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Jack Nicklaus: The Best Short Game Tip I Ever Received #jacknicklaus #arnoldpalmer #golf #golftips

Jack Nicklaus: The Best Short Game Tip I Ever Received #jacknicklaus #arnoldpalmer #golf #golftips



Jack Nicklaus: The Best Short Game Tip I Ever Received #jacknicklaus #arnoldpalmer #golf #golftips

kind of like the one tip that I got which really changed how I played around the green and it was from Arnold. 1962 Arnold and I were playing a practice round at Palm Springs and I’m chipping every ball off the edge of the green and I mean I don’t care whether I’m whether I’ve got a 5 iron, six iron, nine iron or what it is and I’m sitting there hitting these little chip shots, you know, boom and and and they’re rolling up three, four, five feet from the hole. And Arnold said, “Why are you doing that?” I said, “What do you mean?” I said, “Well, I’m just chipping.” And he says, “Well,” he says, “Think about something.” He said, “Think about that chip. How good was that chip?” I said, “How far? How how good was it?” It was 4T from the hole. I said, “That’s a pretty good chip.” He says, “Well, let’s take your putter. What would happen if you were in the same exact place and you use your putter for the same shot? Would four feet be acceptable?” You said, “That’d be a pretty bad putt.” Well, sort of think about that. your maybe your best your worst putt will be just as good as your best chip. Now, sure, you might chip the ball closer sometimes, but you’re not going to hit the ball very far from the hole with a putter. So, he told me, he says, “Put that put that chip and iron away. Let’s get the putter out when you’re off the green. Let’s putt it off the green.” I use that the rest of my life. And I people always I always give clinics now and I’m walking up and people say, “Well, what would you do from here?” I said, “Well, 11 times out of 10, I’d putt it.”

Jack Nicklaus describes the greatest short game tip he ever received: Arnold Palmer told Jack to stop using a short iron shot when just off the green and to start using his putter instead. Jack says his worst shots with the putter just off the green were just as good as his best shots chipping.

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  4. It depends… on the condition of the grass you are putting through. It depends… on the slope of the green between you and the hole.

    Basically… Maybe!!!

  6. Depends if you are playing expensive and exclusive PGA standard courses with manicured grass. Most people play on crappy courses with shaggy, scraggy, grotty grass around the greens. So this advice just shows how out of touch he is.

  9. Yes I agree this depends on the lie. But often the rough around the green is rather smooth from my experience. I saw Wesley Bryan tell a mid handicap golfer to use hit putter from 70 yards out, just for fun. The guy looked at him crazy, tried it, and landed it pin high. Wesley’s point, as well as Jack’s here, is that the putter has the greatest connection and accuracy of any club we swing. Especially as a beginner, we’ve all topped balls, chunked it, etc.. putters just don’t do that. So if it’s within putt able range, it’s a very smart idea to consider!

  11. My mentor taught me the goal is to get the ball back down on the ground as quick as possible when chipping. So if you can putt and keep it on the ground then great.

  12. Golf was meant to be played on sea shores with one man and his dog maintaining them. Then middle aged men wanted to look good on them so they had an army of men turning them in to lawns. Links golf is real golf.

  13. Arnie was great around the green. He knew a lot. He should have won more majors but he refused to play safe and would rather go through a wall than around it. A riverboat gambler, and it worked a lot but it cost him at least two US Open titles, maybe three. What a good guy, though. I had a press badge in mid '70s to mid '80s and he was wonderful to the press. He always had a minute for you and he was honest.

  16. I’m one of those rare people that would rather chip than putt off the green. I never get the speed right on the ball when I putt. Chipping just feels more comfortable and honestly easier for me.

  21. It depends on how long the grass is round the green, how wet the grass is round the green, whether the grass is in shade or sun, whether the put is with the grain or Against the grain.

  22. exactly the same reason that club golfers should practice hitting soft fades as their drive and fairway shots, as they are far easier to replicate and control than a straight shot or draw 😉

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