We all know the importance of solid chipping and quality lag putting.
For professionals the ability to save par when greens are missed and to two-putt from distance is essential to maintain momentum.
But for the average golfer this is no more or less important.
Sure, we’d like to scramble and two-putt pars but we also want to just make sure that we’re taking an absolute minimum of three shots from those situations (whilst also completing the job in two plenty of times).
In this video Phil Mickelson uses statistics to demonstrate what the age-old golfing wisdom has always insisted on.
Because he explains just how important getting inside three feet with those chips and first putts is.
“At three feet we can make 97 to 100% of putts,” the six-time major champion says, talking of PGA Tour professionals.
But get this: the stats drop off at a startling rate.
“If we move back just one foot to four feet,” Mickelson explains, “that percentage drops down to below 90.
“And if we move back another 12 inches to five feet, that percentage drops to 75%.
“And at six feet it falls to 55%.
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“We need to get every putt and every chip inside this circle,” he concludes pointing to the three feet zone.”
Obviously it would be ridiculous for average and handicap golfers to believe that they can also hit the three feet zone more often than not.
But there are lessons to be learned here.
First of all it re-establishes the importance of spending a lot of time on pitching, chipping and lag putting.
But it also allows the average golfer to stop beating himself or herself up.
Too often we believe we should be making every six foot putt. But these numbers remind us that the best golfers in the world are making only a couple more of them than they miss.
