Amateurs and professionals alike all dread a three-putt when we find the green but leave ourselves a huge distance to the cup. The best putters in the world tend not to three putt that often, and here two-time European Tour winner Tom Lewis offers two tips to help you avoid the momentum killing three-putt.
PICK A SAFE PLACE TO MISS
“The top putters in the game don’t really do anything special when it comes to avoiding three-putting, so there’s no great science to it. One thing I find helps me is to target an area where you want the ball to ‘miss’. I know that sounds negative – but we know we’re not going to hole that many putts from outside 30/40/50 feet. So it’s about where you feel confident missing to then hole the return putt. For example: It’s easier to make a short uphill putt than a tricky one downhill, so that is always something to factor.”
VISUALISE THE PUTT
“I like to try and visualise what I want the ball to do. And one thing I do on the practice green is hit long putts to a target with my eyes closed, to work on the ‘feel’ of hitting a long-distance putt. So, before addressing the ball I would look at the target and make some practice strokes. Once I’ve addressed the ball, I would look at it, then turn my eyes and head left, to the target. Then as I’d look back to the ball I would close my eyes and hit the putt the way I had visualised it in my mind. This will result in giving you some feedback on the feeling of how you strike the ball.”
