Scrambling MASTER Mac Hughes’ Elite Short Game Explained

Mac Hughes gets up-and-down from pretty much everywhere on the PGA TOUR, and he does it with one club. Mac explains why he only uses the 63° wedge on all short-game shots to Ryan Barath as the guys do a deep dive on Mac’s elite short game on the latest Data Driven, presented by CDW.

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as my short game has, you know, evolved and I’ve seen these stats, none of it just gives me that belief. So, I I carry that in my back pocket knowing like, hey, if I miss a green, you know, I do have one of the best short games on the tour. And this is like your insurance policy. [Music] [Applause] [Music] Hughes buries it. A beauty for Hughes. Unbelievable. How do you use the shot link data to evaluate your game and really focus on ways to improve? You know, the the shot link data for us has become really important. you know, guys now look to that data to see how they can make that quarter stroke improvement or that half stroke improvement over the course of a year. You know, it might even be like the scatter plots from a previous tournament, you know, and looking at like the best places to get up and down from, but also for my game, you know, like where where am I missing the ball consistently? And so that data can kind of lead me to those patterns and trends and I go to my coach and, you know, him and I can kind of make adjustments from there. So that that data is crucial and something I use a lot. To the 12th, the Canadian Mackenzie Hughes. A there you go. Talk about good short games. Demoralizing watching him chip. So why don’t you hit a few shots here? I’ve actually I got a computer with some stats that I want to talk to you about that I think uh really stand out from your game. Okay, let’s let’s hear it. So, when it comes to your golf game, you hold out 32 times, which led the PJ tour in 2024. Yeah. The longest was 147 yards. Yeah. And you did it 21 times from the fairway. You got to be kidding me. There’s an eagle the hard way. What What are you focusing on? Part of having a really good short game is, you know, can I chip this ball to inside three or four feet where it’s a virtual gimme and have low stress? I guess part of my rationale or part of the reasoning that my short game is so good is that I feel like I’m very good on your basic basic chip. And I know that sounds kind of, you know, ordinary and not that, you know, sexy, if you will. But I can get up and down from way over there, but I’m very good from just off the green. I’m very good with getting these balls close to the hole. And that’s why a few of them fall in every now and then. It’s just as important in your practice to be good here as it is from really tough spots as well. McKenzie Hughes at the par four. That helps. And Hughes holding it out at the sixth. So we got a holes over here. Why don’t you a couple shots over that way? [Music] What club you hitting here? This is a 63°ree. Probably not the club you would have expected me to have, but I would use this club for 90% of my short game shots, maybe more. So, would you say for juniors and amateur players, really focusing on mastering one club around the greens can really help with shot selection? Yeah, I think that you can really learn how to, you know, to create shots if you get really good with one wedge. I know how to hit this club sky high and down low on the ground. So I I I’ve got so many different shots with this club. All different trajectories and spins. Really like his technique with his short game. He’s one of the best on tour around the greens. If I was on this shot, I was like, man, I’ve got five different clubs I could hit right here. Well, that would create doubt and indecision where I get to the shot and I’m virtually certain every time I’m going to pull this club. You look out out here now on tour, there’s not many guys not chipping with a 60 or a 58 or a 62 just about every single time. And like I said, you you can do a lot with one wedge. Makes the short game, I think, simplified. That’s up to 16. And McKenzie Hughes considerably lower than the putting surface. The Canadian, another one from off the green. So over the last four years, you’ve actually improved your strokes gained around the greens every single time. What do you can account that to? I think part of it is, you know, I’m gaining I’m gaining belief in what I do. My technique has continued to evolve and improve. You know, I actually added some loft to my log wedge. So that loft helps me around the greens. Typically playing the PGA Tour, you want high and soft. Most weeks you’re, you know, you got pins three and four from the edge and you need height and you need softness and that’s what the extra loft gives me. But I can always take that wedge and turn it down. I can always make that less loft, but it’s always hard creating extra loft. It’s easier to take loft off of a higher lofted wedge for you than really adding it to something less. Yeah. Yeah. When I’m in greenside bunkers and I’m in deep rough, I do feel like that that extra 2 or 3° of loft has been helpful. And I’ve seen these stats like kind of tick down, you know, the last few years. And that that is a a comforting feeling like things are going sideways and you miss like, you know, three or four more greens than you thought you would in a round and you get them all up and down and then you keep momentum going and you keep the round going. So yeah, it’s it’s cool. It’s cool to have that. Kenzie Hughes, this is normally what he does best. Takes some courage to hit that shot. That’s a great up and down. So, we look at your 2024 stats. You were 94 from 96 inside of 10 yards. So, you had the second highest up and down percentage from inside 10 yards. It’s pretty impressive. Yeah. I mean, I’ve never seen that before and that’s pretty cool. I look at the basic chips, you know, as a huge part of my short game. So, like the chips from, you know, that intermediate rough just off the green, you’re you’re literally five, four steps from the pin. You know, those are like those little touchy short game shots that like again you you don’t think to practice a ton. Yeah, there’s an eagle off the green. But to me, it’s just as important to hit those little short ones and get really good at those because ultimately those are the ones you have the most. That’s a cool stat and something that Yeah, I’m pretty proud of. Second best in almost 20 years. Yeah, that’s cool. That is cool. [Applause] So, why why don’t you show us a few of those uh those those shots, then? When I practice short game, I wouldn’t stand in one spot for more than a couple of minutes. I think practicing short game is about practicing all lies, practicing different shots. And so I’ll I’ll set a timer for 30 minutes and I’ll go around the green and hit the different shot every single time. But my goal is to have three three hole outs in 30 minutes. So I’ll try and, you know, and and I might get that in 10 minutes. I might get it in I might not get it. But my goal is to hole out. I’m trying to chip these balls in the hole. Go right. Go right. Oh, go on. Oh, almost bananked it in. Kind of mindset, right? Like if you are trying to make it, I think sometimes you end up getting closer. Like if I was just trying to chip this ball close, I might hit it to 5t. Trying to make it, I might hit it three. But also at the same time, I’m not trying to be overly aggressive, but I am trying to just I’m trying to dye that ball right around the hole. So, if I can do it. Could be. Could be. Could be. Could be. Yes. There it is. Finally. Finally. Put my money where my mouth is. Well, thanks for thanks for doing this with us. Well, I I appreciate it and uh thanks for having me. [Music]