In the second part of our series looking at Sandy Lyle’s bid for the Senior Tour Order of Merit, we look at the reasons behind his return to form.
As one of the purest ball strikers in the game, Sandy Lyle has found success in overpowering courses but the two-time Major winner attributes his resurgence in 2011 to a revamped short game.
Lyle currently leads the European Senior Tour Order of Merit by €51,783 from last year’s Number One Boonchu Ruangkit after winning the ISPS Handa Senior World Championship presented by Mission Hills China in March.
That was his first tournament victory since 1992 and came on the back of top ten finishes in Australia (runner up) and Japan (tied fifth) and a share of 18th place in Mauritius.
The former Open and Masters Champion is 33 under par for the four Senior Tour events he has played this term with a stroke average of 69.25, a remarkable feat given his figure for his first three seasons was 72.61.
He believes that improvement is largely down to hours of work and a new approach to his short game.
“It was a long wait for a victory and do wonder if you will ever win again but I felt confident about the little things I was working on, on my game,” said Lyle.
“The golf striking is becoming better and the final piece of the jigsaw was last year revamping my short game. I’ve put extra wedges in the bag and it is bringing the scores down.
“This game isn’t all about the power, although the power has always been there for me. My direction could have been improved but there was certainly an issue with the short game.
“I’d never really had much trouble with my short game but I was relying on my eye sight and I think that was going a little wonky as the years go on and I needed to revamp the short game.
“The little passages I learned from reading the chipping bible by Dave Pelz – the back end of the book – made a lot of sense to me. I’ve taken to that idea of bigger gap in the long irons and a lot more wedges. My lofted wedge now is 64 degrees – I used to think 60 was ridiculous but I’ve 64 now in the bag.
“It’s been a very useful club for some of the short shots over bunkers and bunker shots. If it even saves you the odd shot here and that is all it needs to do. It all adds up at the end of three rounds and could be four or five shots difference across a tournament. That’s what I’m finding.
“I still missed greens in China but I recovered well making chips and keeping the momentum going. One bogey in three rounds there is about as good as it gets for me. I think my chipping played a big part.
“I was confident and didn’t try to muscle the course, even though it was a big hitter’s course. If I didn’t get my tee shot away on the par five I didn’t get annoyed with myself. I worked my distance to the pin and played up to a comfortable lay-up distance – sometimes 80 yards - and sometimes I was only hitting a seven iron for my second shot to get there. It pretty much worked to plan.”
While the world has changed much since Lyle’s last victory, the feeling of lifting silverware remains as special for the man who has held the Claret Jug and The Ryder Cup, and has also worn the Green Jacket.
“I’ve seen a big change from 19 years ago since I won last,” he admitted. “People get to know very quickly now – almost within the hour. You have Facebook and emails and people all over the world know straight away about it. It’s quite a bit different to the times I won in the 1990s when it took a few days to filter through.
“A lot of people who I haven’t spoken to in quite a while have been in touch and obviously still follow me. From the feedback it seems as if I have a few fans out there I didn’t know about. So that’s very encouraging that people are pulling for me. It’s a nice feeling.”
