“You can see his back still faces the target, and his hands are separat- ing quickly from his right shoulder,” Ted says. “That’s the hand speed I was talking about. His shoulders are quite level, too, so he can trap and cover the ball as well. He wants to feel that he’s covering the ball, not falling backwards and flipping the clubhead through.” Michael had three top-four finishes in his 2025 rookie campaign, and in August 2026 won the Rocket Classic in Detroit on 18-under 262. He was in contention at The Players Champion- ship in March before falling back with a final round 77.
ing too much of a draw. “For Michael’s stock shot, his shoul- ders are fairly aligned with the target line at impact, and his hands are clos- ing the clubface sufficiently enough to hit his patented little draw,” Ted says. Michael’s left knee also gives way in the backswing, which promotes a big hip turn and also keeps his hips fair- ly level at the top. With a reasonably steady head and level hips, Michael has a much easier time transferring his weight into the inside of his left leg in the downswing. That shift then lets him fire his hands down towards the ball to deliver real speed into the strike.
still on the down- swing,” which helps prevent him from coming in too steep on the ball. Lately, however, Thorbjorn- sen’s focus has been on creating more depth and keeping his hips level in the backswing. By rotating deeper into his right hip and getting his hands and the club further behind him on the backswing ( above, fourth image ), Thorbjornsen gives his “body more time to catch up” on the downswing, Ted says. At times, Michael’s hands can get too fast and out in front of his body, often produc- KNEE ACTION Thorbjornsen coils in a big way with the help of his left knee.
GOLF DIGEST SOUTH AFRICA 47
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2026
PHOTOGRAPHS BY MATT TANNEHILL
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