Gary Woodland's putting coach burned social-media hater hard after Woodland's U.S. Open win
Stephen Hennessey
Harry How PEBBLE BEACH, CALIFORNIA - JUNE 16: Gary Woodland of the United States reacts after a birdie on the second hole during the final round of the 2019 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach Golf Links on June 16, 2019 in Pebble Beach, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
Phil Kenyon, Gary Woodland's putting coach, is an instructor to many of the top players in the world, including Rory McIlroy, and has developed quite the reputation as being one of the best putting coaches in golf. Kenyon's stature continues to build with Woodland's U.S. Open victory, with a resume that will speak for itself. Except, on Monday after his pupil's victory at Pebble Beach, he took to Twitter to send a burn to a Twitter user who criticized him in May, nearly two months ago.
Woodland credited his work with Kenyon, and how he simplified Woodland's approach to his putts, which helped him reduce the tension in his pre-putt routine and lessen his anxiety, as our Brian Wacker reported from Pebble. That helped Woodland gained an insane 8.2 strokes/putting on the field at Pebble Beach. Kenyon was having none of the criticism of one social-media egg, despite the burn coming long ago.
https://twitter.com/swashputting/status/1140598258886205440?s=21
RELATED: Gary Woodland's focus on putting pays off at Pebble Beach
Kenyon's work helped make Woodland a more complete player, as the 35-year-old has always struggled on the greens relative to his world-class ball-striking. Woodland had only three PGA Tour titles to his credit previous to his U.S. Open breakthrough, and Woodland converted on a 54-hole lead for the first time in his career.
The big-hitting Kansas native made putt after putt to save pars throughout the week at Pebble, with some huge pressure putts on Saturday and Sunday. Woodland credited his work with Kenyon (and coaches Butch Harmon and Pete Cowen, too) for that improvement, and Kenyon, with his tweet, is obviously making sure others are aware of his prowess.
We certainly are—and we've learned—you better not come at Kenyon. He'll remember the haters.
RELATED: U.S. Open 2019: You can't describe Gary Woodland as simply a bomber anymore
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