How to Be the Comeback Kid in Golf

In Wiktionary.org, the comeback kid is "a person who repeatedly demonstrates the propensity to overcome downturns or periods of bad publicity and rebound to victory or popularity." In golf, the comeback kid has been related to Tommy Fleetwood, Patrick Cantlay, and Rory McIlroy for rebounding after trying circumstances during a tournament.

After nearly five years on the European Tour without a win, Paul Casey finally broke through and has now earned the title! Rolling in two clutch birdies on the 16th and 17th holes on Sunday at the Porsche European Open secured Casey's win.

Overcoming adversity on the golf course or coming from a stroke (or more) back may be easier for the tour pros but not so simple for the average golfer.

Although not everyone has the longest drive or can make all of their GIR's (greens in regulation), golfers can learn to master the art of putting. Almost any golfer can learn to putt well to save the hole. (How many times have you breathed a huge sigh of relief after sinking a long bogey putt?)

Here are a few tips to help you assess your round, stop the slippage and use your putter to be the comeback kid on the golf course.

1. Visit the practice green before every round and roll a few putts to get down the speed and see the line.

2. While practicing, try to get within the "circle of trust" near the hole.

3. "Think Roll, Not Hit" - according to Dave Stockton, this mental golf tip is the key to distance control while putting. The two main thoughts surrounding putting are speed and line - you get the idea behind distance control and you are halfway to being a better putter.

Let's end this golf blog with a few statistics. Short game guru Dave Pelz states that "putting accounts for approximately 43 percent of your total strokes." Both putting and chipping account for "fifty percent of shots are hit within forty yards of the hole," according to GolfStateofMind.com.

I will leave you with this great putting demonstration by way of Phil Mickelson on Twitter. Enjoy!

A little taste of Augusta. Spending all week putting on my green with speed at 15.6-16😎⛳️ #Lefty pic.twitter.com/GprpRJCXTB

— Phil Mickelson (@PhilMickelson) April 5, 2019

3 Tips for Golf Beginners to Speed Up Slow Play

Slow play has long been an issue for golfers - although it rarely affects the offender, setting up a shot or taking too much time viewing a putt can really put a damper on your game.

In the news recently, tour players have taken it upon themselves to personally address the situation, being more vocal in their opinions on the matter.

After Bryson DeChambeau recently took two minutes and twenty seconds to find his line and putt, Brooks Koepka had a word (or two) with Bryson which resulted in an agreement and supposed compliance.

The Rules of Golf encourage "ready golf" and state that a player must play a shot "with undue delay".

READ: What rules of golf do you always follow?

Since slow play is rarely addressed by PGA Tour officials, professional golfers have taken to their podiums to drive the message home to their playing partners. While the PGA Tour deliberates,, the European Tour is taking definitive action, introducing a four-point plan to curb slow play on tour.

Golf for Beginners believes that education is the key to helping players speed up golf on the course. Here are three tips to help beginners (and all amateurs) move through a course while continuing to enjoy the experience.

1. PRE-SHOT ROUTINE: Do you have one? If not, now is the time to start - it shouldn't take you very long from the time you step up to the tee box with ball in hand until the time you fire off your shot. Confidence will be the key to your success.

2.  THINK BOX: The VISION54 Team (Lynn Marriott & Pia Nilsson) believe that you start using your instincts more - how much essential data do you really need before stepping up into the "Go" zone?

3. HOW MANY SHOTS DO YOU TAKE? For beginners, if you find you are whiffing almost every shot, why not pick up your ball and drop it closer to the hole - chip and putt instead? For shorter hitters who can move the ball forward...but not far...why not tee up from the next forward tee box? You will probably have more fun getting green-in-regulation too!

Do you have a few golf tips on how to speed up play? Post them in the comments section of this golf blog and on Twitter, tagging @Golf4Beginners.

Golf Beginners Need to Focus on These Statistics

Once beginners translate what they have learned from instructors and the driving range into practical use and actually play a golf course, it is important to track improvement.

One way to do this is through proper statistical analysis - there are a few statistics that should be tracked but this article will focus on one stat in particular.

Although I have been practicing putting and chipping (both win tournaments), lately I have been focusing on how many greens I land on in regulation...GIR.

PracticalGolf.com describes the greens-in-regulation statistic as "if any part of your ball is touching the putting surface and the number of strokes taken is at least two fewer than par....your chances of making a par (or better) dramatically increase when your ball is on the putting surface versus being in the rough or a sand trap."

This description makes sense - golfers would have to add another step of chipping or bunker play, and get close to the pin, in order to try and make par as opposed to rolling putts.

Hank Haney believes, "even if you're pretty far off the green, like 20 feet or so, putting is a much better option. If you grab your putter, you're pretty much guaranteed to get it somewhere near the hole. Can you say the same about your wedge?"

For PGA Tour golfers, this statistic may or may not be as important as it is to the amateur golfer as so many tour players hone in on their target better than average players - scoring average ranks as one of their top definers on tour.

It's important to keep track of greens-in-regulation and how many putts it takes you to get the ball into the hole.

In a Golf Digest article, Lucius Riccio, Ph.D. offers a clear cut way for beginners to track both statistics. "An easy way to record GIR is to circle the hole number, or your hole score when you hit a green. At the end of the day, add the circles. For putting, simply count your total putts for the day. After a few rounds, you'll start to see how GIR and putting influence score."

TIP: Riccio says that, when counting the number of putts you make, think about this fact: "the typical 95-shooter on average takes 37 putts per round; the typical pro (shooting about 71) takes 29. To break 90, get your putts down to 34 or so. To break 80, get to 31 or 32."

So, sharpen your pencils and your irons, take notes and create statistics for game improvement and you'll see lower scores!

How many greens-in-regulation and putts do you make in a round of golf? Let us know in the comments section of this golf blog and on Twitter @Golf4Beginners.