Tip of the Month

June 2007

By John Pallot
Director of Instruction

The world of golf will long remember Angel Cabrera  winning his first major, the 2007 U.S. Open. He’s the first South American to do it. He beat an international field of stellar golfers. He did it at Oakmont, the toughest golf course in North America. Henry Fownes designed this devilish gem in 1903. Virtually unchanged since, it has hosted more majors than any other course in the U.S. The list includes 7 U.S. Opens, 5 U.S. Amateurs, 3 PGA Championships, and 1 U.S. Women’s Open. It’s fairways are scarred by 210 deep bunkers infamously typified by the group known as the Church Pews. The greens are hard and slick. They slope away from approaching players. The roughs seem wired with ankle high bluegrass. The tight fairways demand utmost precision. W.C. Fownes Jr., son of the designer, explained the Oakmont approach to golf in two simple statements:

1) “A shot poorly played should be a shot irrevocably lost.”
2) “Let the clumsy, the spineless, the alibi artist, stand aside!”

On the European Tour he regularly plays, Cabrera is nicknamed “El Pato(The Duck)”.His final score of +5 at Oakmont was good enough to win, nipping Tiger Woods and Jim Furyk by one stroke. Watching his waddle like walk on the final holes one guesses how the sobriquet was earned. He smoked, he sipped lots of H20 and spit like a baseball player. But he did not yield to the pressure so obviously building within him. At crunch time it seemingly  rolled off his back like water off a duck’s back. In this he showed himself a true champion.

At the tee box on 18 with a slim 1 stroke lead, here’s how The Duck remembered it. “Teeing off on 18 was the most difficult moment and tee shot of the day. There was a lot of pressure at the time and I had to put the ball in the fairway and make a 4 and sit and wait.”After bogeying both 16 and 17 , with the world’s #1 golfer breathing down his neck, Cabrera got his par on #18. Faced with as tough a finishing hole as the USGA could throw at him, Cabrera, nerves and all, played it perfectly. He has written his own chapter in the U.S. Open’s storied history, and Cabrera authored it perfectly. The world’s #43 ranked player showed the world he has a game to beat the best.

Most say Angel Cabrera’s swing isn’t perfect. So how does it produce such prodigious shots? His swing scribes a circle around his body thus generating maximum club-head speed. In honor of Angel, let us call it a halo swing. It’s what this month’s tip teaches. A drill to help you perfect your own halo swing.

1) Angel’s Halo Drill. Lay a club on the ground pointing at your target. Place three balls on the ground in the following manner. The ball you’re going to hit is three inches from the shaft. Place another ball two feet to the right and behind ball #1. Place another ball to your left, two feet in front. Look at the picture. You’ll notice the balls line up forming an arc, part of a circle. Hit the middle or ball #1, allowing the club-head to pass over the other two balls. You’ll feel your swing making a circle. Replacing ball #1, hit five more shots, thus reinforcing the circular swing feel.

You might not hit them as long as “El Pato”, but you’ll love the feel of your new swing.