Steve Flesch tinkers his way back into prominence with win at Ascension Charity Classic

Steve Flesch, 56, will not be the last guy on the range. Three shoulder surgeries and a neck surgery to repair two blown discs have seen to that.

Plus, that’s really not who Flesch is. He’ll readily admit he’s a perfectionist -- he believes most professional golfers are – and a thinker who likes to tinker.

So it was that he somehow solved a year’s worth of problems on his flight from Cincinnati, Ohio, (near his Kentucky home) to St. Louis for last week’s PGA TOUR Champions Ascension Charity Classic. He got inside his own head and analyzed his swing. No video needed. Flesch is a player who knows his swing inside, out and sideways.

The result was something that might never have been achieved in golf history. Flesch recorded his three lowest rounds of the year in the same event en route to winning for the fourth time in his Champions Tour career.

“That’s wild, right? Griffin (Flesch’s son and sometime caddie) and I were driving back from St. Louis, and we laughed at just like looking at my last five events, how bad they were,” the lefthander said. “As I was flying up to St. Louis, I just was kind of thinking like, why has my ball-striking been so cruddy all year? I’ve not been hitting it in the middle of the face, clanking my irons and not driving it great. Just not my norm, really. I'm not saying I'm some pure ball-striker, but I generally can find the middle of the face.

“This year it's just kind of been off, and I was analyzing my ball flight and kind of working my way back through my golf swing about what produces the ball flight. I've been kind of just clanking around out there this year. And I realized that I've been cutting my shoulder turn off and not getting behind the ball enough. My first move down was kind of, so to say, maybe over the top of it a little bit. Even though I clear really hard, it's hard for me to get over the top. But the bottom line is I was steep and in front of the ball, and I just worked on basically completing my shoulder turn.”

Before firing rounds of 66-66-62 to break away from the field at Norwood Hills Country Club, Flesch had been in funk. After consecutive top 10s at the KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship, Principal Charity Classic and American Family Insurance Championship, he withdrew after an opening-round 77 at the U.S. Senior Open and WD’d his next time out, at the Kaulig Companies Championship, after shooting 72-83.

“I hit it really bad at the U.S. Senior Open and hit it even worse at Firestone (Kaulig) and just was frustrated,” Flesch said. “And that’s what those two WDs were. I didn’t want to continue. They say you can work it out, you know, that you're only one swing away, but at that time I was like, ‘I'm not one swing away. I’m at a loss.’”

Flesch skipped The Senior Open Championship presented by Rolex in Wales, so he didn’t play a competitive round between July 14 and Aug. 11. As he said, he hit the reset button. He said even when he came back he wasn’t playing well, and according to him his putter “went haywire” at the Shaw Charity Classic in Calgary, where he tied for 33rd.

Ever the tinkerer, Flesch went back to a long putter for the Ally Challenge. He had last used it about two and a half years ago. He felt like he made some good putts in the event outside Detroit, but he had trouble with his speed. The result was a tie for 36th, but at least he felt better about what he could do on the greens.

Once he got to St. Louis two days before the event, he went straight to the range to put his new thoughts on his shoulder turn and swing plane into practice. He immediately felt better with the driver. The irons came along, too. The ball wasn’t leaking weakly to the left as it had been.

Game on.

After the pair of 66s, Flesch entered the final round two strokes out of the lead. He told his son, who was on the bag and with whom he hadn’t won as his caddie, that he felt like a good start on Sunday would be the key.

Flesch noted that when he won at the Mitsubishi Electric Classic in Greater Atlanta last year, he was five under through six holes during the final round. And when he won the PURE Insurance Championship at Pebble Beach later in the year, he birdied the first four holes on Sunday.

So what happened on Sunday in St. Louis? Flesch started birdie-eagle-birdie-par-birdie-birdie, six under through six holes.

“I was thinking, 'Wow, OK' -- like not 'Here we go,' but this is the start I needed to give me the confidence and a chance to win,” Flesch said.

Striping drives, flushing irons and rolling in putts from everywhere, Flesch closed with a tournament record 9-under 62. Only two players, Richard Green and Mark Hensby, were able to play the final round within four shots of him. They each carded 65s. Flesch led the field in putting average.

Flesch moved from 37th in the Schwab Cup standings to 21st, and he could be a major factor down the stretch. He’s flying to South Dakota on Wednesday for the Sanford International, where he has three top 10s in three appearances. Then he’ll defend his title at Pebble Beach.

“I hadn’t been in contention in so long,” Flesch said. “It was nice to be hitting shots that mattered.

“I’m not saying I figured it out. But what I worked on last week certainly put me a step in the right direction to at least striking it better. Sure, I ran the tables on the green on Sunday. You know, that doesn't happen often. But I had one of these days where I combined a lot of good shots with some putts that found the hole and lo and behold, I shot 62. It was a perfect storm.”

Plus, that’s really not who Flesch is. He’ll readily admit he’s a perfectionist -- he believes most professional golfers are – and a thinker who likes to tinker.

So it was that he somehow solved a year’s worth of problems on his flight from Cincinnati (near his Kentucky home) to St. Louis for last week’s PGA TOUR Champions Ascension Charity Classic. He got inside his own head and analyzed his swing. No video needed. Flesch is a player who knows his swing inside, out and sideways.

The result was something that might never have been achieved in golf history. Flesch recorded his three lowest rounds of the year in the same event en route to winning for the fourth time in his Champions Tour career.

“That’s wild, right? Griffin (Flesch’s son and sometime caddie) and I were driving back from St. Louis and we laughed at just like looking at my last five events, how bad they were,” the lefthander said. “As I was flying up to St. Louis, I just was kind of thinking like, why has my ball-striking been so cruddy all year? I’ve not been hitting it in the middle of the face, clanking my irons and not driving it great. Just not my norm, really. I'm not saying I'm some pure ball-striker, but I generally can find the middle of the face.

“This year it's just kind of been off and I was analyzing my ball flight and kind of working my way back through my golf swing about what produces the ball flight. I've been kind of just clanking around out there this year. And I realized that I've been cutting my shoulder turn off and not getting behind the ball enough. My first move down was kind of, so to say, maybe over the top of it a little bit. Even though I clear really hard, it's hard for me to get over the top. But the bottom line is I was steep and in front of the ball, and I just worked on basically completing my shoulder turn.”

Before firing rounds of 66-66-62 to break away from the field at Norwood Hills Country Club, Flesch had been in funk. After consecutive top 10s at the KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship, Principal Charity Classic and American Family Insurance Championship, he withdrew after an opening-round 77 at the U.S. Senior Open and WD’d his next time out, at the Kaulig Companies Championship, after shooting 72-83.

“I hit it really bad at the U.S. Senior Open and hit it even worse at Firestone (Kaulig) and just was frustrated,” Flesch said. “And that’s what those two WDs were. I didn’t want to continue. They say you can work it out, you know, that you're only one swing away, but at that time I was like, ‘I'm not one swing away. I’m at a loss.’”

Flesch skipped The Senior Open Championship presented by Rolex in Wales, so he didn’t play a competitive round between July 14 and Aug. 11. As he said, he hit the reset button. He said even when he came back he wasn’t playing well, and according to him his putter “went haywire” at the Shaw Charity Classic in Calgary, where he tied for 33rd.

Ever the tinkerer, Flesch went back to a long putter for the Ally Challenge. He had last used it about 2½ years ago. He felt like he made some good putts in the event outside Detroit, but he had trouble with his speed. The result was a tie for 36th, but at least he felt better about what he could do on the greens.

Once he got to St. Louis two days before the event, he went straight to the range to put his new thoughts on his shoulder turn and swing plane into practice. He immediately felt better with the driver. The irons came along, too. The ball wasn’t leaking weakly to the left as it had been.

Game on.

After the pair of 66s, Flesch entered the final round two strokes out of the lead. He told his son, who was on the bag and with whom he hadn’t won as his caddie, that he felt like a good start on Sunday would be the key.

Flesch noted that when he won at the Mitsubishi Electric Classic in Greater Atlanta last year, he was 5 under through six holes during the final round. And when he won the PURE Insurance Championship at Pebble Beach later in the year, he birdied the first four holes on Sunday.

So what happened on Sunday in St. Louis? Flesch started birdie-eagle-birdie-par-birdie-birdie, 6 under through six holes.

“I was thinking, wow, OK, like not here we go, but this is the start I needed to give me the confidence and a chance to win,” Flesch said.

Striping drives, flushing irons and rolling in putts from everywhere, Flesch closed with a tournament record 9-under 62. Only two players, Richard Green and Mark Hensby, were able to play the final round within four shots of him. They each carded 65s. Flesch led the field in putting average.

Flesch moved from 37th in the Schwab Cup standings to 21st, and he could be a major factor down the stretch. He’s flying to South Dakota on Wednesday for the Sanford International, where he has three top 10s in three appearances. Then he’ll defend his title at Pebble Beach.

“I hadn’t been in contention in so long,” Flesch said. “It was nice to be hitting shots that mattered.