Johan Edfors -- Hitter
 

Johan Edfors today captured the Barclays Scottish Open, his third win on the European Tour in his last eleven starts. The 30-year-old Swede posted his closing round of 63 early and had to wait a bit before claiming the Trophy.

As the final groups finished, he repaired to the Practice Ground to warm up for what he thought was an inevitable Playoff. While that was not to be, viewers of The Golf Channel coverage were rewarded with a good look at his Stroke.

He's not at all 'big and burly,' and his Stroke is smooth as silk. Nevertheless, he looks like a Hitter to me!

The Show airs again tonight at 9:30 PM, and if anybody can capture that Practice Ground Stroke (or can provide another sequence), then we can have a go at analyzing his Action.

Yoda,

I am assuming here that you have not seen Edfors motion in frame by frame or slow motion. So if that's true what about his motion made you think it was a hitter from the coverage you saw???

Sorting Through the Instructor's Textbook.

B-Ray

Johan Edfors's Hitting Characteristics
 

I did do a Tivo slow motion of Edfors on the Practice Ground, but it only confirmed what I had already seen (which confirmation is why I stopped it down in the first place):

1. His high, still Clubshaft at the Top;

2. Drive Loading in the Start Down and minimum Accumulator Lag in the Downstroke;

3. Right Arm Throw to PUSH the Club through Impact;

4. All of which combined to produce an Automatic Angled Hinge Action into the Follow-Through.

The Action of an individual Component may be hard to spot in the flash of a given Stroke. However, the important characteristics produce a Motion that is readily identifiable. A Golf Stroke is a combination of its individual Components, their related tendencies and the resulting overall Motion. These are the things that catch the trained eye of the competent instructor.

He's on to something
 

With this win he is close to join the European Ryder Cup team, so we may see a lot more of him in September. As I recall he has gone through Q-school 7 times. From no previous wins to 3 wins in 2006.

Edfors started working with a new coach last year. Starting this year just outide top 400 on the world rankings and now well in top 50.

He is one of the longest on the European tour.

Crossing Paths With Johan
 

Thanks for these insights, Metallion. Judging from his post-round interview, he is also a very polite, well-spoken young man. I hope to see him in action personally at the 2007 Masters. If not there, then my guess is that, as the Barclays Scottish Open Champion, he definitely will be invited to the Barclays Classic at Westchester in New York next August, where LBG will once again be conducting their Golf Academy.

On second thought...

Now that the Barclays is the first of the four FedEx Cup playoff events, the field is limited to the low 144 year-long FedEx point qualifiers. And, as I understand it, each of these must be a PGA TOUR member. Given the non-eligibility of players such as Johan, that means that we could have a winner of one (or more) of the four Majors not eligible for the season-ending Big Bang. Hmmm...

Henning, can you tell us anything more about this newcomer to the scene of World Class Golf?

More
 

Johan seems to be a very popular fellow among his peers.

Henning is likely to have some insight since Johan grew up just south of Gothenburg. Same place as Fredrik Jacobson, who is of more or less the same age.

Johans instructor since last year is Rikard Fors. Recently named Swedens best instructor by Golf Digest. I'd guess Henning knows him and you (Yoda) may have met him if he was present at the PGA session in Tylösand earlier this year.

Rikard Fors was the coach who raised Fredrik Jacobsons to a winner. When Rikard took on Fredrik in 2003 he won three tournaments on the European Tour, among others the prestigeous Volvo Masters at Valderrama. Since then Fredrik has left Fors for Leadbetter.

I watched Edfors at US Open qualifying at Walton Heath. He looked pretty big and strong to me and had a body that appeared to have been developed with considerable amount of gym work. His ball flight is quite high and he generates a lot of spin.

Deceiving Looks
 

I guess it's the limitations of TV combined all those 'Thin Man' clothes the Swedes wear! :)

Johan certainly didn't have the look of a young Arnold Palmer -- known as the "Pennsylvania Strongman" prior to his coronation as simply "The King." :king:
Much less a Craig Stadler -- who in another time would have been your village blacksmith (or perhaps the Brewmeister). :occasion: