Look away! Former major champ hits nightmare putting yip on PGA Tour
In the first round of The American Express, Lucas Glover performed a putting stroke that is the nemesis of all golf fans but can sometimes be unavoidable...
There are many bad habits a player can develop in golf that become unavoidable and contagious. The primary disease that can sweep through your game is the dreaded shank, dare I even write the word.
Another one is the yip. A yip can be a chip or a putt in which you perform a very short and rushed stroke due to discomfort or anxiety over the shot.
Club golfers aren't the only players who can suffer from the yips. PGA Tour players and even former major champions can show signs of nerves over shots that require a delicate touch.
Related: Jon Rahm addresses past controversy at The American Express
We saw this in the first round of The American Express in La Quinta. 2009 US Open champion Lucas Glover had a short putt on the first day on the Stadium Course at PGA West which viewers could safely assume he'd calmly roll in.
He did the second part. The ball rolled in, but there was nothing calm about it. The 43-year-old performed a classic yip where his putter barely moved an inch from the ball before he hit it.
— brent (@bhaydon5) January 19, 2023
The ball was gone in a flash. Interestingly, when Glover was recorded by television cameras on other holes with other short putts, he seemed far more controlled and collected.
The American made six birdies and three bogeys on Thursday to shoot 3-under. He is seven shots behind the impressive Davis Thompson and has work to do to win his fifth PGA Tour title.
It has been some time since we have seen such a severe yip caught on camera in the professional game. In recent seasons, we have seen an unorthodox approach to short putts from Will Zalatoris.
Zalatoris' short-putting technique wasn't a yip as such, more of a repeated style that made your stomach quench. But it seemed to get the job done.
He won his first Tour title at the FedEx St. Jude Championship last season and also lost in a playoff at the PGA Championship. As for Glover, you'd hope he can eliminate this tense part of his game.
