I hope we've got a lot of fairways and greens. We'll go from there.
A golf ball can stop in the fairway, rough, woods, bunker or lake. With five equally likely options, very few balls choose the fairway.
At Pebble Beach, even on your good shots, you've got to hit it to the correct side of the holes to save pars.
I don't know how many times I've been 114 yards from the hole and made double bogey. Well, I hit a great drive, but it doesn't matter. It's only the next shot that matters.
I typically opt for a fade when I'm hitting into greens. It's just an easier shot to control.
I plot the par 5s back from the green and make my plan. If I can reach the green in two shots, I'm going to be aggressive off the tee. But if 's a three-shot hole, the goal changes. You want to put yourself in position to hit your favorite shot to the green.
You have to be sharp with all aspects of your game at Augusta. You need to put yourself in the best spot off the tee and hit the longest drive you can, but I think this is really a second-shot course. If you leave yourself with an awkward putt on the greens, it can be very tricky here.
Control is the main thing, and the tee shot is the most important shot in golf. You've got to hit the fairway before you have a good chance of putting the ball close to the pin. You can be the greatest iron player in the world, but if you're in the boondocks it won't do you any good.
Any time you play in a USGA Championship, if you don't drive the ball on the fairway, you're dead. You're done.
Being in the fairway, I think the fairways are a little bit more overrated.
It's so hard to make a good tee shot after a birdie.
