Tour putting coach shares a simple way to read greens

To make more putts, golfers need to read greens correctly. Even an excellent putting stroke will not help if the line and break are misjudged.

GOLF.com writer Zephyr Melton sought help from Stephen Sweeney, a GOLF Top 100 Teacher and PGA Tour putting consultant. In the latest episode of The Lab, presented by Baird, Sweeney shared a simple method for reading greens.

Golfers can read slopes visually or use the feel under their feet. Either way, they should first visualize the ball’s path to the hole and identify the apex of the putt’s arc. The apex, however, is not the start line.

“One of the things I think a lot of people struggle with when reading greens is they see the apex of the putt and they try to then aim their putt there,” Sweeney says.

The problem is that by the time the ball reaches the apex, it will already have broken below that point. When a putt is under-read, the ball has little chance of threatening the hole.

“People generally don’t play enough break,” Sweeney says.

To correct that tendency, Sweeney divides his putts into thirds. He stands behind the ball and visualizes a track he wants the ball to roll along toward the hole. He then marks each third with a ball mark.

Sweeney then rolls putts so the ball passes directly over each mark on its way to the hole. If it crosses every mark and goes in, he knows he read the putt correctly and matched the line with the speed. If the ball misses a mark or the hole, the issue may be in the read or the stroke.

“I generally give my [Tour pros] five different putts every day,” Sweeney says. “And they score themselves out of five based on if they got the read correct or not.”

Golfers can use the drill in their own practice. Once the ball consistently rolls over the marks and into the hole, they will be learning to read the slopes more accurately and match the chosen line with the speed.

The 2026 GOLF Top 100 Teachers Summit will take place Nov. 1-4 at Omni La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, Calif.