The Sunday Bag: 56° Out of Bunkers, Cross-Hand Chipping, Cam Young
5/10/2026
Happy Sunday everyone. And Mother’s Day too! Make sure to treat the mothers in your life to a round of golf ;) I’m sure it’s exactly what they want!
Anyway…
Here are a few things I liked (or didn’t like) from last week.
Today’s quote:
"You only hit a straight ball by accident. The ball is going to move right or left every time you hit it, so you had better make it go one way or the other."
-Ben Hogan
Scottie’s Plugged Lie
During last Sunday’s action, the broadcast caught a cool conversation between Scottie Scheffler and his caddie. They were faced with a plugged bunker lie, and in it, you can hear Scottie say, “I don’t have to smash it.” as he proceeds to hit it to 4 feet.
But what I found more interesting was his decision to use a 56-degree wedge. I think a lot of us amateurs automatically reach for the 60-degree from the sand no matter the lie. Always a good reminder that there are no hard rules for club selection. I may have to try some 56-degree bunker blasts from heavier bunker lies.
Cameron Young’s Penalty Shot and Composure
In the final round of the Cadillac Championship, Cameron Young self-reported a one stroke penalty after possibly causing his ball to move as he addressed it. The rules official confirmed it. There was no debating or arguing. He quickly moved on and stuck his 8-iron to 15 feet and saved his par. He went on to win by six shots over Scottie Scheffler for his third PGA Tour title.
The lesson for you. Bad bounces happen. Bad breaks happen. The ball finds the divot, the wind kicks at the wrong moment, the putt lips out on a perfect line. None of that is yours to control. But what you do have control of is whether or not you stay composed, refocus, and execute the NEXT shot.
Here is the full video:
This Week’s Premium Post
This week’s premium post will be on the dangers of the short-side.
A preview:
“Shot Scope’s database reports that when amateurs miss a green, they end up short roughly 80% of the time…
Read that again.”
The post will be for premium subs only. If you haven’t already, you can go premium HERE.
Cross-Hand Chipping
I’ve been seeing more and more cross-hand chipping lately. It started with Matt Fitzpatrick, then Stewart Cink, and now it’s found its way into Vijay Singh’s game.
Here is Vijay chipping in using the new technique. I’d be lying if I said this didn’t tempt me to try it out…
That’s it for today. Hope you all have a great week and can get out and play!
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