-- After finishing the first half of the tour, how close do you feel to getting your second career win?

Hara
My golf game itself is not bad at all, but I’m just not posting good scores. I would expect that my scores would be slightly better, but if I really look hard at how I’m playing, my putts are just not falling. Better putting will, of course, lead to better scores, but I haven't been able to sink the kind of putts in the middle of rounds that would help put me in position to battle for the top spot. The actual number of mistakes I make hasn’t changed that much, it's just that my mistakes are big. And those mistakes end up as bogeys.

-- You’re not able to establish momentum…

Hara
If I can't recover from a one-time mistake and I end up with a bogey, that definitely kills my momentum. When that happens, I have to be super careful with my shot, and I can’t aim for the pin. Or, if I start to play really well and I aim straight for the pin, a major disaster is definitely just waiting to happen. When I’m able to overcome a big mistake by saving par, I feel that I can charge ahead without changing the flow of my round.
If I’m able to latch on to one good thing, the complexion of my round can change. But that’s not something I can really plan. I can only remind myself that those chances will definitely present themselves and keep practicing and playing hard.

-- It’s definitely hard to see the flow your game yourself. But, aside from practicing, is there anything else you do to make sure you can take advantage of chances that come up?

Hara
From about a month ago, I added the 500 WEDGE type02 to my set. The standard loft is 48 degrees, but I had the loft pushed back to 49.5 degrees.

-- What was the reason for adding the club?

Hara
The reason is that I get a lot of flight distance from my irons and the difference in distance compared with my pitching wedge and my approach wedge has increased a lot. With the addition of one more wedge, in tournaments I get rid of either my 3 wood or my 5 wood depending on the layout of the course.

-- For achieving better scores, an often expressed opinion is that having more wedges so that fine distinctions can be made with distance and a player can be ready for various types of approach shots is a better strategy than having more woods that provide distance.

Hara
Right. In my case, by adding the 500 wedge, I have a wider range of options with my second shot on par five holes. With a regular pitching wedge, I get 120 yards of carry with a full-on swing. With a full-on swing with the 500 wedge, I can get 102 yards shooting with the wind and 98 yards shooting into the wind. For that reason, I think it’s necessary to adjust the loft of the club a bit to stabilize the carry distance, but the club is helping my game right now.