5 Most Distinct Swings on TOUR

Walking the range at PGA TOUR events is one of my favorite ways to spend time on site. A golfer’s swing is like a fingerprint. There are common threads—tempo, setup, release—but zoom out and no two are ever truly the same.

Adam Scott famously went to Butch Harmon and told him he wanted to swing exactly like Tiger Woods. To his credit, it may be the closest thing we’ve seen to the GOAT’s move, but it’s still undeniably his.

That’s what makes golf great: it doesn’t matter how your swing looks. There are “ideal” positions and proven mechanics, but if the ball goes where you want it to, your scorecard couldn’t care less how Instagram-worthy your swing is. With that in mind, here are five of the most unique swings on TOUR – not because they’re perfect, but because they are impossible to ignore.

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Scottie Scheffler

I almost left him off because it’s become so obvious. Scottie can’t go three holes without a broadcast mentioning his footwork. But repetition doesn’t make it less absurd that the best player since Tiger looks like a 20-handicap in a bar fight with the ground.

Because all eyes go to his feet, another detail gets overlooked: his lead arm. From junior golf on, you’re taught to keep your lead arm straight. Scheffler ignores that completely. His left arm softens at the top and even into transition.

His swing is the purest definition of “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

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Hayden Buckley

Golfers love to cosplay their favorite swings. They bow the wrist like Dustin Johnson or pause at the top like Hideki Matsuyama. But I’d love to see someone try to copy Hayden Buckley.

Just before takeaway, he hovers the club. That part isn’t unique — plenty of players do it. What is unique is how high he lifts it. It’s not an inch. It looks like a foot.

Then the rest of the swing? Totally normal. Slightly outside, drops beautifully into the slot, modern sequencing.

I’d try it myself on the range, but I value the safety of the people standing next to me.

Michael Brennan

If you want to show someone a textbook modern golf swing, show them Michael Brennan.

Where Scottie and Buckley feel homemade, Brennan’s swing looks like it was built in a lab. He does everything “right,” and the speed looks effortless. The most impressive part? How quiet his lower body is through impact.

He still fires his lower body aggressively, but when players create that much speed, you often see the lead foot jumping, spinning, or sliding. Brennan’s lead foot still moves — but it’s controlled.

Clean. Quiet. Violent in the right places.

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Cameron Young

If you Google “golfer who pauses at the top,” Hideki’s name will come up first. He’s the king of the pause. Cameron Young is next in line for the throne.

Unlike Hideki, his hands sit farther away from his head with less wrist hinge. That extra space lets him create serious power on the way down.

That kind of loading makes it easier to deliver the hands ahead of the clubhead at impact — and that’s a ball-striking cheat code.

He also uses the ground extremely well. Pausing at the top is a great drill for players who tend to throw their upper body over the top. It teaches the lower body to start the downswing instead of the shoulders — and that’s why his move works.

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Max Homa

Has it always been perfect? No. He has a bad habit of getting the club stuck behind him and trap himself in transition. However, he’s been hard at work the last year to rid himself of this.

But the tempo? Unreal.

I would walk barefoot across miles of Legos to have even a fraction of that rhythm. When your swing looks that smooth, it’s no surprise he closes tournaments the way he does. Pressure gets quieter when your motion feels repeatable.

My favorite swing on TOUR.

He’s also one of the best iron players on TOUR. Part of that is tempo, but he also covers the ball as well as anyone alive. He’s one of the few guys who makes that noise™ with irons.

I could sit behind him on the range for hours.

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