It’s all in the Approach: Patrick Cantlay Discusses Tips to Secure a GIR

Team Troon member and the eleventh ranked golfer in the world, Patrick Cantlay is the winner of two PGA TOUR events, including the 2019 Memorial Tournament. Below, Cantlay joined Troon for a Q&A to discuss the all important execution of securing a green in regulation (GIR)!

To what degree does pin position dictate how attacking you can be?

It’s a major factor, and I suppose the obvious place you see this would be Augusta. There are pins there that you just aren’t able to fully go at or get to – the back-left pin on the 7th, for example. Then on Sunday, when they place pin down in the front right bowl and everything gathers back down towards it; you’re standing in the fairway actually thinking about potentially holing it.

What kind of things do you most work on with your coach in approach play? Any specific drills?

I like to do a drill where I hit my own balls with two shag bags set out down the range 10 yards apart, working on moving the ball from one to the other but never outside the other bag.

For example, when hitting to the right bag I am hitting cuts that aim to never land right of the bag. I do this at various ranges and move the bags further away as my practice progresses. If you’ve got a back-right pin, I would be looking to move the ball in from left to right – if you don’t move it much you’re still on the green and if it fades, you’re close. You don’t want to be moving it the other way to such a pin as that brings danger into play – similarly for a back-left pin I would want to shape it in the other way.