JODI EWART WAS ONE OF 2012'S BIG CLIMBERS ... THANKS TO BELLY PUTTER

 

          JODI EWART    .... ROSE 147 PLACES IN RANKINGS DURING 2012

FROM THE GOLFWEEK WEBSITE
By JULIE WILLIAMS 
Golfweek.com takes a look at players who made significant moves up or down in the Golfweek/Sagarin Performance Index this year.
Check out the entire series here.
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JODI EWART from Yorkshire

Ranking/movement: +147 (No. 217 to No. 70)
Why the rise? Putting.

Jodi Ewart is one of the few female professionals who brandishes a belly putter. In the first year using the club, Ewart credits it with increased consistency and confidence on the putting green.
Putting might be the biggest factor in Ewart’s increased success in 2012, but if anchoring a putter becomes illegal as proposed in 2016, it doesn’t mean Ewart’s ranking will plummet. Ewart, in fact, isn’t worried about an anchoring ban.
“I’ve used the short putter my whole life, and I know it’s not going to be a huge (adjustment) to go back to it,” she said. “I’d definitely have to work a lot harder on my putting if that was the case.”
As a rookie in 2011, Ewart split her time between the LPGA and Symetra tours. In 2012, she played 21 events on the LPGA, including her first three majors.
“The mental aspect of being on the LPGA and feeling like I deserve to be there and I’m good enough to be there is one of the big things for me,” she said.
Ewart’s season might even have been better had she not had to deal with tendinitis in her left wrist. The injury became especially bad in July, after she had logged four top-20 finishes.
“It’s hard to be positive when you know there’s an injury there,” Ewart said. “The only thing that’s going to help it is rest and it’s hard to make yourself not play events and stuff because you really want to play.”
Ewart said she has a tendency to revert to the same bad habits, so she and long-time swing coach Andy Marshall will continue to work on getting a full turn and keeping her swing at only 60 percent.
“Sometimes I tend to swing a little bit too hard or get a little bit too anxious in my swing,” she said. “Sixty is always a good swing thought for me, just trying to slow it down and be more in control of my swing.
“If I’m enjoying playing golf, the results are hopefully going to follow. I enjoyed it the whole year.”