Jim ‘Bones’ MacKay was announcing on-course at the US Women’s Open at Riviera. When he saw this sidehill shot Gaby Lopez had on the 18th hole during the third round, he said: “This could literally go anywhere.” And he was right, the ball was so far below Lopez’s feet, sitting down in the thick, ensnaring Kikuyu rough, no one would’ve blamed Lopez if she sent this one wayward. But she didn’t. Her ball came to rest on the fringe, just short of the green.
From this to par⁉️
Gaby Lopez with ANOTHER exceptional shot to stay in contention.
📺: NBC pic.twitter.com/nZk8o7ug8O
— Golf Channel (@GolfChannel) June 7, 2026
Jason Guss, a Golf Digest Best In State Teacher out of Naperville (Ill.) Country Club, says that this is a great shot for average golfers to study, because what Lopez gets right here is what average players often get wrong.
1. Get low… really low
The first thing she does is get into a really low, squatted posture. With the ball so far below her feet, she needs to get her body lower to the ground so that she doesn’t top it. The angle of the sidehill naturally shifts your body towards the ball. To counter that, Guss says Lopez puts more weight in her heels.
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“With the hill pulling your weight to your toes, you can shank it from there. Gaby’s done a good job of keeping her weight in the heel. The deep squat helps her do this,” Guss says.
2. Stay down through the entire swing
To successfully hit this shot, she has to stay down during the entire swing. Look at the angle of her spine at the address. If she comes out of that angle, she has no chance of hitting it solidly.
“In this shot, she stays in a forward bend throughout the swing to stay down,” Guss explains. “Average players, they’re too upright at setup and then in the through swing, they have the idea of straightening their legs and finishing their swing. You can’t do that in this shot. You have to stay low throughout. Here, Gaby knows that she has to stay in a forward bend. She stays low through impact, and into the finish.”
Bones has seen enough golf to know how hard that shot is. But if you do it properly, you can still make good contact even when the ball is far below your feet.
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