I think the reason I've won so many major championships is the fact I could be aggressive in shooting at the pins wherever they were — knowing that if I did end up in a bunker I could get up and down in two.

        Of course you can't improve on the old-fashioned way of improving your bunker play: practice. As you know, luck is the residue of design. So what certain little secrets are there when we get in a bunker?

        The most important thing to feel when playing this shot is that your club is getting through the sand. You can't play that well if you take your club back and just dig into the sand. People use the word “blast” when referring to getting out of a bunker. That's the worst word you can use, because then you think you have dynamite in your hands and stand there and take a big, dirty swing. The club goes into the ground, you see sand fly up, and the ball stays in the same place. It's not a case of blast, it's a case of getting through the sand. You can see when I am playing this shot, that short or long club is accelerating right through the sand.

        Don't have a big sway on the shot. The minute you start swaying, you can't bring the club back to the ball square. So you have to start over the ball. Watch my head when I hit this shot — it stays still over the ball. That's important, because if you get too far behind the ball, it's not going to go well. If you get too close to the ball, it's going to go too far. Too keep from swaying, keep your weight primarily on your left side (your right side if you're left-handed).

        So my weight's on my left side and the back swing is smooth. Whatever you do, it has to be smooth. Then you have to get the club accelerating through at impact, because we all feel pressure. And the tendency under pressure is to decelerate.

        This reminds me of a joke. There was a hippie walking down Fifth Avenue and he saw a man and said “Say, man, how do you get to Carnegie Hall? The man said "Practice, man, practice.'”

        The Cincinnati Enquirer is a sponsor of the Kroger Senior Classic presented by Firstar, an official Senior PGA TOUR event.

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