What Weightings Do You Give Various Distance Influences?

As we wait on the governing bodies to tell us how distances have spiked on pro tours and therefore require even more extensive study, the common response on social media usually obsesses with cause, not effect.

So while we wait on the reports, I've taken Alan Shipnuck up on a fun exercise he suggested in this week's Golf.com mailbag: break down the forces you most attribute to the distance spikes that we've been told have not happened. 

Here's the question and answer from Alan:

Regarding bifurcation, what general weightings would you give the following factors for increased distance off the tee: agronomy, athleticism, technique, ball, club (head and shaft as one), other. -Ryan (@RW_Mountain)

This is an interesting thought exercise. My highly unscientific answer:
Agronomy: 5%
Technique/Trackman: 20%
Athleticism/Training: 20%
Club: 25%
Ball: 30%

My highly unscientific answer:

Agronomy: 0%
Technique/Trackman: 35%
Athleticism/Training: 10%
Clubs: 35%
Ball: 20%

As wonderful as modern agronomy is--really amazing these days and not appreciated enough--it has little impact on elite-playerdistance gains compared to what has made carry distances explode. Healthy, denser turf offsets modern lower mowing heights. Distance has spiked with tee shots and iron play equally. Iron shots to greens are not running long distances off the tee. 

Technique/Trackman: This gets 30% thanks to a combination of more informed instruction, common sense use of launch monitors, and the ball-striking confidence resulting from these forces. More players are learning speed first, fundamentals second and visual appeal a distant third as video is replaced by Trackman.

Athleticism/training: I can't go higher than 10% when I see guys on the PGA Tour Champions averaging longer distances in their 50s than their 30s.

Clubs: The consistency of manufacturing quality, super-lightweight materials, driver head size, the relentless innovation on many fronts and a generation of players reared on better clubs has led to incredible clubhead speeds. 

Ball: Shifting from balatas to today's longer, lower-spin ball has made a profound difference. The improved quality of manufacturing also has further reduced inconsistencies and increased player confidence in the ball. But this number has also lost percentage to Technique/Trackman and club fitting/technology the last few years.

Your percentages?

Who is Shubhankar Sharma? Phil Thought He Was Media!

The WGC Mexico City final round is the rare limited field event with a deep leaderboard and a wide range of final round storylines. While the list of top players two back of 21-year-old Shubhankar Sharma would be enough to keep things fun, many more lurk should the leader falter.

As for Sharma, Rex Hoggard writes that most of his peers know little about the two-time European Tour winner and current Race To Dubai leader, who holds a two-stroke lead.

Who is Shubhankar Sharma?

For those who will find themselves asking the question on Sunday, take heart that the soft-spoken player from India is obscure even among the game’s play-for-pay set.

“I don't know, other than he's young. He's like 21, right?" laughed 24-year-old Justin Thomas. "Man, kids,” 

Even those who may have crossed paths with Sharma on the European Tour, which he qualified for with his victory in December at the Joburg Open, had only a passing knowledge.

Sharma only introduced himself to one player this week: Phil Mickelson. And Lefty tried to shoo the non-scribbler away.  Hoggard writes in a GolfChannel.com item devoted to this gem:

Me and my caddie went up to [Mickelson]. He thought we were media and he said, ‘Not right now, after the round,’” Sharma laughed. “Then he just realized and said, ‘So sorry, I thought you were media.’ He said ‘hi.’ I said ‘hi.’ Then he made a few putts and he came back to me and said, ‘Have a good day.’ It was nice.”

Poor Phil, it's been so long since a media member even wanted to chat that he forgot what we look like!

Earlier in the week, AP's Doug Ferguson profiled Sharma and how he found the game through his families ties to Anirban Lahiri.

Sharma and Anirban Lahiri -- the player he replaced as India's No. 1 -- are both Army brats. Retired Col. Mohan Sharma was stationed at the same post as Lahiri's father, a gynecologist, when Sharma's younger sister was born.

Final round tee times and TV Times courtesy of Golfweek.

Round three highlights from PGA Tour Entertainment:

First Look: Augusta National's New Patron Entrance From Above

At least, this is the first view I've seen...you can swipe between images using the arrow that will appear on the right. 

While looking for a photo of Steph Curry and Klay Thompson's planned round at Augusta National Saturday, I stumbled on these shots. Note the new structures that include an expanded shop and other elements all put under one massive roof, as well as an expansion west of Old Berckmans Road that I'm less sure of identifying the exact purpose. We'll know in a few weeks.

Bryan's flight home this morning. ⛳️👌🏼🌺🍑🏌🏼🏆

A post shared by Lorri Gail Moffatt (@lorrigailmoffatt) on Feb 22, 2018 at 8:11am PST

295-And-Up Club: This Year's Distance Spike In The Wraparound Era

Many are pushing back on the notion of a 2017-18 driving distance bump on the PGA Tour. The pushback ranges from "it's too early" to "there has been too much roll due" to "who cares." 

A longtime reader "From Berckman's Road" saw today's post and the FiveThirtyEight.com coverage on distance and offered some numbers that would suggest we are seeing something different in the 2017-18 wraparound schedule.

Here are the numbers for players averaging over 295 yards on the measuring holes after the Honda Classic and at season's end.

2013-14
Honda:  45 players averaging 295 or higher
End of season:  49 averaging 295 or higher

2014-15
Honda:  50 players averaging 295 or higher
End of season:  53 averaging 295 or higher

2015-16
Honda:  65 players averaging 295 or higher
End of season:  55 averaging 295 or higher

2016-17
Honda:  63 players averaging 295 or higher
End of season:  77 averaging 295 or higher

2017-18
Honda:  111 players averaging 295 or higher
End of season:  __ averaging 295 or higher

So to review, 48 more players are averaging over 295 yards at this point compared to last year which was, admittedly, wetter than normal on the West Coast. However, the drought years prior to last year featured conditions more like this year give or take temperature swings and the 111 number still suggests a spike. 

History also tells us that as the temperatures rise during the season the final number is likely to finish higher than 111, not subside due to the West Coast Swing's running fairways.

I point this out because the governing bodies drew a line in the sand fifteen years ago and the numbers this year suggest the line has been crossed. 

**One last number:  the 295-and-up numbers for 2013 had 35 players averaging that or more through the Honda, and 36 by season's end. 

Tiger's Return To Innisbrook Offers Reminders Of Puffy Pleats, Mixed-Team Formats

With news that Tiger Woods has added the Valspar Championship at Innisbrook, G.R. Team at GolfChannel.com shares a spectacular photo from Tiger's fall, 1996 appearance there. 

You must go to the link to enjoy the outfits in all of their splendor, especially tournament partner Kelli Kuehne's Sunday red shirt and black pants.

It's also a reminder of what we are missing now having a mixed team event annually and/or every four years at the Olympics.

It's Early But PGA Tour Driving Distances On Amazing Pace

As the stat gurus at FiveThirtyEight expose a juiced baseball, they also are examining distance in golf and some eye-opening 2018 numbers.

Josh Planos does note we've only seen 44 drives from leader Tony Finau, but the distance leader is at a 90.9% rate of eclipsing 300 yards.

But while he’s playing better everywhere on the course, Finau is putting on a show in the tee box. With 327 yards per drive, the 28-year-old is smashing the tour average by 32 yards.

It goes without saying that a lot has changed in terms of technology and training since Jack Nicklaus, Ben Hogan and Arnold Palmer were marquee figures — or even since John Daly was pounding beers during rounds and wowing fans with his long drives. In 1980, the first year for which data is available, Dan Pohl led the tour with an average driving distance of 274.3 yards. In 1997, Daly became the first man on the PGA Tour to average at least 300 yards per drive; this season, 65 players are on pace to do so.

The graph accompanying the story also suggests why we may be hearing from the governing bodies soon related to the distance topic.

We're About To Find Out If Tiger Is Taking His Scheduling Cues From Hogan

In the years following the car crash, Ben Hogan played a limited schedule, most notably in 1953 when he entered just six official events in his three-major-win season. Tiger Woods has played three tour events this year and with the Arnold Palmer Invitational his likely next and last start before the Masters, many feel he needs to play more.

As the entry deadline looms, Bob Harig at ESPN.com makes the case for Woods to add the Valspar in Tampa next week.  

David Duval is also in that camp.

“I think it’s imperative that he should go play Valspar, (with the assumption that he’ll) more than likely play Bay Hill,” Duval said. “But I think he’ll play Valspar. It’s a good place to work on all parts of your game. And you don’t have to drive it a ton there. You’ve got to deal with swirling winds, elevation changes. So I think it would be a very good thing for him to go play Valspar. It looks like it’s about reps and about exposure, putting yourself under the gun and seeing how you perform and how your golf swing holds up. A couple more opportunities to do that would be very beneficial.”

Looking at the stats analyzed by Alex Myers now that Woods is officially eligible for PGA Tour rankings, he's clearly rusty, as evidenced by his par-5 play.

Woods ranks a dismal 208th in par-5 scoring, a stat he used to dominate, with a 4.87 average. World No. 1 Dustin Johnson leads that category at 4.33, meaning that if a course has four par 5s, he's picking up two shots per round on Woods on just those holes. Woods' inability to take advantage of these longer holes has kept him to making only 3.6 birdies per round, which ranks 97th, and he has yet to make an eagle.

Golf Channel Analysts On Rory: "As far as he’s ever been to being back to where he was"

The Golf Channel gang talked to media to kick off the run of NBC/Golf Channel telecasts leading up to the Masters and the talk inevitably turned to Rory McIlroy. For what it's worth, David Duval and Brandel Chamblee don't like what they see from their analyst chairs.

Duval said it's an "obvious" answer that Tiger Woods is closer to playing great golf right now than McIlroy. 

There was this succinct assessment from Brandel Chamblee:

“I think he’s probably as far as he’s ever been to being back to where he was,” Chamblee said.

Duval was pretty harsh on the topic of McIlroy's putting.

“I think Rory’s putting continues to put pressure on his iron game, and until he figures that out, he comes out a little bit better and more consistent on the greens, it could potentially be doing what he’s doing right now, (which is), what I believe, is ruining other parts of his game,” Duval said. “And I feel like he’s struggling, and you have to keep forcing it closer and closer to the hole. You are going to miss golf shots. You’re going to be in bad spots. And I think that’s part of what’s happening right now.”

It has been two years since McIlroy and Chamblee engaged in an all-out manspat over Rory's weightlifting. No one will be shocked if these comments reignite the spat.

Steph Curry's Indoor Golf Gone Bad

Steph Curry was apparently practicing his swing in the hotel and now moves into the hotel room accidental trashing HOF!

when you feel like you’re on the @pgatour so you gotta get some swings going in the hotel room 😂😂😂 #idiot

A post shared by Wardell Curry (@stephencurry30) on Mar 1, 2018 at 1:33pm PST

Head's Up For Par-3 Course Fans: The Cradle By The Numbers

Maybe your course, city or club is considering a par-3 course? Well, then say thanks the social media and golf professional team at Pinehurst for documenting early numbers on their new short course. 

Sounds like a lot of fun is taking place. If only golf had about 1000 more of these sprinkled across the land.

• More than 6,100 rounds were played on the new 9-hole, 789-yard short course.
• The busiest day had 174 golfers play, and the largest group was a 12-some.
• With a $50 greens fee that includes replay rounds that same day, the average time to play one round was just over an hour.
• In those first few weeks, more than 220 juniors under 17 played for free with a paid adult while Pinehurst Country Club members played 2,100 rounds and hosted 706 guests.
• Since opening, more than 30 holes-in-one have been recorded, with aces coming from players ages 8 to 84.
• In a unique event, Pinehurst teaching professional Kelly Mitchum played the short course from sunrise to sunset on the winter solstice – the shortest day of the year – and finished 26 complete rounds for a total of 234 holes. He shot 12 under par for the day.

FanBeat Challenge First Big Shot At Interactive Golf Watching

In the smart phone era, entrepreneurs have tried to develop apps and other ways to inject fun and prizes into golf viewing.  The PGA Tour seemed to shy away from interactivity in the early days of social media and mobile phones, but they obviously have given their blessing to FanBeat's attempt launching this week and co-sponsored by my partners at Golf Channel and Callaway.

Mixing general trivia questions with elements related to the WGC Mexico City Championship playing out before our sleepy eyes, the game marks the first legitimate attempt backed by legit prizes. In this scenario, I'm more attracted to the predictive questions, something many have wanted to develop with the tour for genuine fan interactivity. I don't believe Commissioner Moonbeam ever warmed to such ideas since interactivity leads to a form of handicapping and that could lead to watching for reasons other than his favorite moment of the PGA Tour day, hats off for handshakes.

You can sign up here, and you don't need an app (though it is said by FanBeat's Brandon Farley on the Callaway Ship Show to have a few more features). The general concept:

- Prior to the tournament coverage, two pre-round questions were available to answer anytime.

- Additional questions are posted during breaks in the action of each round of the following four upcoming tournaments: WGC-Mexico Championship, Valspar Invitational, Arnold Palmer Invitational, and WGC-Match Play Championship. 

- Questions will be things like “Where did Phil Mickelson play his college golf?” or more predictive questions like “How many birdies will Sergio Garcia make on the back nine?”

- You earn points for each correct answer to move up the prize leaderboard during each round, and can earn chances to win additional “instant win” and tournament prizes

- Fans who ace all questions during any of the up to 19 tournament rounds in the FanBeat Challenge will have a chance to win $1 million.

- Additional prizes offered by Callaway include a full set of clubs with custom fittings at the Ely Callaway Performance Center in Carlsbad, Ca, a new Callaway Rogue Driver, Odyssey Toulon Design Putters, and much more.

More Snow Photos: Honourable Company Of Edinburgh Golfers Edition

Just amazing amounts of snowfall at Muirfield too. Click on the images to enlarge:

The Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers pic.twitter.com/h4E0jdYfbS

— Cutmaker (@cutmaker) March 1, 2018

Take Note: Players Adjusting Accordingly (And With Trackman's Help) To 15-18% Distance Bump In Mexico City

USA Today's Steve DiMeglio talks to players and caddies about distance adjustments they're making for this week's WGC Mexico City and they've settled on a solid 15% or more bump in distance.

The story is of particular note given that we are not far from hearing pros howl about the awful adjustment period should the governing bodies ever roll out a distance rollback. But here they are all on the record about Trackman and the relatively easy process of adjusting thanks to launch monitors.

“I think this is going to be the best week for (Trackman’s) branding, for sure, versus any other week,” said Justin Thomas, who won his seventh title in his last 30 PGA Tour starts last week in the Honda Classic. “It's very, very dependent on the shot you're hitting and the club you're hitting, but when you hit those drivers up in the air, they go pretty far.”

And there was this...

Chez Reavie was in full mathematician mode Tuesday on the range in his first trip to the tournament. For 2 hours, 30 minutes, he and his caddie, Justin York, went to work with numbers spinning around in their heads.

“We jumped on the Trackman to get numbers,” Reavie said. “I hit 10 balls with every club to find a median number each ball was carrying. And we found about a 15-18% difference. We have all the clubs plotted now and from there we’ll rely on feel. But at least we have a ballpark figure now.”

That's all you need! Of course, players will tell us that a Masters ball would be impossible because of the long adjustment period. 

Probably Not: Will Date Change Boost The WGC Mexico City?

The WGC Mexico City arrives Thursday and once again interrupts the Florida swing. With 45 of the world's top 50 and a guaranteed $50k payment (plus charter flights), no one should feel sorry for this event.

So should anyone be excited with a no-cut points and cash grab on a tight, tired-looking venue by modern standards but with robust support from its creators? Probably not, even as it's a WGC venturing outside of the U.S. 

But a week after a lively Honda Classic that followed a strong West Coast swing, the event sits in a tough spot.

Rex Hoggard at GolfChannel.com makes a strong case that we should root for this event and with a likely spot between LA and Florida next year, theoretically it'll be a better fit. Theoretically...

The dramatic makeover of the Tour schedule beginning with the 2018-19 season will feature the WGC-Mexico Championship moving to the back end of the West Coast swing, but with fields in California and Arizona enjoying a renaissance in recent years, a post-Los Angeles date likely won't be a dramatic improvement over the event’s current date.

As the Tour schedule compacts to prepare for a pre-football season finale in 2019 and beyond, finding prime real-estate will be a challenge, but Mexico should be first in line for an upgrade, particularly with officials like Salinas talking in terms of a 20- or 30-year commitment.

The championship deserves better. Salinas deserves better. And the opportunity to truly grow the game on an international stage certainly deserves better.

Images: Incredible Snow At St. Andrews

The Beast From The East they are calling it, reports Brentley Romine. But look at the contours in snow! Arrow on the image right will take you through all of the shots posted by the Links Trust.

The Road Hole bunker has been filled... with #snow (swipe 👈). #beastfromtheeast #OldCourse #HomeofGolf #StAndrews

A post shared by St Andrews Links (@thehomeofgolf) on Feb 28, 2018 at 2:16am PST