March 16, 2009 -- Did it seem that the leaders at the CA Championship were chipping it in the hole, on every day, from everywhere? In the first three days, it seemed as if Mickelson made everything from off the green. But the shot of the tournament came from Nick Watney, in the final round on hole #9. If Nick had made the score that any mortal would have made from that location, Mickelson could have easily walked away with the tournament. But, Watney's magic, that turned a bogey into a birdie, kept us on the edges of our seats until the last roll of his ball on the 18th.

Nick Watney hit the most memorable shot in a week of amazing shots. (Photo: Getty Images)

Watney's shot into the 9th was long and left. In fact, it narrowly threaded the space between the camera tower and the spectator stands and came to rest just shy of the water hazard. The shot remaining was nothing short of impossible, even with the greatest of skills. His decision kept him in the tournament and is a great Lesson Learned for any golfer.

Nick was faced with a few decisions, and only one decision had the highest percentage of success. He was faced with a forced carry over deep rough to a flagstick that was cut very tight to that side of the green. Most golfers would call the shot "short sided". One option would be to try to fly the ball to the hole with a tremendous amount of backspin. This is the choice that I see most amateurs make. They envision the shot of a lifetime that stops on a dime. Wouldn't it be great if what they envisioned was what actually occurred? Unfortunately, the resulting shot is either bladed or flipped, and the green is missed from 20 yards away. Any shot around the green that requires maximum air time and minimum ground time should be considered risky.

The easiest shot to accomplish is one that requires minimum air time and maximum ground time. But, a chip with maximum roll had to be excluded because of the amount of thick rough in between Nick and the hole. So, putting the ball or chipping with a hybrid was unreasonable.

The shot that he chose was one that landed off the green and rolled onto the green. He wanted the ball to spend as little time as possible rolling through the rough. It didn't require a perfect shot, but it did require some control of the spin on the ball. Although landing the ball on the green will insure a consistent first bounce, it's not always possible.

Here's some simple advice for anyone that wants to learn how to control the spin on the ball when chipping or pitching. For the most lofted shot with maximum backspin, the player must leave the clubface facing the sky after impacting the ball. This equates to a reverse roll feel or clockwise rotation of the forearms through impact. There were many examples of this type of shot when Phil needed the ball to stop.

The other extreme would be a shot that would have little backspin and no loft, which would let the ball roll across the green. This clubface would look like a saloon door that was closing. The golfer would feel a counter-clockwise rotation of the forearms through impact.

And finally, there's the shot that Nick was able to accomplish on the 9th. He hit the shot that had some carry and some roll. This is usually the easiest to perform, as it has the feel of no roll. The forearms have the feel of no rotation through impact, and the clubface looks to have partially closed.

With these options, the player has a greater set of skills. Those that choose to keep it simple are limiting the possibilities. Learning these three skills will give you command over the spin of the ball and command over your scores.

Ted Fort, Jr. was chosen by his peers to be the 2006 Georgia PGA Teacher of the Year. His home facility is Marietta Golf Center, in Marietta, Georgia. Fort can be reached attufpgagolf@yahoo.com