The Sunday Bag: Putting Routines, Wyndham’s Tee Drill, Randomized Practice
6/28/2026
Happy Sunday, everyone!
Here’s the bag.
Today’s quote:
“Happiness is a long walk with a putter”
— Greg Norman
Speed Up Your Pre-Putt Routine
If you were to ask me a few years ago what my pre-putt routine was for an eagle putt, I probably would have said something to the effect of:
“If it’s an eagle putt I’ll spend extra time reading the putt and lining myself up to ensure I am confident in my alignment and my set-up so I have every possible chance of making the putt.”
And then if you asked my process for a double bogey putt, I’d probably tell you the exact opposite.
But then I watched a series of Brad Faxon videos where he explained his simple pre-putt routine, and the importance of repeating it for every single putt. It goes something like this:
- Look at the hole
- Step up to the ball
- Look one last time
- Go
Below is a video of Brandt Snedeker from this week’s Traveler’s Championship where he appears to do the exact same Faxon routine. Watch it and then we’ll discuss.
I adopted this routine in the last 6 months or so. I force myself to stay consistent in it no matter how important or unimportant I think the putt is.
Same routine with the same tempo for every length putt no matter if it’s for eagle or double bogey. The quicker I do it the better, because it deprives my brain of the time required to start spiraling.
My putting has never been better. I’ve had more sub-30 putt rounds in the last 6 months than I’ve had in my entire life. I highly recommend you try it out.
This is a topic that I think deserves a Wednesday post in the future where we can really dig into it.
Wyndham Clark’s Tee Drill
Golf.com posted a clip of Wyndham Clark prepping for the U.S. Open. At first glance, it’s a perfectly normal warm-up routine. But when the camera zooms in, you notice a bizarre detail: he appears to be teeing his iron shots excessively high.
Check out the video below to see it for yourself:
In a different video, Wyndham explains the purpose of the drill. He says his tendency is to come down too steep with irons which causes him to fade the ball more than he would like.
Excessively teeing it up requires a shallower attack angle to deliver a clean strike.
I had never seen this drill, but as someone who also fades the ball too much with my irons (I’m sure my fade is a little worse than Wyndham’s), I’m certainly going to try it out.
This Week’s Premium Post
This week’s premium post will be on why gimmies are ruining your game.
A preview:
In casual golf, gimmes feel harmless. They’re rooted in golf etiquette and pace of play. But I think what feels polite in the moment carries a hidden cost to you as the putter. Many of the putts amateurs give themselves are far from automatic, and by choosing not to hit them, golfers quietly avoid the exact repetitions that tend to build better scoring ability.
This post will be for premium subscribers only. If you’d like to upgrade, I offer a special discount for The Sunday Bag readers HERE.
Blocked Vs Randomized Putting Practice
If you read my post from a couple of weeks ago, you hopefully understand the important of randomized practice at the range.
If you didn’t read it, you can check it out here:
But what about randomized practice with putting?
I’m sure you’ve seen the clips of tour pros warming up before the round with all of their putting gadgets and training aids. But when is it time to put the toys away?
At some point, you have to practice the real thing: stepping up to a putt you’ve never seen before, reading it, trusting your routine, and executing.
That’s why I always dedicate a block of my putting practice to tossing balls at random spots on the green. It forces me to treat every single attempt like a brand-new scenario — because it is.
Mindlessly hitting the exact same six-footer over an alignment rod has its place, but it doesn’t train the intuitive and mental skills you actually need to execute the putt on the course when it matters.
That’s it for today. Hope you all have a great week and get out and play. Take advantage of that summer time daylight!
Tommy
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