This PGA Tour pro explains the ten percent lag putting rule

It can be easy to walk onto the green and think about holing every putt you look at.

Whether it’s from 20 feet, 30 feet or even further out, ideally we’d love to hole them all, but realistically that’s never going to happen.

Instead, being able to lag your ball to a tap-in range is going to give you more stress-free pars, and you might even knock a few in this way too.

Ben Crane, who has five wins on the PGA Tour, explained how he views putts from long range in a clip posted on Twitter.

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“The most important thing we’re going to do in lag putting is to understand the slope,” Crane says.

“That includes the amount of up-down slope and the side slope we have.

“This putt here, I’ve got about 35 feet, and it’s left-to-right by about five or six feet. Once I’ve completed that task, I click into a new task which is to match the speed.

“I like to do that by relaxing my hands and taking some deep breaths. I like to find a little window that’s about six feet out (short of the hole), and the last ten feet here is a little bit uphill and hard left-to-right.

“I’ll look at that spot and as I’m breathing and relaxing, I want to make sure the ball goes through that window with the proper amount of speed.”

Crane then hits the putt, which stops around two feet behind the cup. He goes onto explain that he aims to leave any lag putt within ten percent of the distance he started out at.

If he’s 40 feet away, for example, leaving his ball four feet away from the hole after his first attempt would be a good result.

“Remember the ten per cent rule,” the 47-year-old says.

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“If you’re 30 feet away, leaving a three-footer would be a great putt. That’s PGA Tour level putting.

“Once you get to 20 feet, the chances of you one-putting and three-putting get pretty similar. Mathematically, if you’re not leaving some 20 footers short, you’re putting too aggressively.”

Watch the full video on Ben Crane’s lag putting strategy below

Some thoughts on lag putting pic.twitter.com/XNu7PrBXIl

— Ben Crane (@bencranegolf) September 6, 2023

Lewis Fraser As bunkered’s Performance Editor, Lewis oversees the content that’s designed to make you a better player. From the latest gear to tuition, nutrition, strategy and more, he’s the man. A graduate of the University of Stirling, Lewis joined bunkered in 2021. Formerly a caddie at Castle Stuart Golf Links, he is a member of Bathgate Golf Club where he plays off four.

Performance Editor