Category News

When world number one Scottie Scheffler reached out to one of golf’s most sought-after putting coaches in September 2023, he could not have imagined the transformation it would bring to his game.

The American was already a major champion and had won twice that season but he was in a fug. The statistics proved he was the best from tee to green. They also proved he was among the worst with a putter in hand.

PGA Tour players hole 90% of putts from four feet. At that time, Scheffler was making 80%. The best player in the world was ranked outside the top 150 in putting and fending off the same questions every week.

Step in Phil Kenyon, coach to the best in the game.

Within 12 months, Scheffler had risen into the top 15 putters and completed a remarkable season, winning seven PGA Tour events, including a second Masters, and an Olympic gold medal at the Paris Games.

And he arrives at this week’s Open Championship on the back of a run of three victories in his past 10 events – including winning his third major at the US PGA Championship – and finishing in the top 10 in the other seven to reaffirm his position as the world’s dominant player.

“That was a particular high for Scottie after some lows and a lot of discussion about his putting,” Kenyon told BBC Sport of the American’s major victory at Augusta National in April 2024.

“And for him to putt so well fairly early on in my role working with him, that was a highlight for me.”

So what did Kenyon tweak? He helped with green reading, to give Scheffler more confidence in his own ability. He helped change his grip.

But it was a switch from his trusted blade to a mallet putter “to help him with lining up putts” that really sparked a change in fortunes.

After another poor performance on the greens in February 2024, long-time friend and mentor Brad Payne – speaking in a PGA Tour documentary of that season – recounted a conversation they had in Scheffler’s Dallas home: “I said ‘buddy, how are you doing?’ and he said, ‘I don’t think I’m doing well’.”

Kenyon, who hails from the seaside town of Southport, on England’s ‘golf coast’, grew up surrounded by the game.

His dad was friends with ‘Britain’s putting doctor’ Harold Swash, who worked with European Tour legends Nick Faldo, Padraig Harrington, Darren Clarke and Lee Westwood among many others.

“He would pay me to help him out, carrying his gear around, and was a huge inspiration,” said Kenyon, who was was a decent amateur and turned professional after studying a sports science degree.

He quickly realised he “didn’t have the game” to make a living as a pro so, with Swash as a mentor, started coaching.

“Harold was slowing down at that time so it gave me an opportunity to get stuck in,” he added.

“I’ve been at it 25 years. You just work on your craft day-to-day and it organically develops. I never envisaged travelling the world though, following players to tournaments.”

And while he is quick to deflect the praise, Kenyon’s achievements are impossible to ignore.

Scheffler’s triumph at May’s US PGA Championship meant the Englishman completed the career ‘Golden Slam’ of coaching players to all four major titles and Olympic gold.

Clarke, Henrik Stenson and Francesco Molinari picked up Claret Jugs while under his tutelage; Matt Fitzpatrick and Gary Woodland won the US Open; Justin Rose won gold at the Rio 2016 Games; Scheffler picked up a second Green Jacket and Olympic title in their first year working together.

Kenyon also still coaches from his studio in Formby on Merseyside and is equally as comfortable teaching a pro or an amateur.

“Different players provide different challenges,” he said.

“I can get stuck into the weeds with the best of them if that’s the route you want to go down but it’s about trying to work out the right balance for each player.”

There is a terrific video from 2021 of Kenyon and Rose going through some technical drills.

Both are mic’d up so you can hear Rose asking for reassurance and guidance as Kenyon buzzes round the green, offering words of encouragement while simultaneously checking putter head alignment and confirming slope angles with a spirit level.

Fitzpatrick is more into the stats.

“In comparison to those two, Scheffler plays a lot more ‘feel’ and is a simpler golfer,” said Kenyon.

“He’s less technical, less stats orientated, but equally, if not more, competitive.

“All the best players I’ve worked with are questioning and probing – you’re working together to find the right solutions for them.”

Kenyon also spent some time coaching Rory McIlroy, with the pair hooking up post-2016 Olympics.

“I felt like I did a decent job of improving him technically over that period of time but he felt the need to find other things,” said Kenyon of their time together.

“In hindsight, some things I would have done differently. But I’m glad I didn’t. You learn from it and I became a better coach because of it.

The professional circuit has arrived in the UK for two weeks of the links golf Kenyon was brought up on at Hillside Golf Club in Southport.

Greens on the coastal courses that host the annual Scottish Open and Open Championship are vastly different to those players encounter on the PGA Tour and it’s all about adapting the three key areas of line, speed and green reading.

Last week’s Scottish Open at the Renaissance Club near Edinburgh will have been a “great opportunity to prep” for this week’s Open at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland.

“The big thing is getting the speeds,” said Kenyon, who will be prowling the practice putting green “keeping on top of the maintenance” of his players.

His job at tournaments is more like “supervised practice” and “cheerleading” rather than getting into technical work.

“Links greens are slower than in the US and they can have more subtle slopes,” he explained.

“And then you’ve got the wind. Wind will be a big factor. It influences the break a lot and when you’ve got these subtleties of break and wind it makes it a very different challenge in your read.

“It’s like in tennis – you’ve had clay court season and then you get on to grass – part of your preparation is adapting to the surfaces you’re putting on.

“You’ve got three skills to master. Starting the ball on the right line. Controlling the speed. Reading the green,” said Kenyon.

“And there are a variety of techniques you can use within each skill. With all of them it’s about trying to find the right technique for you, what matches you as a person, your personality.”

You can’t just master two out of the three, though. All three skills need to be working in harmony for putts to drop.

One of the techniques Kenyon coaches for green reading, for example, is AimPoint, which has been around for a couple of decades but has recently increased in popularity and is used by players such as former world number one Adam Scott, Rose and Bradley.

It is being seen as a way of speeding up the putting process. In basic terms, players use their feet to feel and grade the severity of slope from one to three. They then hold up the corresponding number of fingers out in front of them towards the hole to line up the putt, using the outside edge of the fingers as the aim point.

“It’s a valid method that is growing in appeal, but there are other ways to read greens,” said Kenyon, who points to the internet as a huge source of information.

“It’s not always good but people will come across things that will make them think more and that ‘oh, I should try that this weekend’.”

When world number one Scottie Scheffler reached out to one of golf’s most sought-after putting coaches in September 2023, he could not have imagined the transformation it would bring to his game.

The American was already a major champion and had won twice that season but he was in a fug. The statistics proved he was the best from tee to green. They also proved he was among the worst with a putter in hand.

PGA Tour players hole 90% of putts from four feet. At that time, Scheffler was making 80%. The best player in the world was ranked outside the top 150 in putting and fending off the same questions every week.

Step in Phil Kenyon, coach to the best in the game.

Within 12 months, Scheffler had risen into the top 15 putters and completed a remarkable season, winning seven PGA Tour events, including a second Masters, and an Olympic gold medal at the Paris Games.

And he arrives at this week’s Open Championship on the back of a run of three victories in his past 10 events – including winning his third major at the US PGA Championship – and finishing in the top 10 in the other seven to reaffirm his position as the world’s dominant player.

“That was a particular high for Scottie after some lows and a lot of discussion about his putting,” Kenyon told BBC Sport of the American’s major victory at Augusta National in April 2024.

“And for him to putt so well fairly early on in my role working with him, that was a highlight for me.”

So what did Kenyon tweak? He helped with green reading, to give Scheffler more confidence in his own ability. He helped change his grip.

But it was a switch from his trusted blade to a mallet putter “to help him with lining up putts” that really sparked a change in fortunes.

After another poor performance on the greens in February 2024, long-time friend and mentor Brad Payne – speaking in a PGA Tour documentary of that season – recounted a conversation they had in Scheffler’s Dallas home: “I said ‘buddy, how are you doing?’ and he said, ‘I don’t think I’m doing well’.”

Kenyon, who hails from the seaside town of Southport, on England’s ‘golf coast’, grew up surrounded by the game.

His dad was friends with ‘Britain’s putting doctor’ Harold Swash, who worked with European Tour legends Nick Faldo, Padraig Harrington, Darren Clarke and Lee Westwood among many others.

“He would pay me to help him out, carrying his gear around, and was a huge inspiration,” said Kenyon, who was was a decent amateur and turned professional after studying a sports science degree.

He quickly realised he “didn’t have the game” to make a living as a pro so, with Swash as a mentor, started coaching.

“Harold was slowing down at that time so it gave me an opportunity to get stuck in,” he added.

“I’ve been at it 25 years. You just work on your craft day-to-day and it organically develops. I never envisaged travelling the world though, following players to tournaments.”

And while he is quick to deflect the praise, Kenyon’s achievements are impossible to ignore.

Scheffler’s triumph at May’s US PGA Championship meant the Englishman completed the career ‘Golden Slam’ of coaching players to all four major titles and Olympic gold.

Clarke, Henrik Stenson and Francesco Molinari picked up Claret Jugs while under his tutelage; Matt Fitzpatrick and Gary Woodland won the US Open; Justin Rose won gold at the Rio 2016 Games; Scheffler picked up a second Green Jacket and Olympic title in their first year working together.

Kenyon also still coaches from his studio in Formby on Merseyside and is equally as comfortable teaching a pro or an amateur.

“Different players provide different challenges,” he said.

“I can get stuck into the weeds with the best of them if that’s the route you want to go down but it’s about trying to work out the right balance for each player.”

There is a terrific video from 2021 of Kenyon and Rose going through some technical drills.

Both are mic’d up so you can hear Rose asking for reassurance and guidance as Kenyon buzzes round the green, offering words of encouragement while simultaneously checking putter head alignment and confirming slope angles with a spirit level.

Fitzpatrick is more into the stats.

“In comparison to those two, Scheffler plays a lot more ‘feel’ and is a simpler golfer,” said Kenyon.

“He’s less technical, less stats orientated, but equally, if not more, competitive.

“All the best players I’ve worked with are questioning and probing – you’re working together to find the right solutions for them.”

Kenyon also spent some time coaching Rory McIlroy, with the pair hooking up post-2016 Olympics.

“I felt like I did a decent job of improving him technically over that period of time but he felt the need to find other things,” said Kenyon of their time together.

“In hindsight, some things I would have done differently. But I’m glad I didn’t. You learn from it and I became a better coach because of it.

The professional circuit has arrived in the UK for two weeks of the links golf Kenyon was brought up on at Hillside Golf Club in Southport.

Greens on the coastal courses that host the annual Scottish Open and Open Championship are vastly different to those players encounter on the PGA Tour and it’s all about adapting the three key areas of line, speed and green reading.

Last week’s Scottish Open at the Renaissance Club near Edinburgh will have been a “great opportunity to prep” for this week’s Open at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland.

“The big thing is getting the speeds,” said Kenyon, who will be prowling the practice putting green “keeping on top of the maintenance” of his players.

His job at tournaments is more like “supervised practice” and “cheerleading” rather than getting into technical work.

“Links greens are slower than in the US and they can have more subtle slopes,” he explained.

“And then you’ve got the wind. Wind will be a big factor. It influences the break a lot and when you’ve got these subtleties of break and wind it makes it a very different challenge in your read.

“It’s like in tennis – you’ve had clay court season and then you get on to grass – part of your preparation is adapting to the surfaces you’re putting on.

“You’ve got three skills to master. Starting the ball on the right line. Controlling the speed. Reading the green,” said Kenyon.

“And there are a variety of techniques you can use within each skill. With all of them it’s about trying to find the right technique for you, what matches you as a person, your personality.”

You can’t just master two out of the three, though. All three skills need to be working in harmony for putts to drop.

One of the techniques Kenyon coaches for green reading, for example, is AimPoint, which has been around for a couple of decades but has recently increased in popularity and is used by players such as former world number one Adam Scott, Rose and Bradley.

It is being seen as a way of speeding up the putting process. In basic terms, players use their feet to feel and grade the severity of slope from one to three. They then hold up the corresponding number of fingers out in front of them towards the hole to line up the putt, using the outside edge of the fingers as the aim point.

“It’s a valid method that is growing in appeal, but there are other ways to read greens,” said Kenyon, who points to the internet as a huge source of information.

“It’s not always good but people will come across things that will make them think more and that ‘oh, I should try that this weekend’.”

Former England scrum-half Matt Dawson was nearly sent home in disgrace from the 2001 British and Irish Lions’ tour because of scathing comments he made about the squad’s management.

Dawson wrote a tour diary for the Daily Telegraph while in Australia and, in an article published on the morning of the first Test, was highly critical of head coach Graham Henry, saying he did not inspire him and his regime was too strict.

“I was so far up my own backside and I really, really regret it as it was so unnecessary, thinking I was better than I was,” he said. “It was petulant really.”

“Deep, deep down I was peed off that I wasn’t picked [to start the first Test]. I felt I was in form and had been England captain,” said Dawson.

“From the off it was very obvious who the starting XV were going to be.

“There was no controversy or news on that tour so when my diary was printed everyone jumped on it.

“I was rooming with Austin Healey and he was told it had all kicked off back home so when he walked into our room, he said ‘you are in so much trouble’.

“Literally as Austin has said that the phone rings and my mum’s collapsed because she’s had a panic attack from hearing the news as she knows that her son might be in the thick of it.

“It’s absolute chaos, so I went up to Graham Henry’s room and knocked on his door and said we need to have a chat.

“The words he said to me were, ‘it is unacceptable what you just did, but just to let you know, I know where you are coming from because I don’t inspire myself at the moment’ – and that was because one of the newspaper headlines was ‘the coach doesn’t inspire me’.

Lions captain Martin Johnson was influential in persuading team manager Donal Lenihan to let Dawson stay.

“I was feeling so bad and right in the thick of it, but it didn’t affect the team who ploughed on and won,” said Dawson.

“As soon as the game finished I was pulled over by the team manager and told I was going home as it was unacceptable.

“Martin then said ‘no he is not’ and said to the team manager that I shouldn’t have done it but that is the reality of what has gone on.

“On the Monday they said I wasn’t going home but they were going to fine me what I was paid for the article.

“They fined me £5,000, thinking that is what I was getting paid for it.

“They called a team meeting and put chairs around the whole room in a circle, with one chair in the middle.

“I stood up in the middle and Johnno [Martin Johnson] was keeping a straight face, but you have got all these other idiots killing themselves laughing.

“I was trying to be sincere but they were laughing. I said ‘I am sorry for the unnecessary pressure before the first Test’.

Roberts was also involved in a controversial Lions moment.

Former Ireland captain Brian O’Driscoll played in the first two Tests against Australia in 2013, but was left out for the deciding match, causing shockwaves in the rugby world.

O’Driscoll, a Lions captain in 2005, was tipped by many to lead the team for the decider with Sam Warburton out injured.

Instead, Gatland opted to go for his Wales centre pairing of Roberts, who missed the first two Tests because of injury, and Jonathan Davies.

Roberts’ injury meant Davies started the first two Tests at inside centre instead of outside centre, and his move into O’Driscoll’s 13 shirt put him in the firing line.

“One thing I have massive respect for with Warren Gatland is that he wasn’t one for sentimentality,” Roberts recalled.

“That was Warren through and through. He shut out the outside noise and believed in what his ears heard and eyes saw.

“BOD [Brian O’Driscoll] by his own admission wasn’t brilliant in that Test series. In 2009 he was brilliant and in 2013 he was playing well but not like in 2001 and 2009.

“I made myself fit and Warren, with the Test series in the balance, saw strength in picking a familiar Welsh spine.

“He saw past the sentiment and the need to satisfy the four countries and BOD’s last Test as a Lions great.

“Jon [Davies] sat on the bus beside me and said ‘I am going to take some stick here’ and there was a Facebook page called ‘Justice for BOD’ with a million likes.

“Luckily for me Jon took all the flack.”

Former Wales prop Chris Horsman says strong leadership and a quick decision is needed by the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) after it announced it was considering cutting up to two of its four professional regional teams.

Welsh rugby’s governing body says it is entering a formal consultation with the Professional Rugby Board (PRB) – which represents both the WRU and Cardiff, Dragons, Ospreys and Scarlets – saying the current system is failing and unsustainable.

The WRU says it wants a “more radical” strategy to be completed by October.

Horsman played for Celtic Warriors – one of the original five teams created when Wales switched from club to regional sides as the top level of the domestic game – who were disbanded after just one season in 2004.

“What the game needs more than anything at the moment is stability,” said Horsman, 47, who won 14 caps and has coached Wales Under-20s and Wales Women.

The current professional rugby agreement (PRA) that underpins the Welsh professional game runs out in 2027.

It was due to be superseded by a new five-year deal agreed by WRU-owned Cardiff and privately-owned Dragons, but has still not been signed by either Ospreys or Scarlets who say “key issues” have not been resolved.

The four sides are expected to continue to exist in their current form until at least June 2027 but their futures are now uncertain.

“Potentially they have got a year left of their contract,” Horsman told Radio Wales Drive.

“They [the regions] want financial stability. Are you going to buy a season ticket? If you’re a business are you going to sponsor the region, because you don’t know in three, four month’s time, you might be told it’s not going to be there anymore?

“So there are so many things resting on this decision and again we’ve got to wait.

“I know it’s not going to be straightforward but we’ve heard that things were going to happen 18 months ago and they haven’t, so I don’t put a lot of stock in it’s going to happen fast. I hope it does for the players’ sake and for Welsh rugby’s sake.

“One thing I will say is when we were at the Celtic Warriors, it happened over a weekend, pretty much, and as painful as it was at least it was done and then there was a decision made that the players were divvied up, pretty equally between the four regions and the game moved on quickly.