King Of Swing

Pete Cowen enjoyed modest success on tour, but he’s coached five Major Champions since 2010. Jeremy Ellwood finds out more about his life in golf...

How did you progress from playing into coaching?

I went to America in the 1970s and had lessons from Gardner Dickinson. He was one of Ben Hogan’s disciples and a great teacher. He gave me ten lessons over a two-week period, which were very expensive – $200 an hour, it was. But I was prepared to spend my money to try and get better. I’ve always been interested in technique and I wanted to know why I’d failed as a player. If you don’t learn from your mistakes, there’s something wrong.

How did your tour coaching start? 

It started with Ian Garbutt. As a 17-year-old he was the youngest English Amateur Champion. I started working with Ian when he was 12 or 13, and he evolved as I did. We called him Iron Byron – he could hit the ball incredibly well. His stats on tour from tee to green were unbelievable. But Ian was a poor putter, to put it mildly!

Is there one thing all the great players have in common?

 If you look through the ages, the body action, which is the engine, has to be perfect almost every time for you to hit a consistent shot. I always use the analogy of a perfect car. If you’ve got a perfect engine that you know is absolutely never going to break down and it’s got plenty of power when you need it; you’ve got the best steering in the world; and you’ve got the best driver and the best fuel, why does the car not drive very well? It’s simply because the linkage between the engine and the steering or transmission isn’t working very well.