Who's Gordon Sherry?
I have to confess, I'm not much of a Twitter man myself, but the above response from Billy Andrade to the noted American writer, John Feinstein, got me thinking, as I do remember Gordon Sherry very, very well! I first came across him, in person, at the Walker Cup in 1995 at Royal Porthcawl in Wales. I was caddying for my brother, Padraig, (it was his third and final Walker Cup) and the Americans had their "Superstar" in Tiger Woods and we had ours in Gordon Sherry. This is the backdrop to the tweet above, in which John Huggan, (another noted golf writer), had bet that Gordon would win more Majors than Tiger.
“He was that good....then”
Gordon was a giant of a man at 6' 8 and soccer-mad (still is!) but after a skiing injury, he took up golf at around 15 and started coaching with Bob Torrence. Funny how life throws curveballs, Gordon's father was a policeman, just like Padraig's, and they both were coached by Bob. To say he progressed at breakneck speed and that he won nearly every time he teed it up is no exaggeration. He had got to the final of the Amateur championship in 1994 at Nairn before winning it in 1995 at Hoylake. I remember distinctly wondering who the huge crowd was watching on the practice ground as Gordon practiced that year. It was as if no one else counted and he duly obliged, beating Michael Reynard 7&6 in the final. (Ireland's, Jody Fanagan, made the semi-finals that year!) Gordon went on to play in the Open Championship that year and was paired with Greg Norman and Tom Watson. He was around the top ten for most of the tournament before finishing tied 29th. So, with big endorsements backing him he turned
professional in 1996.
“Where did it all go wrong?”
It would be easy to point to a multitude of things but the reality is that Gordon got lost along the professional road. Poor management, a falling out with Bob, naivety, many teachers, all conspired to derail one of golfs brightest amateur talents. To give just a brief example, Gordon was standing on the first tee at Augusta with Fred Couples who kindly enquired what tournaments he had played and how many times he had played the course prior to the Masters. Gordon had not played a competitive tournament since November, five months earlier. As Gordon later remarked, "I played four rounds at the Masters, but two of them were practice rounds." Finally, he contracted mononucleosis (I don't know what it is either!) as he was about to start his professional career in 1996 and he had to forgo six exemptions he had gained into tournaments. It was all a bit of a struggle after that.
But, on a bright note, he seems very happy these days, married and living in Glasgow with five daughters, (I think!) I found him to be always cheerful and chatty and I'm sure he still is! I wish him well.
Player Watch - Aaron Wise
Aaron Wise, 2018 Rookie of the Year, PGA Tour
Cameron Champ hit the ground running last week with his first win on Tour after just two starts but there is plenty of competition sitting in the wings which are making professional Tour golf an unattainable dream for most. This year's Rookie of the year, Aaron Wise, has had quite the meteoric rise since turning pro and the guy is just 22 years of age! He was born in Cape Town, South Africa, but moved to California, in the States when he was just three. He had a tough upbringing, with not much money to go around, but feels this has helped him,
“Being put in tough situations where I knew other people were getting better opportunities to succeed, it made me have to believe in myself.”
Highly regarded as an amateur, he played college golf at the University of Oregon, whose head coach is Casey Martin, a former teammate of Tiger Woods at Stanford and an accomplished Tour player himself back in the day. The “Ducks” as they are known, won the NCAA title in 2016, with Aaron taking the individual title and he turned pro straight after at the US Open. He played the PGA Tour Canada in his debut season winning on his third start and graduated to the Web.Com tour in 2017. Again, he won on this Tour and gained the 18th card onto the PGA Tour for 2018. The progression continued when at just 21 years of age, he won on the big tour, at the AT&T Byron Nelson Classic on just his 18th start. He added a tied second at the Wells Fargo Championship and a tied 5th at the Northern Trust to secure Rookie of the Year honors with nearly 3.5 million dollars earned and a 24th place finish in the season-long Fed Ex Cup race. The 6’1 tall Wise hits it a shade over 300 yards but is very consistent in a lot of the scoring categories, with his driver and putter being his two favorite clubs.
“It seemed pretty seamless, but it’s been a lot of hard work and there have been a lot of tough times,” Wise said at this year’s TOUR Championship. “Times like this make it all worth it.”
Swing Myths
Over The Top
If I had a penny, as the saying goes, for every time I have met a golfer who tells me he is "Over the Top," (usually in hushed tones). Over the Top refers to the arms and hands leading the sequence from the top of the swing to impact, thus bypassing the correct sequencing, (known as the Kinematic sequence for those golf nerds out there!) This comes back to the "everyone is an interior designer" and "everyone is a golf coach" syndrome and is a main cause of why YouTube golfers are so lost when it comes to diagnosing their own swings. With the advent of technology, we can now tell much more clearly than video will ever reveal how a golfer is actually moving as he swings the club. A prime example is this swing myth of "I am over the top." No discussion, period. That might not be actually true!
Try this experiment in your back garden at home, swing the club to the top of your backswing and make sure most of your weight is in your heels at the top. Now, swing back down to hit the ball. What happens? You have to come forward towards your toes to contact the ball. (Newtons 3rd Law, again for the nerds!) Video yourself down the line and you will clearly see your arms and hands being thrown forward from the top of the swing, and hey presto, you are now magically over the top. Be honest, did anyone ever mention that to you before? Pressure mats like BodiTrak now make it possible to see how your center of pressure is moving as you swing, and believe me from experience, 90% of how you dance (pressure trace) will be reflected in your swing path!
Analyse correctly and don't guess, it will save you years of frustration.
Around the World
Latest interesting links from golf!
- The Takeaway from the PGA Tour - good to see Jordan Spieth back!
- Justin Rose and his caddie - brilliant banter & Rose doing Rose things!
- Fantastic Mr. Harrington - one of the best pars you will ever see!
An hour to spare?
Podcast Corner!
I am a big fan of Podcasts, I like to listen to them in the background while working on all things digital! There are some terrific ones around (if you know where to look) and I will try to guide you towards some of my favorites! Lets start this week with a cracking hour in the company of Eddie Pepperell being interviewed by the always engaging, Andrew Cotter, great stuff this and Eddie comes across as a really down to earth guy! This comes courtesy of the EuropeanTour and again showcases their excellent marketing department, take a bow guys & girls!
Quotes of the week
Circle the Wagons!
"I'd go with Pádraig, I think it's his time... There's a bunch of guys who deserve it but there's not enough Ryder Cups for everybody to get it."
Justin Rose, chasing World #1 in Turkey this week sends an early Christmas card to Padraig in his quest for Ryder Cup captaincy.
"I’ve always thought Padraig would be a good captain in the United States, he’s won a lot of golf tournaments over there, he’s won a PGA Championship."
Rory McIlroy, one of the powerhouses of the European Ryder Cup team.
“But I’ve always said when you’ve got somebody that’s a three-time major champion and has the pedigree that Pádraig has and holds the respect of the players that he does, it would be difficult to see him not doing it at some stage, and if he wants it this time around, it’s difficult to get around that he is very much the favourite to get the job.”
Thomas Bjorn, the hero of Paris gives his considered opinion!
Last Word
This week goes to Eddie Pepperell, the 27-year-old English golfer, who is quite the character and has amassed a big following on Twitter (64K and counting!) with his sometimes "off the cuff" comments. On his recent European Tour "Life on Tour" podcast (link above and well worth the listen!) he relates the story, to the always excellent, Andrew Cotter, of how he played on the Wednesday in the Pro-Am with the Club Captain at the recent British Masters at Woburn. In his own words, he played terribly, had a fight with his caddie and it was the worst day of his life on a golf course! So, of course, he went and won the event.
"You just never know what to expect, it's a bonkers game!"
He went wire to wire to win for the second time this season (also won in Qatar in February). His nine under par total won by two shots and of course who does he meet in the bar for a drink on the Sunday after the event? the aforementioned Club Captain! who is genuinely astonished that Eddie has won.
It's what keeps us all coming back to golf!
We shall talk some more golf Tuesday!
Tadhg
Tadhg Harrington is a full time, professional golf instructor, and owner of the Harrington Golf Academy, based in Dublin, Ireland. He is a graduate of the Titleist Performance Institute and Setanta College. He is the eldest brother of three-time time Major Champion, Padraig Harrington.
He succeeds, employing empathy, passion and exceptional customer service, teaching above the noise, the quick tips, and the latest fads and is truly unique in the Irish golf industry.
The Harrington Golf Academy provides long term coaching programs designed to bring sensory processing to motor learning skills. Tadhg teaches the long game at Drynam Park Golf Centre and short game at Roganstown GC. His business partner, Ex European Tour Player, Rebecca Codd, also teaches full time at Drynam Park Golf Centre.