🏌🏻 Scheffler's Ball Striking Secret

Good morning. The Match IX, the made-for-TV charity event, last night had a few firsts, switching up with PGA pros (Rory, Max) and female golfers (Lexi, Rose) instead of star athletes from other sports.

Rory also will be headlining the Cognizant Classic this week, in a quest to ‘dominate’ The Masters.

Today's Trivia: 7 women have competed in a PGA Tour event till date. Who became the latest golfer to do so in 2023?  Answer at the end of the email.

⛳ This day in history: On this date in 1992, 16-year-old Tiger Woods became the youngest PGA golfer in 35 years - making his PGA Tour debut at the Nissan Los Angeles Open.

NEXT ON THE TEE
Tournaments This Week

PGA Tour: Cognizant Classic

📍 When and Where: Feb. 29-Mar 3, PGA National, Florida
💰 Purse: $9 million
🏌🏻 Headliners: Rory McIlroy, Rickie Fowler, Matt Fitzpatrick, Tom Kim

LIV Golf: LIV Jeddah

📍 When and Where: Mar 1-3, Royal Greens Golf & Country Club, Saudi Arabia
💰 Purse: $25 million
🏌🏻 Headliners: Jon Rahm, Joaquin Niemann, Sergio Garcia

DP World Tour: SDC Championship

📍When and Where: Feb. 29-Mar 3, St. Francis Links, South Africa
💰 Purse: $1.5 million
🏌🏻 Headliners: Rikuya Hoshino, Thriston Lawrence, Antoine Rozner

LPGA Tour: HSBC Women's World Championship

📍 When and Where: Feb. 29- Mar 3, Sentosa Golf Club, Singapore
💰 Purse: $1.8 million
🏌🏻 Headliners: Lilia Vu, Lydia Ko, Brooke Henderson

ALBATROSS
Rory's Return Headlines The Cognizant Classic

The Cognizant Classic tees off on February 29 at the PGA National Members Club.

A lot to look forward to as the PGA Tour heads to Palm Beach Gardens.

🏌️ Rory Returns: Rory McIlroy is set to make his first start at the PGA National since 2018. He has previously won the tournament in 2012.

🔝 Strong Field: 19 of the top 50 golfers in the Official World Golf Ranking are set to tee it up at the PGA National. Matt Fitzpatrick, Rickie Fowler, Tom Kim, Cameron Young and Sungjae Im are some of the notable names besides McIlroy.

⚠️ Exemption Controversy: The concerned authorities have sparked a major controversy by granting exemptions to Chris Gotterup and Parker Coody over top ranked Korn Ferry Tour/Q-School players. While the event can grant exemption to whomever they please, it was earlier stated that it would be given to the top KFT players.

🌦️ Weather: The weather is likely to remain cloudy on all four days and there's a 50% chance of rainfall on Sunday.

⛳️ Course Change: For the first time since the event moved to PGA National in 2007, it will have three par 5s and become a par 71. The 10th hole will be lengthened by about 25 yards, playing at 530 yards, and the fairway line will be shifted a bit to the left by about eight yards at the dogleg.

TWEET
Worth Mentioning

EAGLE
The Match IX: Of Charity, Golf And DJ Khaled

The ninth edition of The Match delivered no shortage of smack talk, heroics, zingers as Rory McIlroy bagged $1.9 million, while Lexi Thompson won $200,000 - all to be donated for charity.

😬 Homa Upsets His Mom: Max Homa confidently claimed on camera that he would bury a three-footer before missing it right in front of his mother - quite an anti-climax.

🤦‍♂️ Rory's Fall: McIlroy's opening tee shot fell in between a sod seem on top of the lip of a bunker. While taking his stance, he fell backward into the bunker to everyone's amusement.

👨‍🎓 Rose's Course Load: Rose Zhang was at a golf course for the first time in a month as she continues a heavy, 20-credit course load at Stanford while balancing professional golf. In fact, she headed right back to class after the event.

✋ Lexi’s High-Five Prowess: Lexi Thompson put on an impressive show of athleticism smoothly high-fiving Zhang, switching to a fist-bump for Homa and then flipping back for a high-five to McIlroy.

🏌️Rory's Dagger: After all four players made birdie on the par-5 12th, there was a closest-to-the-pin challenge to settle the final four skins. McIlroy hit an unbelievable 100-yard shot, throwing it right at the flag and stopping it just four feet away.

LOCKER ROOM
What else is making news

LPGA Tour: The HSBC Women's World Championship tees off this week in Singapore. Here are five things you should know about the tournament dubbed as 'Asia's Major'.

LIV Golf: A 30-second clip has been released by LIV Golf on social media in a bid to hype up the return of Anthony Kim. Kim is making a return to pro golf after 12 years and has joined the Saudi-backed league for $7.5 million.

Jon Rahm: LIV Golf star Jon Rahm has admitted on record that money was a 'big factor' behind his move to the Saudi-backed league.

DP World Tour: Supermarket delivery driver Joe Dean finished T-2 at the Kenya Open and earned a ‘life-changing’ $215,000. His financial situation earlier prevented him from regularly competing on the Tour.

Korn Ferry Tour: Defending Champion and Korn Ferry Tour Pro Zack Fischer has taken to X to outline his 'shock' at being denied a sponsor exemption into the Argentina Open.

Full Swing Season 2: Netflix has shared an extended trailer of Full Swing Season 2 ahead of its official release on March 6.

BIRDIE
The Secret To Scottie Scheffler's Ball Striking Dominance

Despite his recent putting woes, Scottie Scheffler still comfortably sits atop the Official World Golf Rankings.

🏌️Over the last two years, Scheffler is right at the top end of the Strokes Gained tee-to-green charts.

🏌️ Scheffler is number one in total Strokes Gained, number four for Strokes Gained around the green, number one for approach shots and number two off the tee.

🏌️ Scheffler is currently in the most dominant period of ball striking the game has seen since strokes gained statistics began, and that includes the great Tiger Woods at his best.

What's Scheffler Doing Differently?

Scheffler is showing irrefutably that there is no right way to swing a club.

✅ While Scheffler doesn’t hit all the positions that so many modern coaches seem to demand, what he does do - clearly from the stats - is repeat his motion.

✅ Scheffler is working religiously on his consistent hold on the club - he is warming up and practicing with this club to diligently reinforce correct hand placement and as such optimal clubface control.

✅ Scheffler has a specific practice club, made to the exact same specifications as his gamer set, but it is fitted with a moulded rubber training grip that ensures he places his hands on the club the same way every time.

DRIVING RANGE
10 Best Consistency Drills

In this video, PGA professional Ben Emerson puts a list together of his 10 best consistency drills including keys in the golf swing, chipping and putting techniques.

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