Minnesota Golfer - Summer 2016 - 42

BACKSPIN
Match Play: A Different Animal
6M A5F? 7F5=;
Local champion golfer Don Berry is well acquainted
with both sides of match play.
G
ary Player had lost seven consecutive holes and was
6-down through 17 in a 36-hole World Match Play
Championship semifinal in 1965. He was wrestling
self-doubt and an uncontrollable hook when, according to
legend, his opponent, Tony Lema, sidled up to him and said,
" Don't worry, you're the U.S. Open champion, you'll be invited
back next year. "
Ouch.
But, as anyone who's had a boot to the neck or a neck to
the boot can attest, match play is never over until both brains
know it's mathematically over.
" You see it all the time, where a guy with
the lead just can't finish the other guy off, "
says Don Berry, director of golf at Edinburgh
USA and 16-time Minnesota Section
PGA Player of the Year. " In medal play, you
just keep making pars and add them up.
But match play is totally different. The guy
with the lead gets tentative and the guy behind
gets aggressive. "
Lema went 7-up with 17 to play. But
there's a reason people call this match " The
Great Comeback. " Player squared it on the
36th green and won it on the next hole.
And, yeah, they invited him back the next
year.
This fall, Minnesotans will play host to the greatest match
play event when the Ryder Cup comes to Hazeltine. Try not to
celebrate or surrender prematurely, folks.
The last time the Ryder Cup was held on American soil, the
home team led 10-4 at Medinah in 2012. After that, all most
of us remember is Ian Poulter's sweet putter, bulging eyes and
back-breaking birdies. Down 10-6 entering Sunday's singles,
Europe rallied for a 14 ½-13 ½ victory, matching the record
for largest final-day comeback set by the U.S. in 1999.
Berry certainly knows the peculiarities of match play. After
all, this man's resume requires two spotters to lift and a day off
to read. He's historically good (Minnesota Golf Hall of Famer),
agedly good (four-time reigning Senior Player of the Year)
and agelessly good (reigning Player of the Year at age 53).
40
MINNESOTAGOLFER Summer 2016
" But, " he says, " I'm probably not the one you want to talk to
about closing the deal. "
Berry laughs. He has won his section's match play title five
times. He's also lost it in the finals in each of the past four
years.
" It's weird, " Berry says. " This past year, I was 1-up with one
to go and hit a bad shot and made bogey on 18 and lost. I
don't normally lose leads in medal play, but I've had unbelievable
ways that I've lost in match play. "
A few years back, he was 4-up with five to go against Jeff
Sorenson, another titan in the Minnesota Section.
" It was a done deal, " Berry says. " I lost
a couple holes and I remember I missed a
short putt on 17 that would have won it.
Once that happened, I was still up but I
just knew I was going to lose the match. "
Another time, Berry was 4-down with
five to go in a semifinal. He birdied four
holes and won.
" It's all mind games in match play, " he
DON BERRY
says. " If you're 3-up with four to go, stay
aggressive and try to win 4 and 3. When
you start thinking, 'If I just tie the next two
holes ...' that's when bad things happen. "
Speaking of mind games, Berry says it's
important to study your opponent's mannerisms.
For
example, " If you both have short putts and he says,
'Good-good?' I'll say, 'Nah, let's putt them out,' " Berry says.
" If someone is asking for a putt, I figure he's nervous about
putting it. "
On the flip side, Berry says, " If I putt it up to a foot and a
half and the guy doesn't give it to me, I'm not offended.
" I know some people who get really upset if you don't give
them a 2 ½-footer. That's good because I think you can use
that to your advantage. Like I said, match play is just a different
animal. "
Mark Craig is the NFL/Vikings columnist and a golf writer for
the Star Tribune.
www.mngolf.org
http://www.mngolf.org
Minnesota Golfer - Summer 2016

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