Golf Is Played With Your Eyes
Are you using them?
We’re now five tournaments into the 2026 PGA season, and one of my favorite storylines has been the rise of Chris Gotterup. As of mid-February, he’s won twice — the Sony Open in Hawaii and the WM Phoenix Open. At the time of writing, he sits at #7 in the Official World Golf Ranking, having climbed as high as #5 last week.
Some of his stats this season: 323.9 yards off the tee (5th on Tour), Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee (5th), Total Strokes Gained (6th). Objectively, he’s been performing at an elite level.
There’s a lot you could discuss about his game. You could talk about how his downswing comes from across the line — which is very uncommon in modern golf. Or how he doesn’t even strap his glove on properly lol. But instead, I want to focus on his alignment. More specifically, what his alignment reveals about how eyes are used in the golf swing.
If you’re on X and looking for great golf content, I’d recommend following @jaimierkennedy. The other day he shared a photo that I found particularly thought provoking. I’ll attach it below:
Pictured is Chris Gotterup. The first line is drawn down his foot line. The second follows his target line.
Your immediate reaction to seeing the photo should be something like: “Ok his feet are aimed VERY left, and his club face looks excessively open. He must be trying to hit a cut.” That would be the natural assumption. But he doesn’t hit a cut. If you watch him play, you’ll notice he sets up open like this on virtually all of his shots, and produces a pretty straight ball flight.
What’s Actually Happening With Gotterup’s Setup
Recent breakdowns confirm what the photo suggests: feet aimed 15–25 yards left of target, hips and shoulders open, but the club face is square to the actual target line. The result tends to be a powerful inside-out path that produces either a gentle push-draw or a straight ball flight. The Open Stance Academy (yes that’s a real website) describes it as “the most unabashedly open stance since Bubba Watson.”
It’s true.
So how does he not pull it or slice it?
The answer in part has to do with something I think is underrated in golf: he’s aiming with his eyes. More specifically, with intentional vision.
Gotterup’s eyes aren’t confirming his body’s misalignment. His gaze is aimed down the target line, which means his intent is directed down that same line. His body might look wrong from a textbook standpoint, but his eyes are telling a different story. Gotterup is a “feel” player in this sense. He hits where he’s looking. It’s an under-appreciated dynamic in the golf swing.
The Fred Couples Version of This
If you follow me on X, you may have seen I responded to that tweet with a clip of Fred Couples from the early 2000s. Here’s the clip:
In it, Couples demonstrates this same principle — that golf is played with the eyes. He explains that where you’re looking, what you’re actually seeing, tends to drive where the ball goes more than people give it credit for. (Couples has historically set up with an open stance).
His idea is not a new idea. But I think it’s one that most golfers don’t consider carefully enough.
Where You’re Looking vs. Where Your Body Is Aimed
Most golfers, when they think about alignment, think about their feet, shoulders, and hips. And those things do matter—I’m not dismissing them.
But there’s a separate question that tends to get ignored: where are your eyes actually looking when you pull the trigger?
