At last, Sergio Garcia is a major champion.
And what a way to do it, holding off Justin Rose in a fascinating duel down the back nine on golf’s finest stage.
Key to the Spaniard’s success at Augusta was his driving. He ended the week sixth in the driving distance stats, averaging 292.5 yards. But most importantly he was accurate, finding 45 out of 56 fairways – 80.36% – which was only bettered by Soren Kjeldsen.
In the gallery below, renowned coach Gary Alliss takes a closer look at that unique Garcia swing with the TaylorMade M2 in his hand…
At the top of his backswing we see a very full upper body rotation, a flexibility undiminished by the passing years.
However, his wrists do not appear to be overly hinged, though this is the extent of the mobility on his wrist joints and does not detract from his ability to generate club head speed at impact.
So, those of you who are a bit stiff in the wrists, don’t despair. The other key point is that the Spaniard’s swing has his arms rotating on almost exactly the same swing plane as that of his shoulders.
This is a very good swing action for driver accuracy because, when the ball is teed up, it is easier to deliver the club face squarely onto the ball from a position where arms and shoulders are closely coordinated and swinging in a very connected fashion, thus negating any need to manipulate the club face into a square position by over use of the wrists.
Swing sequence: Dustin Johnson
Swing Sequence: Use your body for power like Jordan Spieth
Swing sequence: Rickie Fowler
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