Getting a grip

— Tom Watson gave former President Bill Clinton the best advice he ever received in golf - and perhaps in politics, too.

Clinton last week at the Humana Challenge in La Quinta, Calif., recalled the time he was in office and hosted the 1993 U.S. Ryder Cup team, when Watson was the captain and the Americans last won on European soil.

“The best political lesson I ever got from a golfer,” Clinton said. “And practically the best political lesson I ever got from anybody.”

Watson asked the president to grip a club, and immediately told Clinton that he was gripping it too tightly,a common mistake of average golfers. Watson showed him the proper grip, and Clinton was able to take the club out of his hands.

Then, Watson asked to see the grip again and focused on the position of his hands. And then came the lesson.

“He said, ‘Golf is the way politics is,’ ” Clinton said. “‘If your grip is too far to the right, you’re going to get in trouble on the left. But if your grip is too far to the left, you’re going to get in big trouble on the right.”’

As the laughter subsided, Clinton finished the lesson.

“The trick is for your grip to be just right,” he said. “Worth remembering these days.”

Sports, Pages 18 on 01/23/2013

Upcoming Events