Uh Oh! Tiger "Understands" Calls For Ball Rollback
Steve Elling reports on today's comments in Boston:
On Thursday, Woods was asked at the Deutsche Bank Championship about his view on the issue, which is being studied by the USGA. The organization has yet to release any findings from its various studies.
“It's just something, the guys are hitting it a long way,” Woods said. “For instance, last week, No. 8 is a par 3 down the hill, playing 207 the last day, and I hit 7 iron. I don't ever hit 7 iron that far. Then I watched Dustin Johnson hit 9 iron.
“It's just, I can understand them wanting to obviously pull the game back a little bit, because the guys are just becoming more athletic. Here I am 6 foot and I'm considered short. Most of the guys now are 6-3, 6-2, 6-4. Just like every other sport, it's evolved, become more athletic.
“The guys have speed, and now we're getting some great athletes playing the game.”
Tiger is in a no-win position if he takes a hard stance on the modern distance chase. Though he has made several statements about not minding a change, he has to be careful not to upset Nike and also to appear to be favoring a possible rule change that benefits his ability, which many believe a "spinnier" ball would.
Now factor in that his distance advantage has been passed by, and he has to be even more careful. Still, I like the comments today.
Thursday, September 2, 2010 at 10:54 AM
Reader Comments (17)
@TheO..... Tiger switched to a slightly firmer ball earlier this summer. Probably still not as firm as some others play though.
Like those giants that won at Pebble and St. Andrews this year?
Not that I don't agree about the ball, but it seems to me that players still come in all shapes and size just like so many decades before. Go back in time a little, and you'll see that George Archer, Andy North and Peter Oosterhuis were pretty darn tall. Among the top youngsters Rory, AK and 2.0 are not tall. So isn't really just Dustin that's tall among the newer top-tier players?
But that just makes it even more crucial to do something about the ball, because it really doesn't have anything to do with the size of the player.
It's not like Woods had 125 mph swing speed as a skinny 20 year old. Oh wait...
I always wondered; Tiger must know -- a rolled back, spinnier ball would only help Tiger. Indeed, I used to think that as the Chosen One, the World Number One, his voice could put a rollback movement over the top. But now I'm not so sure; I'd hate to have the movement tainted by any argument that "It is intended to help Tiger."
As for Nike, I'm not sure why they'd be concerned about Tiger lending his voice to the rollback movement. If it upset Titleist's death-grip on market-share, and if a rollback boosted Tiger to greater success, it would be a net benefit to Nike.
For every conspiracy theory idiot that would try to say it's about helping Woods, you've got the likes of Palmer, Nicklaus, Player, Trevino, and on and on saying that we need to preserve the playability of smaller golf courses such as Merion. There's also a serious problem for amateur golf when every course being built is off the charts long to accommodate the professional game. The problem with this is a lot of amateurs don't hit it that far despite the technology. And on top of this issue, you have a hell of a lot of waste going on with these 7500 yard golf courses.
Poor Poor Merion is obsolete. Never played it, never will. Dont really care if ii becomes a dinosaur either. No one says you have to build 8000 yard courses you just have to make better short holes. Bethpage Black was built many moons ago and it stands up pretty well with minor tweaks here and there and of course a renovation. Kind of odd this course is never mentioned. Only poor poor Merion. I weep for thee. Why does anyone care anyway, its not like there is a tour stop there. I am sure it is challenging enough for the members and their weak pathetic drives. Poor Merion. See you on the other side Merion, where my ball flies long and straight and I always got first tee time.
So here's an idea: if these guys really wanted to do something, other than just complaining in a way that's been shown to be unproductive for close to ten years, they should try something else. Keep it simple. Just sit down to do a joint press conference, all together, whenever they are all in the same city at he same time. TPC week, maybe, when Arnie is at home in Orlando, Jack's playing with his boat in West Palm, Tiger is getting ready for the tournament in Sawgrass and Lee is visiting Florida to play golf with friends. Invite a couple of young guys who won't lose their contracts with Acushnet by speaking out. (Better yet, invite one who does get terminated for sitting with the game's heros and talking about the future of golf!) Sit down, do a one-hour joint press conference. Prepare a short, simple, direct statement (written by Geoff Shackelford, of course), saying that golf coulld be made a better game for everybody with a careful re-crafting of ball specs. Invite dialogue on the topic. Then take questions. Just one hour, all together. DARE the Golf Channel to cover it live, with appropriate timing.
That would get the debate out of the current inertia.
Watching Tigers' press session on PGATour.com...I think he's a Shackelfordian. Just some comments he's made.
Address your comments directly to da Woods. :)
-LK
Silliness.
P.S. Holmes hits up with the driver, but the PGA Tour average is -1.3 degrees with the driver. Most of the people who hit up with the driver play fades, and most (the majority, albeit a slim one) who hit down tend to play a draw with the driver).