Instructors
Succeeding on the PGA TOUR means you have a team of people around you, beginning with my wife and family and then moving on to those professionals that can help me perform better. The following individuals are consultants to my golf game and provide many great ideas for improvement.
Dr. Bob Rotella
I first worked with Dr. Rotella in November 2006 when we spent three days playing golf together and then chatting over dinner every night. I was amazed how simple he made things sound. He helped me realize that I needed to play my own game and dwell on all the good things I did instead of trying to fix whatever I felt was broken on a daily basis.
You can gain a lot of the same understanding if you read one of his many books, and it should help you immediately. His books don’t have tons of psychological terms and strategies that you have to work at and ultimately can take to the golf course. Oh no, instead they are filled with real life stories that show a concept that makes sense and turn golf back into the game that it is. His first book, “Golf Is Not A Game of Perfect” is a great place to start.
Dr. Jim Suttie
Doc, which is what I usually call him, has incredible knowledge of how body parts move and specifically how they move during the golf swing. We have worked together since June 2005. He caught me in a year where I was really searching and after working on mechanics for a bit, I’ll never forget how we hit balls at Cog Hill and he taught me some keys to calming myself during my shots.
One big thing he taught me was how you should exhale as close to the start of your swing as possible because exhaling reduces tension and the less tension when we are swinging, the better. So he goes behind just analyzing the mechanics of the swing. He spends about four months of the year teaching at Cog Hill Golf and Country Club in the Chicagoland area and the other eight months at TwinEagles in Naples, FL.
Cory Puyear
I met Cory at a Nationwide Tour event at the Glen Club in Chicago in 2006. We have been training together ever since. He is certified through Titleist Performance Institute and has a tremendous knowledge on conditioning for golf.
With the use of KVest to check out my swing sequencing and various strength and flexibility tests, he develops workouts that give me the opportunity to make my golf swing more efficient. We work out twice a week when I am home for about 1.5 hours each time and then he sends me tailored workouts for my travel that I fit in around my tournament rounds. He resides in the Chicagoland area and owns his own fitness company called Pure Golf.
Dr. Greg Rose
Dr. Greg was introduced to me through Cory Puyear and their Titleist connection. With the use of their 3D swing analysis, we have determined ways to improve efficiency in my motion. He also goes deep into the actual playing aspects of professional golf. He has developed lots of fun games that help simulate PGA TOUR competition in a practice setting. In 2011, he gave a game called “21” which basically happens during a nine hole practice round. In this game, you hit one extra shot per hole, all coming from a multiple of 10, but hitting every number from 10 to 90. For instance on hole 1, I might hit one from 50, then hole 2, from 80, hole 3 from 20 and so on for nine holes. One ball each hole. Then go and putt it out. If you get 6 of those up and down and 3 not up and down, you have taken 21 strokes which is a fantastic goal. I will say I only achieved 21 on a handful of occasions last year and 20 is my all time best.
