Watson's shortcuts: how to pitch it close when the ball's above your feet

Golf Digest, August, 2003 by Tom (American golfer) Watson, Nick Seitz

Here's a little shot I see misplayed a lot by average golfers. The ball is above your feet to the side of the green. Avoid the tendency to aim at the hole.

A little zero-sum experimenting from this kind of sideslope will teach you how far left the ball goes if you aim at the target with a square clubface. The ball falls in the direction of the slope on short shots the same as on long ones, probably more than you think.

Keep your weight more on your toes so you stay in balance. Don't extend your arms--you need some break in your wrists to play this shot. Grip down on the club and swing a little harder to compensate for the shorter swing arc.

In the shot shown at right I'm using a sand wedge because I need to clear the rough and land the ball on the green.