A Lesson Learned: 2009 Wyndham Championship

August 24, 2009 -- There were many great shots and stories during this past week's Wyndham Championship, as you could probably tell from some of the low scores you saw posted during each round of play. Jason Bohn may not have won, but that final-round 62 he fired to get into the playoff was one of the great closing rounds of the year. Seeing young Justin Thomas, at 16 years old!, shoot an opening-round 65 and make the cut (becoming the third-youngest player to ever do so) is a tremendous accomplishment and watching Fred Couples and Michael Allen continue to compete with the young guns is another inspirational aspect to this past week.

But Ryan Moore won this tournament with talent, gumption and determination. Congratulations to him for capturing his first win on the PGA Tour. It is only fitting that the man who won the 2004 U.S. Amateur, who began his professional Tour career at Greensboro, also gets his first win there as well. Moore, who is well-known in golf circles for shunning virtually all sponsors in order to concentrate on his golf game, is one of the great characters in the game and a awesome testament to hard work.

We could all learn a lot from watching the likes of Ryan Moore, or Jason Bohn or Kevin Stadler as they battled in the playoff. Though none of the three are some of the "bigger names" in golf, all exhibited great skills that would benefit any level of golfer in watching. In fact, all four days were full of shots and situations that I know could be beneficial for my students to study and learn from.

Did you notice how many great bunker shots were hit from 35-50 yards in the closing few holes? Ryan Moore, from about 50 yards out, stuck one to 8 feet on the 72nd hole. (Yes, he missed the putt but the shot was incredible.) Sergio Garcia, on his 72nd hole, needed to hole out from 35 yards away in a bunker. He put it to an inch. So what does this tell you?

This shot is often referred to as "the hardest shot in golf." Don't believe it. If you can hit a greenside bunker shot, you can hit this shot as well. In fact, you don't have to change your technique, swing any harder or make any other dramatic contortions of your game to hit a good shot. What do you need to do?

I reccommend changing your club. Moore hit a 9-iron, just opened the face a bit, moved the ball up in his stance and splashed down about two inches behind the ball. In other words, exactly like you'd hit a greenside bunker shot with your sand wedge. The decreased loft of the 9-iron will make up the distance you need. The ball will also have a tendency to spin to the right, so take that into account.

It's not an "easy" shot, but it's not one that should wreck your round either. When faced with this type of situation, think back to Ryan Moore or Sergio Garcia at The Wyndham Championship. It's a shot that we all face and that we can do it knowing that it's one we all know how to execute. Good luck!

John Crumbley is a Certified PGA Professional and the PGA Director of Golf at Mystery Valley Golf Club in Lithonia, Ga. John is a two-time winner of the Growth of the Game Award from the Georgia PGA Section and has served as the Rules expert for PGA.com's "Ask the PGA Experts," as well as on the PGA.com Editorial Advisory Board.