As if the US Open won’t be difficult enough, qualifier Austen Truslow will be taking on treacherous chip shots around Los Angeles Country Club one-handed.
The mini-tour pro raised eyebrows with his one-handed chipping technique in qualifying, when he earned a commanding victory in Florida to book his spot in the field for 123rd US Open in LA.
Practising your chipping stroke with one hand is commonplace, but taking it out onto the course, and in US Open qualifying no less, is a different story altogether.
The 27-year-old is sticking to his guns though, saying “I will be using the one-handed technique at the US Open this week” just ahead of the tournament.
Having played in a couple of PGA Tour events and a full season on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2020, Truslow knows his way around so it’s no gimmick that he uses just his right hand to chip in certain short game scenarios.
And in a similar way to last year’s US Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick, who chips cross-handed, the technique all came from a drill that just felt right to use on the course.
“I figured I needed to fix something or else I couldn’t play at the top level,” said Truslow. “I slowly implemented it in play, then implemented in tournaments and it stuck.
“I’m hitting more shots with two hands these days, but I still have a lot of confidence with the one hand.”
You’d imagine a lot of the devilishly thick rough around LACC will call for both hands to have a strong grip on the club to extricate the ball from its Bermudagrass jail – with chipping and pitching skills set to be at a premium this week.
Even if he doesn’t use it often, Truslow pulling out the one-handed chip shot, despite obviously feeling plenty of nerves, will be something to watch for this week.
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