RELATED: Justin Rose\u2019s strong form makes him more than Europe\u2019s sage mentor<\/a><\/p>\n In one round at the 2025 Ryder Cup \u2013 not even, actually, because Rose needed only 16 holes with Tommy Fleetwood to win their Saturday fourball match \u2013 Rose gained 4.56 SG: Putting. That\u2019s 92 percent of his total from Rome. The next closest player on the day was Shane Lowry, who gained just more than a stroke. Rose took a step back on Sunday, but for the second time in as many Ryder Cups, the Englishman put on the proverbial putting clinic.<\/p>\n Walking it in \ud83e\udd2f#TeamEurope<\/a> | #OurTimeOurPlace<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/FUGOGqK9qV<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Ryder Cup Europe (@RyderCupEurope) September 27, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n It can be hard to put numbers like this in context, so here\u2019s an example:<\/p>\n Let\u2019s say you\u2019re a 10 handicapper, practising putting at your home course when Rose rolls up and challenges you to an 18-hole putting contest. The way Rose putted at Bethpage on Saturday, based on his strokes-gained statistics, he would have to add about 10 feet extra onto every putt to make it fair. So if you tap in a two-footer, he\u2019d have to make a 12-footer to tie.<\/p>\n And if that doesn\u2019t do it for you, then just take my word for it: it\u2019s really good.<\/p>\n Perhaps the most impressive thing about it all, though, is the context: Rose never used to be a good putter. From 2011 to 2018 his average putting rank on the PGA Tour was 117th. He sniffed the top 20 the next season, and he\u2019s been elite ever since.<\/p>\n TOMMY & ROSEY ARE 11 UNDER THRU 14 \ud83d\udd25#TeamEurope<\/a> | #OurTimeOurPlace<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/5xSwLYqZJl<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Ryder Cup Europe (@RyderCupEurope) September 27, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cI think you can be a good putter when you know nothing and putt purely on instinct, and I think you can be a good putter when you know a lot about what you\u2019re doing,\u201d Rose told me once. \u201cI found that when I knew just a little bit about what I was doing, I got worse. I didn\u2019t understand enough. I had to go on a journey to truly become a master at the craft.\u201d<\/p>\n Rose gravitated towards a series of specific solutions: he changed his grip to a claw to stabilise his wrist movement. He dialled in his equipment. He divided his practice into intense technical work done indoors, then intense green-reading-and-speed work outdoors. Rose has learned what works for him.<\/p>\n As for how he putts so well in Ryder Cups? It remains one of the last unknowns in his putting.<\/p>\n \u201cI wish I knew, to be honest. I think it\u2019s the power of this,\u201d he said, pointing to his teammates<\/a>. \u201cThe ability to lock in a little bit more. The ability to want it more. I don\u2019t know, is the answer to your question. The badge and the boys. It makes you want it a little more.\u201d<\/p>\n It’s what he does \ud83c\udf39#TeamEurope<\/a> | #OurTimeOurPlace<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/uQH096mn5A<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Ryder Cup Europe (@RyderCupEurope) September 27, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n Needless to say, Rose\u2019s presence, not to mention his 2-1 record, was a key part of Europe\u2019s 15-13 \u2018away\u2019 win<\/a>. And his thoughts on putting are one of several things I learned this week from the pros competing in the Ryder Cup. Here\u2019s a look at seven others:<\/p>\n 1. Break overwhelming things into smaller pieces<\/p>\n Momentum is an intangible, but undeniable, part of the Ryder Cup. There are times when it becomes all encompassing. The task of winning a hole, or even halving one, can go in an instant from feeling all too easy to impossible.<\/p>\n How do the pros do it? How do they find stability\u00a0during the turbulent parts of the round, when everything feels like it\u2019s slipping away?<\/p>\n \u201cI try to break it into smaller pieces,\u201d McIlroy says. \u201cToday I wasn\u2019t focusing on one shot at a time. It was one foot in front of the other.\u201d<\/p>\n When everything around you feels big and overwhelming, break it apart. If that still feels overwhelming, break it apart again. Don\u2019t just take it down to the studs, get it to the nails. Focus on doing that first thing, then the next thing, then the one after that. One foot in front of the other; when you finally take a moment to look up, you may find yourself in some amazing places.<\/p>\n 2. Analytics can\u2019t cure \u2013 or be the blame \u2013 of everything<\/p>\n The US team took some heavy slings and arrows on the data and analytics front this week. Some fair \u2013 Harris English and Collin Morikawa seemed a statistically odd fit<\/a> to play once, let alone twice, and were rewarded with two big losses \u2013 but others unfair.<\/p>\n Questions about the US team\u2019s decision to chop down Bethpage\u2019s rough<\/a>, for instance, had a \u201cWhat were you thinking?\u201d undertone, but conveniently ignore the most important datapoint: the US team outperformed the European team by an impressive seven strokes from tee-to-green this week. If bad analytics explain the Harris\u2013Morikawa outcome, it\u2019s only fair to credit good analytics for the things that worked in their favour.<\/p>\n Photo: Michael Reaves\/PGA of America<\/p>\n The truth is somewhere in between.<\/p>\n Using analytics to make well-informed decisions doesn\u2019t work all of the time. Using analytics to make well-informed decisions shifts the odds slightly more in your favour, so that it works over time. On an individual level, luck and randomness and situational context often influence the outcome. The goal of using analytics isn\u2019t to guarantee success right now. It\u2019s to give yourself a little edge, which will add up over time.<\/p>\n 3. Know how you recover best<\/p>\n The European team came to Bethpage a week before the Ryder Cup for a team practice session. Everyone showed up for that, and then most of the team stuck around the area to play various courses, including Friar\u2019s Head, Shinnecock Hills (site of next year\u2019s US Open) and some of Long Island\u2019s other ritziest golf courses. Ludvig \u00c5berg got on a plane and went back home to Florida for a few days before the Ryder Cup chaos began to focus on his recovery, but stayed in America\u2019s eastern time zone.<\/p>\n \u201cHe gets very intense on the road, especially here,\u201d said Hans Larsson, \u00c5berg\u2019s coach. \u201cHe\u2019s a homebody. He wanted to relax at home, put his feet up, sleep in his own bed, practise on his own schedule. That\u2019s how he recharges his batteries.\u201d<\/p>\n Photo: David Cannon<\/p>\n It\u2019s hard to imagine some part of \u00c5berg didn\u2019t feel guilty, or left out, for leaving his teammates behind. But it was a reminder of how these little sacrifices can often be the difference. Fast forward a few days, and \u00c5berg earned the European team\u2019s only win during the singles matches. It was an essential point stopping the most historic comeback, and a good reminder to not be afraid to do what\u2019s best for you.<\/p>\n 4. Get taller on your chips<\/p>\n Jon Rahm\u2019s coach, Dave Phillips, dropped an interesting chipping tip during a chat early last week.<\/p>\n When he\u2019s not teaching tour players, Phillips is a Golf Digest Top 50 Teacher who helps run the Titleist Performance Institute. He said he\u2019s been analysing some 3D chipping data recently and found something interesting: the best chippers on tour get taller on both the backswing and through swings of their chipping action.<\/p>\n A common problem among amateur golfers, he says, is that golfers tend to move too far towards the ground on their backswing and downswing. This creates too much forward shaft lean, which can cause chunks.<\/p>\n \u201cGetting taller is how they release the angle of the club, and use the bounce of the club,\u201d he explains.<\/p>\n Get taller on the backswing and the downswing with your chips. It\u2019s a fascinating idea. And I couldn\u2019t help but think about it during one of Rahm\u2019s chips in particular\u2026<\/p>\n Photo: Michael Reaves\/PGA of America<\/p>\n 5. Square at setup, swing to your shape<\/p>\n Cameron Young was statistically the best US player at the Ryder Cup, and behind only Fleetwood and Matt Fitzpatrick when it came to ball-striking. Young\u2019s uptick in form over the past season coincided with his return to his preferred ball flight: a right-to-left draw.<\/p>\n A draw is the shot Young grew up playing, but he tried hitting more fades in recent years because of how common it is on tour. But it never felt right, so Young returned to his natural shot shape. Ahead of his eventual singles victory, his father and coach, David Young, shared some insight that can help the rest of us.<\/p>\n Photo: Scott Taetsch\/PGA of America<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you have a preferred shot shape, there are tendencies in your setup that can arise,\u201d he said. \u201cFor Cam, we work on getting everything square at setup. When he does that, the shot shape stays under control.\u201d<\/p>\n 6. Turn your backswing like a Ferris Wheel<\/p>\n Bryson DeChambeau deserved far more than he got at this Ryder Cup. He was statistically the second-best American and sixth-best player overall, yet in five matches he gleaned just 1\u00bd points. But Dana Dahlquist, a Golf Digest Top 50 teacher who coaches DeChambeau, did give us a great Ferris Wheel swing thought based on what Bryson has been working with.<\/p>\n The idea is that in order to get a properly loaded, coiled backswing, you need to properly pair a tilt and a turn.<\/p>\n Turning like a ferris wheel is the thought that helps you do that, because think about it: the ferris wheel doesn\u2019t just turn around flat, like a spinning plate. It turns upright. That\u2019s how Bryson\u2019s, and your,\u00a0 backswing should feel, too. Turn your body up and around. You\u2019ll get more power that way.<\/p>\n 7. Every putt is 50-50<\/p>\n The one thing above all that fascinates me about the Ryder Cup is how pros square a specific circle: doing the thing you want to do, even though you know that thing is unlikely to happen. Like making a 15-footer to win the match. Pros have less than a 40 percent chance of making those putts, yet it happened twice in a row during the singles matches for the Americans on the 18th green, first for Cameron Young, then Justin Thomas, when it was needed most.<\/p>\n It\u2019s fascinating, so I asked the most data-savvy guy on tour, Fitzpatrick:<\/p>\n \u201cIt was funny, we were watching golf earlier this year, and I can\u2019t remember who it was, but they had a putt to win in a playoff or whatever it was, and it came up on the graph of like 20 percent make percentage. And my wife said something really funny. She was like, \u2018Oh, I really don\u2019t feel like that means anything anyway because I just feel like it\u2019s either going in or it\u2019s not.\u2019 I was like, \u2018I guess when you put it like that, that\u2019s a good point.\u2019 I guess every putt is 50 percent. But I think on weeks like this, I\u2019ve noticed that putts go in from everywhere. Putts are missed from everywhere. It really is that kind of week when special things happen, both good and bad, and I think that\u2019s what makes this event so special, as well. That\u2019s why I feel like it\u2019s such an incredible event to be a part of, and when you\u2019re in the middle of playing in it, you\u2019re basically willing every shot to go close, every putt to go in. You\u2019re just hoping that that is going to add something to whatever it is that you\u2019re doing.\u201d<\/p>\n The essential mystery of golf remains unsolved for another day.<\/p>\n![\"2237929810\"\/](\"https:\/\/golfdigest.sports.sndimg.com\/content\/dam\/images\/golfdigest\/fullset\/2021\/250928-keegan-bradley.jpg.rend.hgtvcom.966.690.suffix\/1759097476703.jpeg\")
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