[Yoda]

Tommy Armour was one of his era's finest golfers, winning the U.S. Open, the British Open, the PGA and a host of cash-prize tournaments. Pretty good for anybody, but particularly good for a guy who had been severely wounded and blinded in one eye in a World War I mustard gas attack.

He was also one of golf's most successful -- and expensive! -- instructors. He taught students whose skills ranged across the board from duffer to champion. They included the rich and famous and winners of national championships, both amateur and professional. Over time, his reputation as a teacher grew greater than his reputation as a player. To put it mildly...

The guy knew what he was talking about.

In 1953, he applied his brilliant mind to a little book he called How To Play Your Best Golf All The Time. He insisted that it be simple in narrative and illustrated only with a few line drawings (instead of the dozens of photographic sequences that had become de rigueur for golf texts of the day. The line drawings were limited to those Stroke alignments he deemed mission-critical. The book was an instant success, and it subsequently has been reprinted numerous times over the past five decades. In my next piece, I will discuss -- and illustrate from the book -- Tommy's grasp of the importance of the Head as the Pivot Center. And also, his thoughts on the geometry of the Stroke, the Flat Left Wrist and Clubhead Lag Pressure. There is much to learn.

The book has a special meaning for me, not only because of its content, but because I got an autographed copy at age 15. But the autograph is not that of Tommy Armour. No, it is much better than that...