Tee to green has never been a problem with Lucas Glover. The 2009 US Open Champion isn’t exceptionally long off the tee but has always been a very accurate player with a trademark draw ball flight. Glover’s statistics when it comes to driving accuracy and proximity to the green have always been amongst the top players in the world ever since he joined the PGA Tour in 2004. But despite that, he’s never been considered a complete player. “Ten years up until this run, I’ve underachieved, and it’s all because of putting,” he said wryly after winning the St Jude Classic earlier this month — his second win in consecutive weeks.
On May 14, 2023, Glover was ranked 147th in the world and 184th on the FedEx Cup list. In June this year, he wasn’t even sure of being able to keep his PGA Tour card for the next season. Six weeks on, he’s won twice, including a playoff event, and is heading into the end of the season with an outside chance of winning the FedEx Cup. He’s also secured playing rights till 2025. Humble to a fault, Glover is as surprised as everyone else. “If you’d told me this three months ago, I would have thought you’re crazy. In May, it was hard even to go to the range, but we pulled through…” he said at the post-event presser at the St Jude Classic. “But I never doubted my ability to compete again. I enjoy being here. Obviously, it’s better when you’re playing well, but I enjoy the process. I never gave any thought to hanging it up. I’ve been stubborn enough to not give up, and it took something drastic to figure it out. But it worked.”
Glover’s putting wasn’t just bad. It was afflicted by something golfers don’t even like to say out loud — the yips. After his win at the St Jude Classic, a video started doing the rounds on social media that showed Glover nearly missing the ball on a short putt. Not missing the hole, missing the ball with a nervous tic-like jerky motion. There was no doubt about it: Glover had a bad case of the yips — an involuntary muscle tic that afflicts putting and has destroyed more golfing careers than any other golf-related injury. After undergoing a 12-step program with an ex-baseball player and navy Seal and changing to a long Brad-Faxon type of putter, Glover has managed to surmount a golfer’s biggest nightmare. The yips are believed to be caused by the central nervous system and manifest as involuntary physical movements under stress. For putting that’s a death knell.
Glover showed absolutely no sign of the yips during his win at the Wyndham Championship in early August and none whatsoever during the St Jude Classic the following week. In the final round of the latter, Lucas Glover got unlucky with his tee shot on the 13th hole. Standing inside a greenside bunker with an awkward stance, he flared his approach to the right that ended up in deep rough from where he finished up about 20 feet from the hole. From there, the 2009 US Open Champion drilled in a crucial putt 20-footer for par to retain a slim one-shot lead. The next hole was worse: after hitting his tee shot in the water on the 206-yard Par 3, Glover hit his third off the tee and ended up about 30 feet from the hole. Miraculously, he hit a putt that on its last revolution toppled into the cup. The bogey dropped him to 14-under par and a stroke behind Patrick Cantlay with three holes to play but kept him in the hunt.
The 16th hole, the easiest hole on the course during the tournament, was duly birdied, and Glover wentinto the final two holes tied for the lead with Cantlay. On the 17th, he hooked it big time, much like hisfinal tee shot at the Wyndham Championship. Another fantastic one-putt par on the 17th, and Gloverhung in there. The putt on the last, another 30+ feet, was tracking to the middle of the hole but stoppedagonisingly short.
The die was cast for a man-to-man showdown with Cantlay. Interestingly, it was the second year in arow that the event finished with two players tied at 15-under par. On the first hole of sudden death,Glover hit his drive on the 18th right in the middle with his trademark draw. Glover’s drives are rather short by PGA Tour standards, this one finished up at 288 yards, but Cantlay pulled his straight into the water. Hitting the green in regulation and 2 putts later 43-year-old Glover had won his second event in consecutive weeks.
Given what he’s been through, the emotion was writ large on Glover’s face. Just earlier in the year, hehad missed a short putt to go into a playoff at the US Open qualifiers. He’s not fazed by the memory. “Imissed one at 16 yesterday, but it’s not that nervy yippy stroke. It happens,” he said at the post-eventpress conference of the St Jude Classic. Now that Glover has surmounted the yips, the man wants tomake up for lost time. He’s not given up on his ambition to be part of the US Ryder Cup squad: I’venever made it (to the Ryder Cup)…and I want to…” he said. When a reporter cheekily responded byasking Glover if he would have picked himself for the team, the 43-year-old took a minute to thinkbefore responding. “Right now…yes. I’m playing pretty good golf.” Can’t argue with that.