Tiering Professional Golf Swings

Today is an exercise I’ve been wanting to do for some time. I’ve tiered professional golf swings. Plus, a few thoughts on the Scottish Open and a reader-submitted question. 

I have very limited knowledge of the golf swing, so this tiering effort is based more on aesthetics than technical analysis. Thus, consider these my favorite, and not the “best,” golf swings, though I’d like to think those definitions aren’t too far apart. 

For the sake of concision, I’ve restricted the exercise to active players; otherwise, yes, players like Tiger Woods, Ben Hogan, Ernie Els, and Fred Couples would have made the cut. Below the graphic, I’ve linked to everyone’s swings. 

A few notes: 

From an “I Could Watch This Swing on Loop All Day” perspective, Adam Scott, Louis Oosthuizen, and Thomas Detry take the cake. 

J.J. Spaun has an excellent, sound swing. I’ve always appreciated his ball-striking ability, but I was particularly struck when, after Spaun won the U.S. Open, Paul McGinley declared Spaun’s swing to be one of the best in the game on Live From. Also, when I solicited input from one of my favorite golf minds, Sean Martin, he shouted out Spaun (and Tom Purtzer, naturally). 

Corey Conners’ swing is a mini-obsession of mine. Not that anybody should care about my golf game, but as someone with terrible hand positioning at the top of my backswing, I think about trying to emulate Conners’ position whenever I’m at the range. His tempo is aspirational, too.

I don’t understand the golf swing well enough to articulate how special Viktor Hovland’s swing is, but the bowed left wrist action is both unique and powerful. The ball-striking numbers speak for themselves. It might not be the smoothest swing in golf, compared to those of Scott and Oosthuizen, but it might be the coolest. 

Including Ho Sung Choi was a joke, but what a legend. 

Links to swings not already mentioned: Rory McIlroy | Nelly Korda | Ludvig Aberg | Collin Morikawa | Dustin Johnson | David Puig

Player Spotlight: Renaissance Club

Normally I reserve spotlighting golf courses for major championship weeks, but I have some thoughts on Renaissance Club that seem appropriate to put here. My opinion on this golf course, a 2008 Tom Doak design, is mixed. 

I’ve always found Renaissance Club beautiful. It has an understated elegance that I admire. Some day I’d like to see it in person because I suspect there are elements of this golf course I’d pick up on that are harder to appreciate from television. That’s true of every golf course, but it’s probably more true of Renaissance than most. 

My main critique of the golf course is that it isn’t dangerous around the greens. Renaissance is one of the easiest golf courses on Tour to get up and down from around the greens, as long as you’re not in a pot bunker. Last year, Rory McIlroy said, “...sort of the nice thing about this course is even when you miss it on the short side, it seems like you always have some sort of shot to get it close.” That’s a polite way of saying the golf course isn’t challenging around the greens. 

The course is fine, I just wish it had more severity around the greens or more intrigue off the tee, ideally both. When greens run slow, as they tend to do overseas, you need severity around the greens to punish golfers for leaving approach shots in the wrong locations. Renaissance doesn’t have much of that. To be fair to Doak, he explained in a Q&A with Andy Johnson why he didn’t artificially create severity at Renaissance.

The Scottish Open is still a wonderful golf tournament and one of my favorite tournaments to watch outside of the majors. The size and composition of the field, with many golfers from the DP World Tour playing, make for a great event. And this style of golf is much more engaging than the rough-heavy, one-dimensional tests we’re accustomed to watching week to week on Tour. The Scottish would elevate to another level with a better venue, but it is a refreshing tournament in its current state. 

Reader-Submitted Question

Reader: Did you post any of your thoughts on the new FedEx Cup money distribution scheme? 

Answer: In case you missed it, the PGA Tour has changed the way $100M is being doled out to top performers on Tour at the end of the season. Previously, the full sum of money was paid out based on finishes in the Tour Championship. Now, there are checkpoints at which the money gets distributed. The money will be earned based on your position in the standings after the Wyndham Championship and the BMW Championship, and then at the end of the Tour Championship, which no longer uses the Starting Strokes format.

Overall, these changes are good. It never made sense to tie up as much money in one tournament, the Tour Championship, as they did. My main take, though, is that this is the last time we should hear about the bonus money. 

The Tour Championship has stunk in recent years for a multitude of reasons, and I believe focusing on the money at stake has played a significant role in the lackluster nature of the tournament. Nobody cares how much money a putt is worth. 

Winning the Tour Championship needs to carry meaning and historical significance, which doesn’t happen by throwing money at the tournament. Eliminating starting strokes is a positive step towards restoring the value of a Tour Championship win. Long term, I’d love to see the tournament move to a better venue than East Lake. And let’s tone down how much we’re talking about money. 

Ok, that’s all for this week. Have a question you want me to answer next week? Email me at joseph@thefriedegg.com!