Len Mattiace won for the second time this year using the same balanced, on-plane
swing that he had as a kid learning to play the game at my club
Courtesy of ABC
By Michael
Hebron
One of Golf Magazine's Top 100 Teachers
Watching Len Mattiace's supersmooth swing at the FedEx St. Jude Classic on
Sunday was a trip down memory lane, but not because Len had pulled off a
similarly dramatic comeback at February's Nissan Open for the first win of his
career. No, his victory charge in Memphis was emotional for me because I've
known Len since he was an eight-year-old munchkin just beginning to fall in love
with golf at Smithtown Landing, on Long Island, N.Y., where I've worked since
1969. Len, who's now 34, has always been low key and businesslike, so it was
fitting that Sunday's most important play wasn't flashy -- just a stiffed
wedge from 115 yards on the 16th hole (above) that gave him a lead he
would never relinquish. "Perfect!" I yelled at the TV after watching
Len's swing. "He still has that gorgeous rhythm and balance, and
everything's dead on plane."
GOOD OLD DAYS Len has fought some tough battles, including losing his mom, Joyce,
to lung cancer a few years ago, but I heard a hell of a happy camper on Sunday
evening when I got him on the phone. Len, who now works with swing coach Jim
McLean, vividly recalled playing in the nine- and 10-year-old division of the
Metropolitan PGA Junior Classic at Smithtown. "That was my first
competition, and I remember thinking, Man, this is hard, because I was only
nine," Len said. "But I came back and won it the next year."
Len's memory of our two courses was also crystal clear. "The big 18 looked
like a monster back then," he said. "That's why I always played the
nine-hole par-3. I loved that little course. In fact, I think every kid should
learn on a par-3 because it's the best place to practice all the shots in the
bag."
LOOSE CANNON The U.S. Senior Open telecast on NBC provided more proof that Johnny
Miller needs to stick to reporting and stop offering absurd opinions. Too often
Miller crosses the line by assessing a player's character before he even hits a
shot. "Let's see if he has the guts to play this shot," Miller will
say, as if that's all there is to it. He made an inexcusable mistake during the
fourth playoff hole on Sunday. While Don Pooley was lining up a 10-foot putt for
birdie and the victory, Miller blabbered, "This is a very, very easy
putt." C'mon, Johnny. No putt to win a national championship is easy. You
would think a former U.S. Open winner would know that.
Michael
Hebron, 60, is the director of golf at Smithtown (N.Y.) Landing Golf
Club and one of Golf Magazine's Top 100 teachers.
Courtesy of ABC
