Buried Lies? Don’t Be Afraid — Martin Laird Wasn’t

At last week’s Shriners event, Martin Laird made his way back to the winner’s circle and if you didn’t see his Sunday round, you missed two amazing golf shots by Laird.

The first came at the par five ninth hole when Laird’s three-wood into the green buried in the face of the bunker, close to the lip.  The talking heads declared it nearly impossible and that Laird would be lucky to make par.

Good thing Laird wasn’t listening.  He pulled off one of the finest buried lie shots you’ll ever see.  He hit right down on the ball — it popped straight up in the air, it only needed to carry a few feet and it did, landing softly on the fringe.  It then rolled downhill about 12 feet, directly into the cup for eagle three.

Buried lies in bunkers are something we all face from time to time so we’ve brought in Hall-Of-Famer Tom Watson to give a primer on playing the buried lie in a bunker.

click on this link for Tom Watson’s Primer on Buried Lies:

To review what Watson showed:

First, don’t open the club face.

Square the club face or maybe even close it a bit.

Brace against the inside of your right leg (assuming you’re right-handed).

Hit into the sand, making sure you drive the clubhead past the ball.

You don’t necessarily have to use a sand wedge.  Practice this shot with a pitching wedge or nine-iron, depending on how far the hole is from your lie.

And most of all — good luck.

Martin Laird sure found some last week.