Darren Clarke on Strategy for a Drive (Video)

With THE OPEN in Northern Ireland this week, who else would I turn to for driving advice but Darren Clarke?



Darren goes through his normal thought process on how to play a drive, but I'd like to focus on one particular decision he makes for this drive that he says is unusual.

Although he would normally hit a fade on this hole -- because the fairway slopes from right to left and he really needs to hit the fairway -- he chooses instead to play his normal draw. Why? Because it's a bit cold and the fairway is soft so the ball won't roll as much and he won't reach the "penalty area" that might cause problems under other conditions. And since he needs all the distance he can get on this long par-4, he feels it's a safe gamble.

We weekend golfers rarely pay this much attention to course conditions. We may take note of the wind or the length of the hole but that's about it..Learning to pay attention to ALL the conditions of the course is an easy way to knock strokes off the old score.