You might be wondering what makes Arizona State University so special. What makes it produce golfers like Jon Rahm.
Or the great Phil “Lefty” Mickelson. —Did you know Phil isn’t actually left-handed? He learned his swing the other way around. I’ll tell you that story another day…—
Or the young star from Barcelona David Puig, who basically skipped three levels of the game and jumped straight to LIV without passing through the PGA route…
Or Paul Casey.
The first thing that seems special about Arizona State is this: They don’t teach you how to play golf. They teach you how to compete in golf. Their program immerses players in the inner workings of professional golf without actually being professionals yet.
Coach Matt Thurmond follows a very simple philosophy:
“If you want to play on Tour, train as if you’re already on Tour.”
That leads to three things:
First, players compete constantly in high-level tournaments. Not just college events. Also international amateur competitions. In other words: they learn how to compete, not just how to practice.
Second, the team trains at Papago Golf Club, where they can:
- practice in real playing conditions
- work on tournament strategy
- dial in distances and course management
And the third thing —which I think is the most important. Players are given the freedom to develop their own competitive personality. Being different in your game is encouraged, because only the different ones truly stand out.
That’s why such different profiles come out of the same program: Rahm → volcanic intensity Mickelson → extreme creativity Puig → ice-cold composure Three completely different styles… from the same program.
All of this reminds me once again that golf is so successful because it looks an awful lot like life. And speaking of learning in real situations, you’ll eventually master the Rules of Golf using LAZAR, the tool I created that tells you how to resolve situations from a photo.
Have a great weekend, golfers!
P.S. You’re running out of excuses not to go play. P.S.2 To try LAZAR, here you have the place. Write to me and tell me whether it works great… or terribly.