Peter Cowen Daily Diary: Good luck with your putting!

To start with - congratulations to 33 year-old Tom Hoge who can now add to his golfing CV of four career victories, the title of winner of the Par 3 Contest at The Masters 2023.

He shot a six under par 21 yesterday (Wednesday), including a hole-in-one for the second lowest score since the first Par 3 Contest was held in 1960.

As many are aware, in the history of The Masters, no Par 3 winner has ever gone on to win The Masters that week.

We wish the current OWGR Number 26 all the best of luck. After all, records are there to be broken.

As I write this GULF NEWS Daily Diary at the end of Wednesday, all the practice is complete for everyone, and we are just a one hour or so warm up away for all the players before their Masters starts.

This week will change lives of individuals and families, and careers, especially for the champion on Sunday night as they slip into the Masters Green Jacket. This is one of the unique features of the game of golf. You are never far away from your next opportunity.

Whether it be an outsider winning his first Major or those who are already multiple Major winners.

My ‘thought for the day’ that often comes to my brain is the importance of putting this week and every week.

No winner of any Masters, a professional tournament or even a monthly medal at club level, has ever come off the final green and said they putted poorly – or something is wrong if they have. But winners can always drive erratically, miss a few greens, struggle with their chipping or not make sand saves from the bunkers – but are still the winner.

The winning average 72 hole score over the last five years at The Masters has been a little better than 14 under par, 274 shots.

Out of those 274 shots, perhaps around 110, assume a little less than 28 per round, will be with the putter, that is around 40% of a player’s shots from one club in his golf bag of upto 13 other clubs.

Is putting too important for the game of golf is my question? Should one putt count for a full stroke?

When the game this week is played over an original 365 acres with a golf course measuring over 7,500 yards, should putting dominate a scorecard?

With a lot of noise in the game of golf at the moment all about ‘bringing the ball back’ has anyone thought of ‘equalising the putter?’

On reflection, golf, especially this week is so entwined in history and tradition. Records and score comparisons would have to be thrown away, and it would change the core essence of the game – to hit the ball from Point A to Point B in the fewest number of strokes.

However, standing back and thinking about the game I have been involved with for almost all of my 72 years – it certainly makes for an interesting conversation for us anorak golfers.

The only thing left before match one is announced on the tee on Thursday morning is for Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player and Tom Watson to act as Honorary Starters and hit their first tee shots. They have 11 Masters titles and 35 Majors between their combined 243 years of age.

Enjoy the watch, good luck to the Honorary Starters and all 88 players, especially with their putting and speak to you all after round one of the 87th Masters.

— Peter Cowen is a world-renowned golf coach with academies in the UAE and England.