Woosnam: "You've got to be more like anywhere from five foot ten to six foot four to play this game now"
/Ian Woosnam at the BMW Championship, with help from the assembled inkslingers:
Q. What do you think of the modern obsession with fitness regimes, diets, coaches, all the stuff that goes on, head coaches?
IAN WOOSNAM: I think obviously once you see some players doing it and if you want to get to that standard, and they are successful at doing it, everybody has got to go along with it.
I think obviously these times and days, professional golf, it's a highly, highly tuned sport and very physical now. If you want to hit the ball a long way, you've got to be very, very fit. I think most probably in the modern time of golf now, being my size is probably gone. You've got to be more like anywhere from five foot ten to six foot four to play this game now I think. I just don't think you can generate the speed. You could look at maybe there will be an exceptional small player, but I think the taller player with the golf clubs are going to hit the ball a lot further now.
Q. Is it a much more interesting game, though?
IAN WOOSNAM: I think with the modern equipment you sort of aim straight and hope it goes straight. When we used to play the game, you used to sort of try to fade it, draw it; there was more a variety of shots. It was more like tee to green and then hope you 2 putted. But now there's such a variety in the game, really.
Q. Do you think you've had more fun than the guys have now?
IAN WOOSNAM: Yeah, definitely. Oh, yeah. You go in the gym for two hours before you go off, play your game of golf, do a bit of practice and then a couple more hours in the gym, I don't think that was for me. (Laughter) I don't think I would have been making it.
Q. You've been on the Tour for a long time, what do you think in historic sense of the standard of golf now, is it as good as it was or better than it was?
IAN WOOSNAM: I think you can look at it two different ways. The equipment has changed such a lot, everybody is working out. As you say, it's a different game all together. I think you've got to look at the way the game is played now and what it was played before. You know, if you watch any of the histories or videos or anything, there has been time where equipment has changed the game completely and we're going through a phase now where the game has just been completely changed.
Q. What do you think about the standard of golf on the Tour today, is it better than when you won the Masters?
IAN WOOSNAM: Well, I wouldn't say so, no. What I would say is that there's more people got a chance of winning these days than what there used to be.
Q. Because of the equipment?
IAN WOOSNAM: Don't get me into that one.
Q. Because of the equipment or because of the new attitude?
IAN WOOSNAM: I think the equipment is so good. With a wooden driver and bladed clubs and other kind of golf balls, it was very difficult to get the ball in the air. Even a wooden club, you get the ball in the air, you would hit it a long way. I think that's why I hit it a long way was because I managed to get the ball in the air and it went a long way with a strong driver. Nowadays the clubs are so big, the clubs just automatically get the ball in the air for you. Everybody has a better chance of scoring better really.
