Haeran Ryu, Steven Fisk and Tom Kim showed why pressure putting starts with resetting for the next shot.
Compiled by Multiple-Award-Winning PGA Professional Brendon R. Elliott, PrimePutt’s Director of Instruction and Lead Writer
Some putting lessons begin with the stroke. This one begins after the ball stops rolling.
That is when a golfer has to absorb what just happened, leave it where it belongs and prepare to perform again. A made putt can create excitement. A miss can produce frustration. A long wait can interrupt rhythm. A playoff can send players back to a hole they thought they had already finished.
The best putters do not pretend those emotions or interruptions do not exist. They simply refuse to let the previous moment become the instruction manual for the next one.
Haeran Ryu demonstrated that at the Amundi Evian Championship. Steven Fisk lived it through three extra trips down the closing hole at the ISCO Championship. Tom Kim showed another version at the Genesis Scottish Open, where exceptional ball-striking reduced the difficulty of his putting assignments before he handled one final four-footer.
The common skill was not producing one perfect stroke. It was re-entering the job.
Ryu Had to Finish the Evian Championship Twice
Ryu began Sunday with a three-shot lead after shooting 60 in the third round, the lowest 18-hole score at a major championship in LPGA Tour history. The final round felt nothing like that record-setting Saturday.
Brooke Henderson charged with a second consecutive 64 and made three eagles in the final round, including one on the 72nd hole. Ryu, who had played the first 17 holes in 1 over, answered with her first birdie of the day at No. 18 to reach 19 under and force a playoff. She then returned to the finishing hole and made another birdie to win her second consecutive major championship.
That sequence matters because Ryu could not simply recreate her regulation birdie. She had returned to the same green, but not the same putt. The approach, position, read and consequence had changed.
This is where golfers frequently make a subtle mistake. After succeeding once, they try to reproduce the sensation of the previous stroke. They remember how the putter felt, how hard they hit it or how confident they were. The better response is to gather new information and solve the new putt.
Ryu did not need yesterday’s 60 or the feeling of her first birdie on 18. She needed one more committed read and roll.
Fisk Kept Returning Until Par Was Enough
Fisk and Taylor Pendrith finished the ISCO Championship tied at 16 under, then returned to Hurstbourne Country Club’s 18th hole for sudden death.
They parred the hole twice. The hole location was changed before their third playoff attempt, removing any temptation to rely completely on what they had just seen. On that final trip, Fisk split the fairway, found the green 28 feet from the hole and eventually converted a three-foot par putt to secure his second PGA Tour victory.
Nothing about that finish required Fisk to manufacture a heroic putting stroke. It required him to stay patient long enough for an ordinary par to become the winning score.
That is a useful lesson for golfers who believe pressure always demands something special. It usually demands the opposite. The situation may be unusual, but the skills should remain recognizable: read the putt, select the pace, aim the face and make the stroke.
The third playoff hole was not an invitation to try harder. It was another golf hole that needed to be completed.
Kim Shows That Pressure Putting Begins Before the Green
Kim’s Scottish Open victory should not be rewritten as a putting triumph simply because this is a putting column.
He won by two shots after a bogey-free final-round 64 and led the field in Strokes Gained: Tee to Green at 12.220. His ball-striking created separation and allowed him to reach the final green with control of the tournament. He still had to finish the job, holing a four-foot par putt on No. 18 to complete his first PGA Tour victory in 1,001 days.
There is a putting lesson inside that distinction.
Golfers often treat pressure putting as something that begins after they mark the ball. In reality, approach-shot strategy determines the difficulty of many pressure putts. Playing toward a safer section, avoiding the wrong side of a slope or leaving an uphill putt can make the final task considerably simpler.
Kim’s putter did not have to rescue a poorly managed closing round. It had to finish the opportunities his tee-to-green game created.
What This Week Teaches About Re-Entry
The dangerous thought after a big putt is, “Do that again.”
You cannot do it again. That putt is over.
The next putt has a different distance, slope, pace requirement and consequence. Even when players return to the same hole, as Ryu and Fisk did, they are facing a new assignment.
A better question is: What does this putt require now?
That question directs attention toward current information rather than the emotional residue of the previous result. It also prevents golfers from speeding up after a miss, becoming overly careful after a make or assuming that a familiar putt deserves less preparation.
The PrimePutt Drill of the Week: The Re-Entry Circuit
This drill removes the comfort of hitting the same putt repeatedly. It forces you to leave a station, perform a different task and return with fresh attention.
Setup
Create two stations:
-
Station A: A six-foot putt with a small amount of break.
-
Station B: A 20- to 30-foot lag putt with a three-foot target circle around the hole.
When practicing indoors on a PrimePutt mat, use the longest available putt for Station B and create a pace window with two ball markers or coins.
Procedure
-
Hit one putt from Station A.
-
Move to Station B and hit one lag putt.
-
Return to Station A, read it again and hit a second putt.
-
Complete five circuits, using your full routine before every stroke.
Do not rake another ball into place. The movement between stations is part of the drill.
Scoring
-
First Station A make: 1 point.
-
Station B putt inside the target zone: 1 point.
-
Return putt at Station A: 2 points.
-
Five circuits produce a maximum score of 20.
Start with a target of 12 points. Once you reach 15 or better in two consecutive sessions, add break to Station A or reduce the size of the lag-putting target.
Purpose
The return putt carries the most value because it measures whether you can shift tasks, reset your attention and perform again. That is closer to golf than standing in one place and rolling 10 balls along the same line.
Your Re-Entry Checklist
Before the next putt:
-
Leave the previous result behind.
-
Read the current putt from fresh angles.
-
Choose the intended pace and line together.
-
Make one rehearsal connected to that pace.
-
Ask, “What does this putt require now?”
YTD Putting Watch
Data checked: July 13, 2026
PGA Tour SG: Putting Leaders
-
Vince Whaley, +0.787
-
Akshay Bhatia, +0.681
-
Jacob Bridgeman, +0.675
-
Sam Burns, +0.662
-
Jake Knapp, +0.589
LPGA Tour Average Putts Per Round Leaders
-
Hyo Joo Kim, 28.14
-
Mi Hyang Lee, 28.18
-
Minami Katsu, 28.38
-
Alexa Pano, 28.46
-
Patty Tavatanakit, 28.49
These categories should not be compared directly. PGA Tour SG: Putting measures performance relative to the field from specific putting locations. LPGA Tour Average Putts Per Round counts total putts and can be influenced by greens hit, proximity and scrambling patterns. Each provides useful context, but they measure different aspects of putting performance.
The Everyday Golfer Takeaway
Most golfers do not struggle because they lack the physical ability to make another good stroke. They struggle because the last putt follows them to the next one.
A miss makes the next routine faster. A make creates extra caution. A long wait disrupts tempo. A familiar line encourages a careless read.
The solution is not forgetting everything that happened. It is understanding that the last putt provides information, not instructions.
Final Roll
Ryu had to birdie the finishing hole twice. Fisk returned to No. 18 until a routine par became a winning score. Kim used outstanding ball-striking to create manageable putting assignments, then handled the final four-footer.
Pressure did not ask each winner the same question. That is precisely the point.
Great putting is not only the ability to produce a stroke when the moment becomes important. It is the ability to recognize that every putt, even one you have seemingly faced before, deserves a new read, a clear decision and your full attention.
Pressure Putts drops every Monday with the week's best putting stories, stats and drills from the PGA Tour, LPGA Tour and DP World Tour. Got a putting question or drill request? Drop us a line.
