Tiger Woods won the Masters Tournament thanks in large part to his stellar iron play. Tiger’s first coach, Rudy Duran, analyzes Woods’ iron swing, frame by frame.
A big reason why Tiger Woods was able to win his fifth green jacket and 15th major title was his stellar iron play. Woods led the field in greens in regulation at Augusta National, hitting 58 of 72 greens overall and 47 of 54 over his last three rounds. For a detailed breakdown of Woods’ iron swing, check out the following frame-by-frame analysis from Golf Academy lead coach Rudy Duran, Woods’ first golf coach.
Tiger’s setup has always had a nice, balanced look to it, just as it does here in this mid-iron sequence taken several weeks prior to the Masters at The Players Championship. Nothing is contrived, meaning there are no extra tilts or angles to it.
As he turns away, his trail foot and knee and his head remain exactly as they were at address. His lower body is supporting a very comfortable torso turn; he’s not trying to reach or turn for anything extra.
Best Move: Tiger’s backswing reminds me of a door on a hinge - it’s a very quiet turn. His trail foot continues to support his weight as he rotates his torso around his trail hip. His head remains very quiet and his spine angle isn’t compromised in any way.
Tiger swings the club back to a very comfortable top-of-backswing position - not too long or too short. It’s the epitome of an efficient backswing, as there’s no dip down or lift up. He’s stacked right on top of his trail ankle, knee and hip.
As he starts down from the top and his hips and torso turn toward the target, he still remains very balanced and stacked over his trail foot. He simply turns back and turns through, like the other side of a swinging door.
You start to see a little air under Tiger’s trail foot as his hip and torso turn is now supported on his target side foot. His feet remain on top of the ground versus pushing down into the ground. He simply brushes the ball right off the top of the ground.
I used to take lessons from 1935 PGA champion Johnny Revolta and he liked to refer to this type of stress-free swing as a “do nothing swing.” It’s like Tiger is doing less but getting more out of his swing. He is so strong and his swing so super-efficient that he doesn’t have to work very hard to hit it far.
One of the things I worked on with Tiger when he was a young junior was his balance - he had to hold his balance until the ball hit the ground. He still swings in balance as well as anybody! This swing was in perfect balance. The only place the ball went from this swing was straight at the target!
Rudy Duran is the Golf Academy lead coach and director of instruction at Morro Bay Golf Course and Dairy Creek Golf Course in central California. Best known as Tiger Woods’ first golf coach, Duran began teaching the now 15-time major champion when Woods was 4, and continued to coach him till he was 10. He is also author of the book, “In Every Kid There Lurks a Tiger”, a book designed to help parents teach their children the basic fundamentals to play golf. For more information about Rudy Duran Golf or to book a lesson, please visit www.rudyduran.com.
