Once More With Feeling

SIMPSONVILLE, SOUTH CAROLINA | When Brendon Todd was lost in golf’s wilderness with every full swing feeling like a potential trap door into deeper darkness, a friend suggested he check out online video lessons posted by former touring pro Bradley Hughes.

With nothing but a terrifying big miss to the right to lose, Todd was intrigued by what Hughes – a native Australian now living outside Greenville, S.C. – was showing and telling prospective students through the magic of the internet.

Todd, a former PGA Tour winner whose career had cratered to the point he was considering a new path in the pizza business, had been through enough teachers and lessons to write his own book on how not to get better.

But something about what Hughes was saying – and the methods he employed – felt right to Todd. He bought Hughes’ online book, The Great Ballstrikers, and a career resurrection had begun.

“What he teaches is grounded in common sense and grounded in experience,” said Todd, who has won twice in the 2019-20 season and is ranked 43rd ...