Reading the green is a vital part of mastering your golf skills. And understanding the line on the shortgrass is certainly an important part of it. But Gary Player states that players often forget that understanding the speed is just as important and ruin their shot.

“Recognizing green speeds isn’t just a technical detail; it’s the difference between saving par and surrendering strokes. It teaches discipline, touch, and imagination, all of which are essential to scoring. If golfers spent as much time studying pace as they do line, they would see remarkable improvement in their short game. GP,” wrote Player on X.

Being a Grand Slam champion, he would certainly understand the importance of reading the green accurately. Player’s ability with the putter from short distances, particularly 10 feet or under, was unmatched. He was able to sink crucial putts under pressure in critical moments to give him a big advantage. It proved to be his strength during his journey in winning nine major titles.

His advice about putting completely makes sense. While reading the line is vital, it’s also an extremely difficult art to master. You can’t always predict if the ball will roll exactly how you predicted. But if you have a great understanding of the pace of the green, then you will have better control over your putts.

Players who can judge the pace of the green can control the speed of the ball as well as the angle. So even if the ball isn’t on the correct line, it won’t roll way past the cup. Attention to such details can be the difference between a birdie and a bogey. And that’s what great players like Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy pay attention to.

Interestingly, not having fast enough greens can also prove to be costly in certain events. Keegan Bradley reflected on that recently.

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Poorly paced greens may have cost Team U.S. the Ryder Cup

After the events at Bethpage, fingers were pointed in all directions for Team U.S.’s loss. Many blamed the fans for their outrageous behavior. The team also bore the brunt of their poor performance. But Keegan Bradley thought the greens could have been more challenging.

During the Hero World Challenge 2025 press conference, Bradley said, “The greens are so flat that it’s difficult, I think, to get the pace that we were looking for. The home team handed over specifications. The crew delivered. But Bethpage’s flat greens made it nearly impossible to keep pace with the desired pace.”

While Bradley tried to remain neutral, his statement does suggest that he didn’t find the greens to be satisfactory. Either way, the Team U.S. captain is still frustrated about the loss. If the surface was easy to play on, then Scheffler & Co. would have also been able to dominate it just like Team Europe did in the 2025 Ryder Cup.