Champions Tour: Putting tips from Ben Crenshaw and Co. at the Toshiba Classic

Shake the rust off your game the right way with putting tips from the pros at the Toshiba Classic.  Ben Crenshaw says, “pace dictates line.” Curtis Strange suggests using a chalk line, and Colin Montgomerie believes light grip pressure at address is key.

Below are six tips from some of the game’s best.  Good luck refining your stroke this spring!

Ben Crenshaw (19-time PGA Tour winner, including two-time Masters Champion):

"I think people worry about their stroke too much.  Just worry about line and speed, and hitting it solid.  I think people worry about their stroke so much that they don’t swing the putter head.  There is nothing that beats pace, get your pace, pace, pace.  Pace dictates line."

Curtis Strange (17-time PGA Tour winner, including two-time U.S. Open Champion):

"Put a chalk line down right from the start to get your putter going properly back on the line and through on the line. The main thing is to get your feel back, you just got to putt.  Get on the practice green, spend 10 or 15 minutes.  There’s no science to it, but put a line down to keep your arch proper."

Colin Montgomerie (4^th All-Time on the European Tour with 31 wins):

"Light hands at address, most amateurs grip the putter far too tightly.  So the best advice I can give them on the putting green is light hands, and that allows you to feel the weight of the putter head, and the consistency is just tremendous.  So light hands at address."

Loren Roberts (8-time PGA Tour winner, aka “Boss of the moss”:

"Forget about the line, just go out and worry about speed the whole time.  When you practice, find the longest hardest putts you can, up and down, up and over hills on the putting green, and you practice those.  You don’t get any better hitting 15-foot putts, so don’t practice those.  You got to make all the two and three footers, and you practice the longest and hardest ones…Focus on your speed."

David Frost (10-time PGA Tour winner, Toshiba Classic defending champion):

"My best putting tip is your weight needs to be in your toes.  A lot of guys put their weight in their heels and the club tends to flag around rather than if you put your weight in your toes, and you feel like you are going to fall on your nose. It’s a lot easier for your shoulders and your elbows to strike the putt [with your weight in your toes] rather than become too wristy when your weight is in your heels."

Larry Mize (4-time PGA Tour winner, including the 1987 Masters):

"One of the best things amateurs can work on is having a balanced stroke.  Same distance back and through.  You see so many amateurs…take it back and decelerate.  If they can balance their stroke, similar distance backstroke and forward stroke to get a nice pendulum action that would really help them."