Beating the long hitters… ‘Putter Queen’ inside the championship cup with sophistication

Bobby Locke, who played an active role in the 1950s, said, ‘Driver is show, putting is money’ has been treated as outdated at some point. This is because the longer the hitter, the more advantageous the environment. Actually it was. These days, Jon Rahm and Rory McIlroy, who are competing for the top spot in the men’s golf world rankings, are known long hitters. Women’s golf followed a similar trend. Following Nellie Korda, who hits around 300 yards, long hitters such as Ataya Titikkun are taking over the baton.

There are signs that the trend of long-hit golf, which has been going on for a considerable period of time, is about to change. Last year, Lydia Ko dominated the LPGA tour with her short game, and this time Lilia Boo (25, USA) won a major tournament with a putter and became the first player to win the season.

On the 24th (Korean time), Boo shot a final total of 10 under par 278 at the Chevron Championship (total prize money of $5.1 million), the first major tournament of the LPGA Tour season held at The Club Carlton Woods (par 72, 6824 yards) in Woodlands, Texas, USA. He won with a birdie on the first hole of the extension played on the 18th hole (par 5). Following Honda Thailand in February, it is his second career victory on the tour and his first major championship. The winning prize is 765,000 dollars (approximately 1.01 billion won). Boo led major titles such as player of the year (94 points), average at-bats (68.6 strokes), and prize money ranking ($1,113,873).

Looking at the detailed records, Boo is a player who is nothing special. Driver distance is 54th overall on the tour (264 yards), which is an ordinary axis. The fairway landing rate is 71.79%, which is only 119th overall. Approach the green, which is one of the indicators of how well you hit an iron shot, is also ranked 57th (3.6 strokes).

Experts say that a fiery personality is also a weakness for a professional golfer. In a recent interview with the LPGA Tour, Boo, who does not hold back his anger even on the course, said, “No matter where the caddy tells me to look and hit, I always look at the pin and hit.” The LPGA Tour wrote, “The nature of such wealth may lead to more wins, but it can also steal more trophies.”

But with a putter, things are different. This season, he recorded 1.420 strokes in putting gain (SG · putting), ranking 4th overall. The average number of putts (Putts per GIR) when the ball is put on the green after the required number of strokes is also 1.690 strokes, ranking 4th overall. If you put the ball on the green twice in a par 4, it means that you will ‘hole out’ with 2 putts or 1 putt.

A ‘hot-blooded’ wealth becomes ‘cold-blooded’ with just a putter. It shows in his putting style. Like the proverb ‘never up never in’, which means that you can’t put into a hole unless you hit it past the hole, most golfers putt with enough force to pass the hole. But Boo hits exactly the right distance. He says that he is confident in his putting. The LPGA Tour evaluated, “The putt that makes the ball fall into the hole on the last lap reminds me of Park In-bee in his prime.”

Experts analyze that the success rate of putts that hit just right is much higher than that of putts that hit past. Van Cranshaw, who won the Masters twice with his short game, said, “Give gravity a chance.” For this reason. Assuming that the green speed is 3m (stimp meter), if the hole is hit at a speed passing 45cm, the effective size of the hole will be reduced by about 26% from 108mm to 80mm. If you hit it past 1.6m, the hole size is reduced to 40mm. As the intensity increases, the effective size decreases rapidly.

Based on his putting skills, Boo finished the game with a 4.5m birdie putt in the overtime that day. Angelin (25, USA), who was a poor opponent, had to be satisfied with the runner-up, dropping the second shot into the water around the green.

After winning the championship, Boo celebrated his victory by throwing himself into the lake next to the 18th hole and doing a ‘water show’. Until last year, it was customary for the winner to throw himself into an artificial lake in the tournament, which was held at Mission Hills CC in California, USA. As the club moved to Carlton Woods, Texas this year, fans were interested in whether this tradition would continue. The organizers dredged up a lake near the 18th hole so that players could hold a championship 메이저사이트ceremony. It was decided to leave it to the winner to decide whether or not to dive, but wealth was obtained immediately.

As for Korean players, Kim A-lim (28) and Yang Hee-young (34) tied for 4th place with 8 under par 280 strokes. Ko Jin-young (28) finished the tournament with a tie for ninth place with a 7-under par and 281 strokes, cutting 4 strokes that day.

Bobby Locke, who played an active role in the 1950s, said, ‘Driver is show, putting is money’ has been treated as outdated at some point. This is because the longer the hitter, the more advantageous the environment. Actually it was. These days, Jon Rahm and Rory McIlroy, who are competing for the top spot in…