Sami Valimaki is flying the flag for Finland at Le Golf National this week, and through one round, he's doing a good job of it: He's currently the low Finnish player in the field, and comes into the second round T-6, within four shots of Hideki Matsuyama's lead.
Earlier this season, I caught up with the PGA Tour rookie and asked him a simple question: What's some advice for the Golf Digest readers who dream of breaking 80, consistently?
Here's what he said.
1. No 'silly' missed greens inside 100 yards
Breaking 80 mainly requires mastering the boring stuff. Avoiding penalty shots, flubbed shots, and various other disaster shots.
But those are the obvious ones. Valimaki suggests adding another to the list:
"Missing easy greens in regulation from inside 100 yards is something they should try to fix. It comes down to feeling a bit more comfortable, not getting too aggressive, and aiming better... hitting more greens from inside 100 yards will take off a couple of shots."
2. Don't be 'perfect' on breaking putts
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Valimaki considers putting the strength of his game. The foundation of that success, he says, comes down to a basic line-no line approach which is simple enough for anyone to follow.
"I use the line on my ball for straighter putts. Length doesn't matter; if it's only breaking a few inches, I'll use the line."
Anything which breaks more than that, on shorter or long putts, Valimaki says he ditches the line.
"On those putts I always felt like I was trying to get the line perfect... it's better to feel it. Try to feel the maximum break, and see the ball breaking off that."
