Jacob Bridgeman turned professional in 2022 with the reputation of being a great putter and very sharp around the green. However, from tee to green his consistency left much to be desired. In fact, the 26-year-old player from South Carolina himself confessed that he didn’t know the distance he achieved with his irons. Four years later, he has won the Genesis Invitational, one of the best tournaments on the PGA Tour, leading the strokes gained approach statistic. The story of this fabulous transformation has a father with a name and surname, and his name is Scott Hamilton.
This is how Bridgeman himself explained it after lifting the trophy alongside Tiger Woods at Riviera this Sunday. “From a technical standpoint, I used to have a lot of lean with the irons, and that would misalign the club, and the loft would change during impact.” Translated into layman’s terms, this means that the club didn’t always arrive at the ball with the same angle, so sometimes it would come out higher and more controlled, and other times lower and looser, significantly changing the distance achieved.
The lean is how much the hands are ahead of the club at impact. If that varies a lot, it changes the actual position of the clubface at impact. The result is that the club doesn’t always impact with the same angle, and the ball doesn’t always fly the same. For this reason, Bridgeman explains: “Now I know the distance the ball goes. I know it’s crazy for a professional to say, but now I truly know. Before, I didn’t know, and that has changed my game.”
The resolution of this problem came through Scott Hamilton, his coach. “He’s the smartest guy I’ve ever met. He found a way to change my golf swing without me really noticing over two years. I started working with him in the fall of ’22. I was pretty good, had talent, was a good putter, and a good player around the green. I didn’t hit the ball straight, didn’t hit it high, didn’t have much control with the irons. When I first saw him, he said: ‘Let’s do a couple of things, and in a year, we’ll look back, and your mind will be blown.’ And we did it. And then he told me the same thing: ‘Let’s do a couple more things. I’m not going to tell you everything I want to do now, but when it all comes together, it’s going to be great.’ Said and done.”
Bridgeman won at Riviera being the best in approach shots. “I had never led this statistic. Probably hadn’t even come close, I don’t think. I have done it before, however, with the putt, there I’m always good, but with approach, I had never come close. That’s entirely thanks to Scott because he’s done incredible things for me,” he notes. Bridgeman now has it so ingrained that he admits that during the final round, despite the pressure, he had no problems with approach shots. “It wasn’t hard for me, I was comfortable at all times in that area. I hit it in robot mode. I knew what I had to do and moved the club, nothing more,” he notes. Much credit to Hamilton.
Where Jacob does admit he felt the pressure was on the greens, precisely with the putter, his best club. “On holes 17 and 18, when Kitayama and McIlroy had already come very close and the situation was tighter, I had no idea what I was doing with the putt. I didn’t know how hard to hit it. Luckily, they were six-metre putts, and I could make two putts both times. If they had been nine-metre putts, I don’t know what would have happened.”
In this regard, about the pressure he felt this Sunday at the Genesis, Bridgeman recalled a funny anecdote with Chris Gotterup, a good friend of his. “After winning the Phoenix in the playoff against Matsuyama, I said: can you explain what happened to you in the playoff putt? Yes, you made it and won, but if it hadn’t gone in, you would have gone four metres past… Did you lose your mind or what? And he replied: I just couldn’t feel my hands, I didn’t know what I was doing. Back then, I thought he was crazy, but now, after what I’ve experienced, I completely understand what he was telling me. The same thing happened to me,” he notes.
Bridgeman also gave a lot of credit to his caddie, G.W. Cable. “I have to thank him because he came with me in 2022, right after I turned professional. I had a Korn Ferry Tour card, and he had plenty of bags to be on the PGA Tour. However, he decided to bet on me, earn less, and drop a tour. I hope it’s been worth it for him now,” he smiled.
Obviously, one of the nicest things about winning the Genesis Invitational is that the trophy is presented to you by Tiger Woods, the host. “For me, it was a dream, it’s what makes it more special. I grew up watching Tiger. I recommend watching his highlight videos when you’re bored. They never disappoint. He’s my idol. I’ve seen him do incredible things. When we walked down the clubhouse stairs to the trophy presentation ceremony, he said: ‘Take a good look at all this because it’s one of the most beautiful views in golf, the 18th hole, with all the people around, the sunset… Congratulations, you’ve earned it, you now have one more win than me here at Riviera.’ To which I replied: ‘Great, now I just have everything else left.'”
