A big thanks to Pure Golf Blog for the following content:

Welcome to the latest episode of our Fly on the Wall Series, where we eavesdrop on PGA Tour coach Steve Bann as he works with some of his professional clients.

In this episode, Steve is working with LPGA Tour player Hee Young Park on her pitching and chipping. Steve is working to help simplify Hee Young’s technique so she can “free it up” and just concentrate on where she wants to land the golf ball. This is a money shot- having a good pitching game will help you make a bunch of birdies on par 5’s and short par 4’s while also helping you save par on long par 4’s or when you get into trouble off the tee. Enjoy!:

Sophomore slump? Don’t bother talking about anything of that sort to  Marc Leishman. The 2009 PGA Tour Rookie of the Year has started the 2010 season picking up right where he left off.

Leishman has made 3 out of 4 cuts with the highlight being a T2 finish in the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines. The Victorian finished one shot behind winner Ben Crane of the United States, and tied with fellow Aussie Michael Sim and American Brandt Snedeker.

Coming into the new season, Leishman was asked about his goals for the season:

“I think if I could just improve my game, that’s the main thing. If I can do that, I can improve, and the results will take care of themselves. I had a very good year last year. I guess I maybe went past my goals a little bit… It was great. Hopefully I can do better this year and see how we go.”

Leishman has also put in strong performances at the Northern Trust Open (T15) and the Sony Open in Hawaii (T20) with his sole disappointment of the season so far being a missed cut at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.

Don’t worry about him becoming complacent any time soon though:

“I knew that just because I got Rookie of the Year it didn’t mean I was all of a sudden going to become an unbelievable player,” Leishman said. “I knew I still had work to be done. I really didn’t take that for granted and I’m not taking the PGA TOUR for granted.”

This is exactly the kind of attitude that has Leishman’s coach Denis McDade of Bann Lynch Golf very excited about his prospects:

“Marc continues to grow as a player but there is no shortage of incredibly talented players out here on Tour” said McDade. “I think what’s really working in his favor is his belief in his own abilities and a very positive attitude towards enjoying his game, enjoying the process of getting better and enjoying the thrill of competition. I’m proud of what he has accomplished so far.”

The season is still young and it remains to be seen whether Leishman can sustain his run of good play for the rest of the year. However with this kind of positive attitude and the results to back it up, not many people would bet against him making it back into the FedEx Cup Playoffs this year after being the only rookie to do so last year.

5/12/09| Stuart Appleby might be a little disappointed that he didn’t win the 2009 Australian Open which concluded at the New South Wales Golf Club, La Perouse, NSW on Sunday. However his performance this week must have done wonders for his confidence as he played the kind of golf his supporters have longed to see this year.

Appleby seemed to be playing a tournament of his own the first two days, shooting two consecutive 66’s while playing on the tougher side of the draw in extremely windy conditions on the tough layout. He was several shots better than anyone playing on his side of the draw, and many onlookers called it some of the best golf they have seen for some time.

His coach Steve Bann said the following on Twitter:

Cameron Percy

Cameron Percy has had a memorable year by any standards. He finished 8th on the Nationwide Tour money list and won his card on the PGA Tour for next season. Percy has played solidly all year, but its a safe bet his latest round would have been one of the most memorable of his career.
After starting off the JB Were Australian Masters with a superb 5 under par 67 on Thursday, Percy immediately came into the media spotlight as one of the best Australian hopes for the week. Inevitably, with Tiger Woods’ presence creating an unprecedented amount of excitement in the tournament, questions began to be asked of Percy regarding a possible pairing with the great man over the weekend.
Questions that Percy couldn’t help but ask himself.
He admitted it was on his mind in his second round, when he shot a somewhat disappointing but respectable even par 72. Still, he was still in the hunt and needed a strong showing over the weekend to challenge for the title.

However, on the morning of the third round, Percy wasn’t feeling quite comfortable with his setup over the ball. This is where PGA Tour coaches really earn their money. Luckily for Percy, he had trusted coach Darren Cole on hand to have a look at his setup on the practice range and make a minor adjustment which immediately had him feeling a lot better about how he was striking the golf ball.
Percy shot 69 on Saturday and thanked “Coley” while being interviewed by Fox News later that day. He had something else to be happy about. As it turned out, he had his dream pairing with Tiger Woods for Sunday.
Percy couldn’t have had much sleep on Saturday night but he didn’t show too many nerves on what was probably one of the biggest days of his golfing career so far. The new PGA Tour member (he earned his card through the Nationwide Tour this year) kept it together beautifully to shoot an even par 72 to finish the tournament on -8 and earn a tied-6th position.

All of us at IIG would like to congratulate Cameron Percy and his coach Darren Cole on a wonderful and memorable week.

IIG players Cameron Percy and Roger Tambellini have secured what millions of golfers around the world can only dream of- a gig on the PGA Tour next season.

The pair were part of the top 25 players on the money list at season’s end on the Nationwide Tour who gain promotion to “the big dance” next year.

Cameron Percy

For Percy, who works with Darren Cole and trains at the IIG, it is vindication of a decision he made in consultation with his family and support team:

“Last year, my advisors and I thought about what would benefit me the most, Q-school or the Nationwide Tour. We decided that a year’s worth of experience and traveling outweighs trying to catch lightning in a bottle during the one week of Q-School and going to the PGA TOUR unprepared. The most important thing to me is not making sure I get to the PGA TOUR, but making sure that when I get there that I am going to stay there. I feel this prepared me for doing exactly that.”

Percy notched 7 top ten finishes on the Nationwide Tour this season with a highlight being a T-5th finish at the Nationwide Tour Championship. The 35 year old from Victoria, Australia finished 8th on the money list.

Roger Tambellini

For Roger Tambellini, who works with IIG co-director Dale Lynch, this year was a great learning experience in terms of understanding strategy and the importance of a positive mindset on the golf course:

“The Nationwide Tour is full of talent and aggressive players. This year I learned how to practice, and how much, so that when I step onto the first tee I am looking for birdies. Everyone says the Nationwide Tour is just like the PGA TOUR but on a smaller scale and that statement couldn’t be more true.”

That aggressive attitude paid handsome dividends for Tambellini this season, no more so than when he won the Ford Wayne Gretzky Classic. He notched 4 other top ten finishes to end up 9th on the Nationwide Tour money list.

All of us here at IIG would like to congratulate Cameron and Roger, also their coaches Darren and Dale respectively, on a great achievement. Best of luck next year!

Stuart Appleby came down to BannLynch Golf last week to work on his game with his longtime coach Steve Bann, before heading off to the U.S to play in the Fall Series on the PGA Tour.

It has been a tough year for Stuart on Tour with his best finish a tie for 8th at the Transitions Championship. However, having spent some time back in Australia, ‘Apples’ is raring to get back out there and make a strong push towards the end of the year to set himself up well for next season. Another goal for Appleby is to get a win under his belt so that he can make it into the SBS Championship in Kapalua (formerly known as the Mercedes Championship) which is limited to winners on the PGA Tour. He is a 3 time former winner of that tournament and it is sure to be a huge motivating factor for him as he heads back stateside.

Go ahead and enjoy watching one of the purest swings in all of golf. You will get to see all the work that goes in behind the scenes as a dedicated professional prepares himself for the toughest Tour in the world.

Stuart has been working with his coach Steve Bann since he was a junior golfer. In this session they were working on Stuart’s leg action, a good full upper body turn and a slightly lower position of the left shoulder through the ball.

Stuart will be working with Steve at the IIG once they both return to the U.S.

A special thanks to our friends at BannLynch Golf for the footage.

Marc Leishman has earned himself a place in the Tour Championship after finishing in a tie for 2nd place with Jim Furyk at -11, 8 shots behind runaway winner Tiger Woods.

Leishman, a rookie on the PGA Tour this year closed with a 69, having only advanced to the third round of playoffs at Cog Hill by making an eagle putt on his final hole last week at the TPC Boston. Now he’s headed to the Fedex Cup finale at the Tour Championship in a couple of weeks for an outside shot at $10 million, and is assured of making his first trip to the Masters.

“I’m in the Tour Championship now and the Masters,” Leishman said. “It’s pretty hard to wipe the smile off my face.”

Marc Leishman works with Denis McDade at the BannLynch Golf School in Melbourne, Australia. BannLynch Golf is the original academy set up by IIG co-directors Steve Bann and Dale Lynch in Australia which has played a big part in producing the so-called “Aussie Invasion” of the US PGA Tour.

All of us here at the IIG would like to congratulate Marc on an incredible first full year out on Tour, and we wish him the best for the Tour Championship at East Lake!