Masters recap: Tiger got what he deserved, so did Zach Johnson
Finally, it caught up with Tiger, in the same way it caught up with Phil Mickelson at Winged Foot. If you look at Tiger's game, he has no weaknesses, except for one: his driving. He ranks 160th on tour in driving accuracy, at 55.36%. That's his worst overall ranking of all his standard stats. His absolute worst stat, by far.
Anyone who watches Tiger regularly knows that he's prone to hit the drive right in the same way Phil Mickelson is prone to hit the banana left. It's one of the reasons Tiger shelved Butch Harmon for Hank Haney. In many cases, Tiger can get away with his errant drives with his scrambling or because of the easiness of the course. (At the British last year, Tiger went a different route, hitting 2-iron off the tee most of the way.) In the end, Augusta National punished Tiger for his wayward drives, even forcing Tiger to sacrifice one of his irons in the final round that he hit against the tree to get out of the woods. That's what the "Tiger-proofing" of Augusta was all about.
By contrast, Zach Johnson hit over 80% of the fairways at the Masters, which was tied for the second best average during the tourney. Zach hits it much shorter (265 yard average) than Tiger off the tee, but sometimes you don't need to bomb it to win. Of all of Zach's individual stats, his driving accuracy was the highest this past week.
Looking at the numbers, I've finally come around to agree with Jack Nicklaus: there's something really messed up about golf with all the equipment changes today. The new high-tech drivers have seduced the top players to go for more distance off the tee, while sacrificing accuracy. Just check out the PGA statistics. You can search the driving accuracy stats from 1980 to today. During that time, the longest drivers on tour have gained 40 yards average. But, at the same time, the top golfers on tour no longer get close to the 70 percent accuracy range or higher that used to be the case with many of the top players, such as Greg Norman in 1988 or Jack Nicklaus in 1980. Unlike in the past, most of the top golfers today are "bombers" with lots of distance, but little accuracy. That's why Retief Goosen got trigger shy on the back nine and hit iron off the par-5 13th. Goosen's ranked 149th in driving accuracy.
Until the PGA does something to regulate the hot drivers, I applaud golf courses like Augusta National that punish the bombers for missing the fairway so often. Nike and Taylor Made should be working on a driver that goes less far, but in the fairway more often. Distance is overrated. After all, what good is Sasquatch when he's in the woods?
Labels: masters, tiger, zach johnson
11 Comments:
Great post. I think this one of one the most concise descriptions of driving distance, the good and the bad. Thanks for posting this.
Great post! Let the game master the players.
Yes, it'll be interesting to see how Tiger applies this experience to his own golf course design.
Are we to forget our simple description " It is not how, its how many !!! "
Golf is not, has not been, and never will be about BOMBERS; it is about fun, work, talent, touch, love, luck, and , as someone who was considered a great participant once said:
Golf is a game played mainly on a five-and-a-half inch course....
I think Mr. Johnson did that on Sunday better than the rest...
What happened to the old adage "Drive for show, putt for dough"?
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The cure for those boomers on the PGA Tour is simple: Make what the Augusta types call the "second cut" more punitive. You don't have to grow US Open rough on every tour stop, but just a little more rough will make accuracy a desired virtue again.
The real reason Tiger lost the Masters is his iron play...
Tiger should have never missed that putt on 16. His head just wasn't in it on the back 9 on Sunday.
Congrats to Zach on a well deserved victory!
Not really related to current post, but have a question. A bunch of us were sitting around and noticed that a player tossed the ball to his caddie...near a pond. The question is.. if the player spotted his ball, tossed the ball to his caddie and the caddie drops it and the ball goes in the pond, is there a penalty, and is the original ball still in play?
Jim:
Here's my interpretation of your scenario:
15-1 says: A player must hole out with the ball played from the teeing ground unless the ball is lost, out of bounds or the player substitutes another ball, whether or not substitution is permitted (see Rule 15-2). If a player plays a wrong ball, see Rule 15-3.
Since your scenario says that the ball would be lost in the water, then I think rule 26-1 applies, and 15-2 just says he's allowed to replace as long as another rule allows him to proceed with that option.
26-1. Relief for Ball in Water Hazard
It is a question of fact whether a ball lost after having been struck toward a water hazard is lost inside or outside the hazard. In order to treat the ball as lost in the hazard, there must be reasonable evidence that the ball lodged in it. In the absence of such evidence, the ball must be treated as a lost ball and Rule 27 applies.
If a ball is in or is lost in a water hazard (whether the ball lies in water or not), the player may under penalty of one stroke: a. Play a ball as nearly as possible at the spot from which the original ball was last played.
I think that's how it would go. Anyone else have anything to add?
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