Huggan On Harrington

John Huggan devotes his Scotland on Sunday column to Padraig Harrington.

In an era when the explosion in club and ball technology has all but eliminated any need for shot-shaping, imagination and flair from those at the sharp end of the game, "one-dimensional" is an easy label to hang on many leading professional golfers. While hitting the same straight shot time after time may make them feel consistent, the reality is that such tedium is but one reason that so many American viewers are reaching for their flickers whenever the PGA Tour appears on TV screens.

Still, let's not condemn them all. Not Padraig Harrington, anyway. Not if his performance during last Wednesday's BMW Championship pro-am is an accurate indication of his versatility.

Coltart: "Golf has so little culture today"

John Huggan catches up with Andrew Coltart, who has plenty to say about the state of the game. My kind of rant:

"The explosion in distance that has come with the new clubs and balls over the last few years has hurt players like me. I can't comprehend how far some guys hit the ball now. It used to be that the wide, erratic hitter was punished, but that is not the case any more. Not as much anyway."

Underlining the sad truth that golf at the elite level is now more about power than pure skill is the fact that Coltart's average drive has stretched by more than 15 yards since he battled Tiger Woods at Brookline in 1999. As he has grown more powerful, however, many of his fellow competitors have exploded past him, encouraged by the lack of due diligence shown by golf's administrators when it comes to equipment.

"Courses on tour today are set up to encourage players to bomb away off the tee," claims Coltart. "Which is admittedly exciting, especially for the less sophisticated spectator or viewer. But it doesn't help guys like me, those whose games are built around accuracy.

"Then there are the sprinkler systems courses tend to have in the fairways, but not anywhere else. The water runs off into the first couple of yards of rough. That grass gets thick in a hurry. But ten yards further out, the rough isn't nearly as lush. So the bombers get more encouragement. They get to hit from relatively sparse rough and they are 60 yards closer to the green.

"Also, greens are generally too soft. So the big hitters are able to 'plug' wedges and 9-irons in there. In contrast, hard and fast greens would encourage a bit more thinking, and make the game a bit more strategic. But playing for position never enters the long driver's head these days. Every hole is a 'wellie' off the tee, and a gouge from the rough. I see so many guys making birdies from the long grass and the trees - because they are so close to the green after the drive. It's mind-blowing."

Coltart is not only concerned with the negative effect all of the above has had on his career. Unlike so many others, he recognises the wider and longer-term implications for golf.

"I think the game has diminished over the last decade or so," he says with a shake of the head. "Shot-making and shaping have all but gone. Round the greens we all play the same boring lob shot with our 60-degree wedges. Golf today is a lot like tennis. They stand up there and it is 'smash' 15-love, 'smash' 30-love and 'smash' 40-love.

"But few people are watching that. Instead, they are looking at the clock that says the ball was hit at 150mph or whatever. Now, golf is all about the 350-yard drive. There have apparently been 881 drives longer than that on the PGA Tour so far this year. Success is measured on distance from the tee rather than tournaments won. It's a circus.

"The mass appeal of distance has overtaken any other approach to the game. Golf has so little culture today. It was great when Seve was playing the way he did. He was artistic. Where is the artistry now? There is no artistry. Or feel. Ask a young guy to hit a little knock-down shot into a green, and he a) doesn't know how, and b) wonders why he should bother. It's depressing.

"I never see guys holding shots up against the wind. The money has a lot to do with that. They figure they can go for the flag every week. When they are on, they will shoot eight under par and win a huge cheque. And when they are off, well, there is always next week.

"If they were baseball players, they would all be home-run hitters who strike out a lot."

Huggan On Ogilvy

John Huggan profiles Geoff Ogilvy,  who he says is "the most appealing character in years to emerge among the game's elite."

In a world populated by truants, he is a true student of the sport from which he makes a living. Good grief, the man even reads books!

He's curious, too. At home for a brief visit over the winter, Ogilvy, with former European Tour professionals Mike Clayton and Bob Shearer, played Royal Melbourne using wooden-headed clubs.

"It was a whole new level of fun," he says, smiling at the memory. "You had to hit it well for the ball to go anywhere. The difference between a good hit and a bad one with a driver was about 40 yards. With a modern driver you can hit the ball anywhere on the face, really. The difference is only about five yards. Only afterwards, when I had thought about it more, did I get depressed by all of that."

Indeed, the modern game in general is a bit of a worry for Ogilvy, a self-confessed and unabashed traditionalist.

"Two important aspects of golf have gone in completely the wrong direction," he maintains. "Most things are fine. Greens are generally better, for example. But the whole point of golf has been lost. Ben Hogan said it best. His thing was that you don't measure a good drive by how far it goes; you analyse its quality by its position relative to the next target. That doesn't exist in golf any more.

"The biggest problem today is tournament organisers trying to create a winning score. When did low scores become bad? At what point did the quality of your course become dependent on its difficulty? That was when golf lost the plot. The winning score should be dictated by the weather.

"The other thing is course set-up. Especially in America, there is too much rough and greens are way too soft. Then, when low scores become commonplace, they think how to make courses harder. So they grow even more long grass.

"But that misses the point. There is no real defence against a soft green. Today's players with today's wedges can stop the ball from anywhere. The angle of attack and the shape of the shot mean nothing. It doesn't matter where you hit it, as long as it is between the out- of-bounds stakes or between the trees. And so the game becomes a one-dimensional test of execution, time after time after time."

And...

As you'd expect, Ogilvy is a big fan of the endlessly-fascinating strategic aspect of true links golf, and the Old Course at St Andrews in particular. It was there last year that he finished fifth in the Open Championship, shooting the lowest score over the final two rounds.

"St Andrews is the best course in the world because of the shots it makes you play," he points out. "In our increasingly black-and-white game, the Old Course is a million shades of grey. Stand on a tee there, and you have choices to make about where to hit your drive. That's a huge contrast with any course covered in rough, where any decision has already been made for you. It's: 'Hit it here you're good, hit it there you're f*****.' Which is stupid.

"Look at the last hole. It is a masterpiece, all because of one little hollow in front of the green. You have a 150-yard-wide fairway, and you don't know where to hit it. One day you might want to get some spin on the approach, so you lay back a bit. Then the next day, you might want to go way left, so that you can access a pin cut way to the right. On another day, you might want to hit past the pin, and on others that may not work - all on a dead-flat hole with no rough and one little hollow.

"But, because the green is firm, it is one of the best holes in the world. Plus, everyone gets to hit the fairway. And everyone finds his ball.

"If the first game of golf was played on some of the courses we play today, it wouldn't be a sport. It would never have been invented. People would play one round and ask themselves why they would ever play a second. It would be no fun."

Ogilvy also has some strong opinions on Augusta National, where he recently finished tied for 16th place in his first Masters.

"I've read a few of Bobby Jones' books," he says. "I don't think he'd be that flustered by the addition of length. I think he'd have done the same, given the neglect of equipment by the USGA and the R&A. But there is no way he'd have grown rough. He'd have kept it 100 yards from trees to trees. And every blade of grass on the course would have been cut short.

"With the greens they have there, they don't need rough. Which is what Jones wanted. His philosophy was: 'Okay, you have 100 yards to hit into, you tell me where you want to go.' Move the pin 10 feet, and the other side of the fairway becomes the place to be. That's the aspect that has been lost. And if Augusta misses the point, what hope has golf got?

"My mind goes back to the Road Hole at St Andrews during last year's Open. It's the most fearsome hole in golf, and yet they had to grow all that silly rough up the right-hand side. If they hadn't, we would have been hitting chip shots to the green. Symbolically, they could not allow that. That golf hole is the reason the golf ball needs to be changed. It's no fun with the modern ball. I was hitting a 4-iron off the tee at the Road Hole! Are you kidding me?

"There are people who seem to think winding back the ball is impossible. Rubbish! All they have to do is get a ball from 1995, test it every way you can think of, then make those numbers the limits. Job done."

Vijay Regret$ Middle East Trip

Vijay thinks it might have been a mistake to go to Dubai to collect a big check for appearing and for making a design site visit:

Singh began the year by getting into a playoff with Stuart Appleby at the Mercedes Championship and finishing sixth in the Sony Open, but then traveled to two European Tour events in the Middle East -- something he now considers to have been a mistake.

"It was a real bad move," he said. "The first week is just getting used to it and you come back over here, you do the same thing. It was a good trip, but it was very tiring on my body and I think I wasted three weeks."

Singh tied for eighth in Abu Dhabi Golf Championship and shared 24th place at the Qatar Masters. Since returning to the States, he has been 20th, seventh, ninth and 15th -- not awful, but not what he wanted.

I don't know about you, I'm tearing up...

SI Player Survey

SI Golf Plus published their 5th annual players poll (subscription req. for link to work).

Some of the more interesting questions and answers:

Who is the second-best player?
Vijay Singh ...... 68%
Ernie Els ...... 12%
Phil Mickelson ...... 8%
ALSO RECEIVING VOTES: Joe Durant, Sergio García, Retief Goosen, myself, Annika Sorenstam

Annika and Joe Durant? So much for the players liking that question!

Did the U.S. make a mistake by invading Iraq?
Yes ...... 12%
No ...... 88%

That thinking may help explain the 56% on this question:

Is having early-round coverage on the Golf Channel instead of ESPN good or bad?
Good ...... 56%
Bad ...... 44%
LOOSE LIPS: "[The Golf Channel] is going to have to get better."

Do you know any pro golfers who have used steroids?
Yes ...... 1%
No ...... 99%

Should the Tour have a written policy expressly forbidding performance-enhancing drugs?
Yes ...... 73%
No ...... 27%

Overwhelming player support, so why doesn't the Commissioner agree? And finally...

Do you favor a rolled-back ball for tournament play?
Yes ...... 28%
No ...... 72%

In 2003, 60% said yes.  

Sirak on Long John (Holmes)

Ron Sirak writes about the emerging youth in men's and women's golf, with J.B. Holmes as his prime example of the next generation inspired by Tiger Woods.

While there is no doubt that the occassional power player that comes out of no where and drives it insane distances proves fascinating (as Sirak says), there does not seem to be much consideration for the ramifications that this equipment-aided boom might be having on say, course design or setup.

Nor is there acknowledgement that this phenomenon is in large part the product of improved equipment, not necessarily improved skill.

It would seem the question of skill and what exactly it means is one worth debating. Because if nothing else, it would be an interesting debate. No?

Holmes Post Round Talk

J.B. Holmes after his round: 

J.B. HOLMES: Yeah, 13 was in the fairway. I was in between clubs, picked the wrong one, hit a great shot and just landed in the middle of the green and went over. Then went over in about the worst spot it could be. I played an okay shot, really wasn't that great of a shot to 25, 30 feet.

Then hit a great putt and it went in. So that was all the way around.

Q. What was the club on that?

J.B. HOLMES: I hit a 6 iron.

Q. What was your number in, do you remember?

J.B. HOLMES: I think it was it might have been 216 to the pin or something.

JOAN v.T. ALEXANDER: 15, you had eagle?

J.B. HOLMES: I hit a good 3 wood. That was probably one of the bigger swings of the day, just getting it in that fairway. It's so firm and the ball can take off to the left there. Then just hit a great 4 iron right where I aimed it and just smoked it. It went up there, rolled right up there and then made a great putt.

Q. You had 257 to the flag and you hit 4 iron over water?

J.B. HOLMES: Yeah. It was only 230 to the front. It flew like 235 or something.

Q. Was that the second best shot of the day?

J.B. HOLMES: Yeah. The putt was probably the second best shot. The 4 iron was definitely huge. Ryan being in the water and then hitting it up there like that, that was a big change for me.

JOAN v.T. ALEXANDER: 17, you had a birdie.

J.B. HOLMES: 17, just aimed middle of the green, hit it out there pretty good, and it started turning a little bit towards the hole and bounced up. I thought I made my first one, just didn't hit it hard enough, and tapped in for birdie.

Q. 3 wood?

J.B. HOLMES: Yeah.

Uh, that's a par-4 he's talking about, in case you were unsure. 

Oh and nice 77-yard approach into 18! Wow. 

The Journey of Jim Simons

Don't miss Bill Fields' lengthy feature on the life, times and mysterious passing of Jim Simons.

It's All About the Fitness

Damon Hack writes about Bubba Watson:

A confluence of fitness, equipment and old-fashioned swing speed have rendered the PGA Tour a slamfest in recent years, and Watson is at the forefront of that push — at least in swing speed.

"My dad gave me a 9-iron at age 6 and said, 'Hit it as hard as you can,' " said Watson, who weighs 180 pounds. "It's about hitting the ball in the center of the club face and hitting it hard.

"If it ever comes down to where I need a lesson, I'm retiring," Watson added. "People say, 'Quiet your hips, do your elbow.' I don't have a clue what that means. I just hit it."

As for hitting the gym?

"I just like to sleep," he said. "I think Tiger and his caddie went out running yesterday, and I was like, 'You won't see me doing that, and my caddie won't be running, either.'

"My wife has tried a few times to get me to work out, and she yells at me about that, but I don't see myself doing that," Watson added. "There will be no yoga, you won't see me lift up any weights over 100 pounds."

Okay then, it's the "agronomy." In Bubba's case.

Lanny On Young Players

Bill Nichols in the Dallas Morning News talks to Lanny Wadkins about the next generation of 20-somethings. He echoes what many have noticed about Tuesdays at a PGA Tour event: European and Australians out playing money games, Americans beating balls.

"They all look like worldbeaters, but when they go on the golf course, they have that same practice-tee mentality," said CBS golf analyst Lanny Wadkins of Dallas, winner of 21 PGA Tour events.

And...

Wadkins theorizes that many current prospects are suffering paralysis by analysis. Armed with space-age technology, some young players spend too much time breaking down videos and too little time playing. He doesn't discount the competitive edge he developed playing for lunch money at Wake Forest.

"If I beat my buddies in school out of six bucks, that meant I got an extra meal at McDonald's or Itty Bitty Chicken," Wadkins said. "We learned on the golf course how to hit shots, make things happen, play with imagination, curve the ball. These kids today go stand on the practice range and hit 7-iron after 7-iron. I don't think it's enabling them to learn the game that it takes to win." 

The Bashers vs. The Artists

SI's Chris Lewis takes on the Bubba Watson and his eye-opening drives, but instead of focusing on Bubba and what car he drives or what he thinks of yoga, Lewis actually explores the concept of how the game is played (really!). Even more scary? He considers the ramifications.

Lewis says the main 2006 PGA Tour plotline will be "the Bashers vs. the Artists."

Subtitle: In which the ever-growing ranks of PGA Tour dogleg-cutting, tree-flying, dimpled-ball bombardiers finally and forever vanquish the ever-shrinking number of short-hitting, fairway-dwelling, shot-shaping sissies.

Besides Bubba, he looks at other bashers and artists. And he explores why John Holmes changes his Tour name to J.B. 

Reporter: Why go from John B. [Holmes] at Q-school to J.B. [Holmes] here?

Holmes: You know the answer to that.

Player Reactions To TGC Deal

Thanks to reader C for the heads up on Doug Ferguson's notes column from earlier in the week. A few eye opening comments:

"If we're trying to reach out to non-golf fans, how you leave out ESPN is beyond me." - David Duval, on the PGA Tour giving exclusive cable rights to The Golf Channel in a 15-year deal. 

And... 

"It would be nice to know what's going on," Brent Geiberger said. "It seems like we find out just like everybody else. And it's our tour."

The tour has a 16-man Players Advisory Council and four players on the nine-member policy board.

"But when those players get in the room, they're already outnumbered 5-4," Paul Azinger said. "I wish the players had a little more say."

Bubba Drives Interest In The Game

Tim Rosaforte writes:

If you stayed up late Sunday night to watch David Toms blow out the field at the Sony Open, you were looking for something to keep you from going asleep. Nothing against Toms, who won by five strokes; it just wasn�t much of a final round for drama.

Thankfully, there was Bubba Watson. The purists may think distance is ruining the game. In truth, distance drives the interest in the game.

Distance drives interest in the game? Hmm...so is that why ratings are in the toilet and play is way down? I knew it!

Watson is more than a circus act experiencing his 15 minutes. He is the reason why Tiger Woods went to graphite and why Mickelson was experimenting with a 47-inch shaft this off-season. Watson is the future. He is 6-foot-3, 180 pounds of elasticity, and he didn't appear the least bit nervous on the weekend, finishing with an eagle on Sunday for a check of $244,800 that represented job security.

Bubba is the reason Tiger went to graphite?

Huh, wonder why Tiger's never credited him? Shameful Tiger, shameful.

More Gore

Steve Elling profiles Jason Gore.