We've all done it. Missed a real short'tap-in' putt in the range of a foot or less. We've all done it, missing one when it 'didn't really matter.' Like in playing for fun and practice or with a partner in a best ball match and he/she, like a good partner, covered our back and made a putt to halve the hole. But the big hurt is that we've all likely missed that unthinkable and unforgivable short putt or tap-in that really did hurt us. It cost us big time, like loosing the club championship, or the big member-member or qualifying for a big tournament.
The key question to ask is, did we really try hard and were careful in our setup and stroke? Or were we reckless, like in anger because of missing the 3 footer we just had and we just slapped, or stabbed at it or one handed or backhanded it. Or, because for whatever reason, like straddling someone's line and reaching and stretching we were out of balance and the stroke was not a stroke. Whatever the cause or reason, we need to evaluate and learn from that miss and then record and remember that miss and the reason why — and never repeat it again.
Let's look first at missing the short putt or tap-in because of being reckless. You see it all the time at your club or on the PGA Tour, where a player works hard on their 3 footer and it lips out or burns the edge and scoots a foot or less, and the golfer just takes a step and one-handed or two, just slaps it or stabs it or backhands it into the hole. Every time I see that reckless and ridiculous (usually out of anger or disgust, you can see it in the player's face and actions) I shake my head in disbelief. I know that if they keep doing that, they will one day get burned and that day will likely be a real important and meaningful day in their golfing life and bring some real pain and suffering.
Then there are the ones that a player made a good attempt to tap it in but was not well prepared. That is, they straddled someone's line, stretching their arms out and reaching so far that their shoulders and back were also stretched. Their entire body was out of balance because their forward foot was flat on the ground, but their back foot was not, with only their big toe touching the ground. Even with a tap in, this out of balance setup leaves you open to making one terrible stroke and missing that tap-in.
Mine came in 1975 in the second and final stage for qualifying for the U.S. Open. The wind was blowing a steady 20 MPH, with gusts upwards of 30 MPH or more. I gauge that by the fact that into the wind shots were a minimum of 2 to 3, and even 4 clubs, more for the yardage to the green. I missed a three footer dead into the wind that stopped on the lip overhanging the hole. Half of the ball was hanging over the hole and defying gravity. I took a half step and leaned over and looked at it and my playing partners did also, as I was hoping that the ball would accept and respond to gravity and fall in.
The key is that the USGA rules allow only for a reasonable time to watch, wait and hope and pray for the ball to fall in. They describe it as after the stroke and the ball reaches the hole you have until you immediately walk to the hole as the time frame for the ball to drop, or you have to tap in. The only exception is if the ball is visibly moving or oscillating. In my case it was not. Since I was 3 feet, there was no real walk to the hole so all I got was around 10 seconds. With that over I had to tap it in.
Well, from where I putted from, and with both fellow competitors still to putt out,their close putts, I had to straddle the line, reach, and stretch and had only my front foot on the ground with my back big toe only touching. I reached, bent over and made my stoke to tap my ball in that was half hanging over the hole. It wouldn't drop!
Just as I started my forward stroke, a big gust of wind hit me dead center of my chest and blew me backwards . I lost my balance and my putter just nipped the top of the ball. We, especially me, all watched in horror as my ball wobbled and oscillated and didn't fall in. The wind was blowing against it and held it up. It just settled in and sat there as solid and stable as could be waiting for me to try again and tap it in and add another stroke. That stroke was costly as I missed qualifying for that year's U.S. Open by, you guessed it, 1 STROKE. That 1 missed tap in!
The moral of that missed tap-in and lesson learned was that I decided and swore an oath that I would never ever again even tap-in a putt, even hanging on the lip, without both feet solidly on the ground and me being in a relatively balanced setup. I can assure you that I have not broken that promise and oath in competition or matches I play, even for a buck or two or any time I am playing for score. My mantra is, 'no stance'¦no putt'¦mark it.' After all, since I penned The Setup Surgism, 'The setup determines the Motion' I certainly have to live by it. And I learned it the hard way.
The Surge!