Maria Fassi explains each step of her green-reading strategy

It was solely 5 years in the past that LPGA professional Maria Fassi made her star flip.

On the inaugural Augusta National Women’s Amateur in 2019, Fassi — then a 21-year-old senior on the College of Arkansas — had a memorable final-round showdown with eventual champion Jennifer Kupcho, who triumphed by 4 photographs.

However Fassi, because the runner-up, made a grand impression, hitting bombs, sporting copper lenses in her aviator sun shades and smiling brightly on the cheering galleries. Fassi turned professional within the months following the ANWA, locking up big-name sponsors — a boon she says she attributes to the publicity she gained on the ANWA.

“I’ve acquired two sponsors that got here considerably from that, and truthfully different sponsors too, simply from people who labored for these corporations that have been there and witnessed what Jennifer and I have been capable of do,” Fassi told GOLF.com last year. “Golf-wise, I believe it was such an awesome booster for confidence for me then, and all of the gamers who’re doing it now.”

Fassi has thrived as an expert within the years since she made historical past on the ANWA, posting eight profession top-10s on the LPGA Tour. Placing is one in all Fassi’s strengths, and at a current LPGA event, she defined her green-reading course of and the way she approaches every putt she faces.

How Maria Fassi reads the inexperienced

Fassi begins her course of by trying on the putt from behind.

“Simply making an attempt to determine what the slopes are and stuff,” she says. “I even have notes in my ebook of little refined breaks that I’ve seen through the apply day. So I at all times have a tendency to have a look at that.”

Subsequent, Fassi takes a stroll across the putt to get a really feel for the slope, taking psychological notes of any runoffs. The stroll will finally take her to the opposite facet of the ball, so she will take a look at the putt from that angle.

“I attempt to learn my putt from either side, however I get most of my info, I believe, from once I’m on the opposite facet of the ball,” Fassi says. “I can see like a visible of what I’m considering the ball is gonna do.”

Fassi says trying from the opposite facet is vital for her, however if you happen to decide to not, you need to at the least get a really feel for what the terrain is doing across the gap.

“Simply by strolling, I believe you get lots of very worthwhile info,” she says.

As soon as the analysis is full, it’s time to line up. Fassi says she tends to make use of a line on her ball solely on shorter putts. On longer putts, she picks an intermediate spot to deal with.

On the putt Fassi hit whereas on digicam, her line was excellent, however the ball rolled about two ft previous the outlet.

“I used to be making an attempt to make it for you guys,” she mentioned with a smile, earlier than tapping in.

To see Fassi’s routine in its entirety, take a look at the complete video above.

Golf.com Editor

As a four-year member of Columbia’s inaugural class of feminine varsity golfers, Jessica can out-birdie everybody on the masthead. She will out-hustle them within the workplace, too, the place she’s primarily chargeable for producing each print and on-line options, and overseeing main particular tasks, corresponding to GOLF’s inaugural Fashion Is­sue, which debuted in February 2018. Her origi­nal interview sequence, “A Spherical With,” debuted in November of 2015, and appeared in each within the journal and in video type on GOLF.com.