Young Tom Morris - Playing Style

Playing Style

Morris stood about 5'8" with a sturdy, wiry build, and had very strong wrists. He gripped the club with hands about one finger-width apart; this being a common technique at the time. He had a lengthy backswing, and generally swung quite hard on most of his longer shots, but kept some power in reserve. His long shots were usually low to medium in trajectory, and ran out to very good distances, comparable with most of his main rivals; this technique kept the ball in play, minimised trouble, and fought the wind very well. He was among the first players to intentionally shape shots, to curve in flight for shotmaking strategy. He invented a new use for the rut iron, a club designed to escape ruts from cart tracks on the course, not an unusual situation in the days before courses were extensively groomed. Morris used the rut iron, a lofted club similar to the modern sand wedge, as a pitching club for short approaches, hitting high shots over hazards, which sometimes landed with backspin, another innovation. This was a very difficult shot requiring great skill. Prior to this, the pure running approach, together with the chip-and-run, were the usual methods. He used the niblick (like a modern 9-iron) for similar purposes from further away; iron play evolved significantly by his examples, which were taken up by rivals. Morris was also an exceptional putter and chipper, virtually always giving the hole a chance, and won many encounters with clutch short shots. One golf historian wrote that Morris missed fewer short putts than any player he had ever seen. His putting method was unusual: he took an open stance and played the ball very close to his right (back) foot. Morris managed his game well, generally choosing high-percentage shots and routes over more risky options (akin to his father's style), but was rarely afraid to take a calculated risk (being more daring than his father). Morris often was able to raise his game when the pressure increased. When on form, his game was complete and without weaknesses. He was the first golfer in that category, and one of no more than a handful throughout golf history.