After watching Phil Mickelson putt a 25-footer off the 9th green on Friday at the Masters, I think we'd all be wise to remind ourselves of Jack Nicklaus' secret for putting down the speedy slopes at Augusta National.
Here it is: Putt your ball off the toe to control the speed.
Take your stance square to the putt, line up your putt in the direction of the target line, then set the ball out on the toe of your putter. If you accelerate through the ball, the ball comes off "dead" but still online. The problem for most amateurs is, when they try to putt fast greens, they decelerate to "deaden" contact on these putts, leading to poor contact, a twisted putter face and an offline putt.
So, the easiest way to avoid blowing those nasty downhillers 10 feet past the cup on fast greens is to use the full putter face to your advantage...just like Jack!
