Big Play

who: Tiger Woods

what: 112-yard wedge to three feet

where: 442-yard par-4 14th hole at East Lake Golf Club

when: Final round of the Tour Championship

why: Woods flushes irons and hits so many stiff, as he did at 14 on Sunday, because he traps the ball better than anybody else. He hits down so his club face contacts the ball first and then the turf. At impact Woods squeezes the ball between the club face and the turf, and doing so produces perfect trajectory and backspin. It also adds distance because his downward arc delofts the face by a half club.

STEVE'S TIP

To Pure Irons, Try My Two-Tee Drill

To compress the ball instead of scooping, you must hit the ball first, not the turf. Practice by putting a tee two inches in back of the clubhead with the tee sticking up a quarter of an inch. Put another tee two inches ahead of the ball and three quarters of an inch above ground (inset top). Swing so you miss the back tee, hit the ball and knock the forward tee into the air, leaving a divot in front of where the ball had been sitting (inset bottom).

Bosdosh teaches at the Members Club at Four Streams in Beallsville, Md.

...And Another Thing

"Why all the fuss over whether Woods has dumped Hank Haney as his teacher? He'd win as much with Elin as his instructor. "