knew just to stay in the present.  And this time I was actually able to do it (stay in the present) better.

Dr. Mo: Did you draw on anything from the Orlando tournament in 2004 (where Lucas finished 10th & played with the eventual winner on Sunday) in this year’s tournament?

Lucas: Yes.  I knew I had some good “vibes” there.  There were a lot of birdies to be made and that is my game, aggressive with a lot of birdie chances.

Dr. Mo: What role did your caddy play coming down the stretch in Orlando?  What were y’all discussing on the course?

Lucas: He was great.  He is very level on the course, good or bad.  We were walking up 17 talking about making 2 birdies, and we decided that we were going to do it.

Dr. Mo: What were your thoughts on 18 tee, 18 second shot, 18 bunker shot?

Lucas: My thoughts on 18 were not what they needed to be.  I hit it right there last year and had some issues.  That was in the back of my mind and I believe that is why it went a little left.  It wasn’t that far from the fairway, but my brain wasn’t going to let it go right this time.  When I got to the ball and saw what I had to deal with I was thinking par and par only.  All I could do was try to run it up to the front right of the green.  I hooked it a little too much and it went in the bunker.  I was still thinking about par when I was preparing to hit the bunker shot.  All I was hoping for was a playoff at that point.  I hit it and knew that it was pretty good, and then it went in.

Dr. Mo: How long did it take to get over the win and start preparing for Tampa?

Lucas: Honestly only about 2 hours.  I knew that I had to play decent in Tampa to make The Tour Championship.  I celebrated Sunday night but in the back of my mind I was thinking about getting ready for Thursday already.

Dr. Mo: What has been the biggest difference in your play from 2004 to 2005?

Lucas: My putting is more consistent.  I wouldn’t say it is great, but it is consistently better that last year.

Dr. Mo: What has been the biggest difference mentally from 2004 to 2005 (or have there been any?)?

Lucas: I have been a lot more patient with myself and my game.  That has helped me with my temper and my all around attitude. I can be hard on myself so that’s been big.

Dr. Mo: What will be the focus of your off-season in 2005?

Lucas: Becoming a great putter will be my focus.  I have some great stuff that I am working on and I am looking forward to getting ready for a great year in 06.  My fitness will also be a focal point.  I want to be in the best shape possible when I start out next year.  That will also help me mentally.  Knowing that I won’t get tired physically will obviously help with the mental side of the game.

Honda ‘09

Last week at the Honda was a good week. On the way down I learned a student, Sal Spallone, Monday qualified (67 – medalist), and it was good to catch up with him which was unexpected.  He’s doing a lot of good stuff and I expect him to have a solid year on the Nationwide Tour.

As far as my guys go, nobody played great, but Davis Love III played solid (T13) as did Lucas Glover (T39).  Brian Bateman made the Friday cut but after a lackluster round Saturday, missed the final day.  So he kinda made the cut – that secondary cut is not popular with the tour guys.  Jonathan Byrd and Vaughn Taylor both missed the cut.  Zach Johnson did not play.

The golf course was extremely demanding with winds of 15-20mph each day, significant rough, and hard greens.  If you weren’t in control of your ball it showed. Everybody seems to be making slow but steady progress.

That’s the crazy thing about golf – you can be making progress but if you’re not looking, you won’t see it.

Take Jbyrd for example.  He hired a new instructor in the off-season (Mike Bender who also works with Zach), and it’s taking time to translate all he is learning to the course.  He has shown signs of greatness (two nines of 31 or better, a 71 Thursday at the Honda with a quadruple on a par 3), but he hasn’t been able to sustain it for four days.  Once he does, and he will, it’s going to be scary good.  He just has to be patient.

Well I hoped you liked the first installment of On Tour – next update after this week’s dual events, the WGC @ Doral and the Tour event in Puerto Rico.

Till then, have fun and play great!

Thoughts for the Greens

Following is a list of some productive thoughts for you to have on the greens. Pick the two or three that you feel are the most relevant to your game and focus on these with your putting. This will help you stay focused on the process of putting instead of worrying about impending results. Have fun and enjoy your day! Dr. Mo

Pre-Putt Thoughts (behind the ball)

• Tell yourself what a put IS in terms of 1 – distance. 2 – slope. and 3 – break (i.e. 20-foot downhill, left-to-right putt) not what it’s FOR in terms of score (i.e. 20-foot putt for birdie). Describe the butt physically, not emotionally.
• It makes no difference how the ball arrived at this location on the green. When you have a 6-foot, uphill, left-to-right putt it remains the same regardless of how it came to rest there. A 6 foot “left over” from a poor first putt is the same as a 6 footer from a miraculous 3-iron out of the woods over water. A putt is a putt. Just go hit it.
• Pick spots or paths to putt to, but not both. If you visualize a ball rolling down a path to the hole, then don’t focus on the left edge or two cups out. Just keep the ball rolling down the path. If you don’t visualize a path, then pick a specific target (i.e. old pitch mark) equidistant with the back of the hole (or in the back of the hole) and putt the ball along a straight line to that point. Either way of “seeing” puts can be productive, but doing both will lead to inconsistency.
• Your focus and evaluation should be centered around hitting a quality putt, not making the putt. If you hit enough quality putts, the majority of them will be made. Let the ball go in the hole. Don’t try to force it in.

Putting Thoughts (Walking into or at the ball)

• Your walk into the ball sets the tempo for your stroke. Walk in slow and smooth and your stroke will be slow and smooth. Walk in fast and jerky and your stroke will be fast and jerky.
• If you take practice strokes, make them realistic. Do not make practice strokes that are too hard or that are a continuous motion – they are not productive for the upcoming putt. Each practice stroke should have a definite beginning and end and have a similar tempo for the putt being played.
• If you feel like you are moving your head or “peeking” over putts, see where the ball “was” (after the club contacts the ball). This will allow you to focus on a visual aspect of putting instead of a mechanical one. Great vision promotes playing while mechanics promotes over-thinking and loss of feel.