2020 Professional Golf Thread

[BubbaP]

Don’t they have time limits on the tour?
They pulled up a young rookie at the masters.
Didn’t realise how slow Bryson is until the last few holes when there was no other golfer to show.
It’s got nothing to do with disadvantaging anyone else it’s so everyone is treated the same under the rules.

Wonder if that is part of it. I watched a fair bit of the featured groups where they do still jump between players quite a bit but you also see more of the faffing. Rafa was slow, Zach was very slow.
Did the final group actually lose a hole on the field?

 

[robinthehood]

I was watching the featured groups on the app, I never realised just how slow Zach Johnson is. What a tortoise.

 

[TigerTime]

I mean not a fan but fair play to Bryson. Bulking up seems to be a very prominent yet growing trend in all sports these days as a way to achieve success.

I can certainly see these types of guys becoming alot more prominent in golf.

 

[robinthehood]

Plenty of golfers hit it as far, even further than Bryson mk2. It's too simplistic to suggest he just bombed his way to victory, but that's all that will get taken away from this and the cry's for reduced golf balls will get louder.

 

[Orikoru]

Plenty of golfers hit it as far, even further than Bryson mk2. It's too simplistic to suggest he just bombed his way to victory, but that's all that will get taken away from this and the cry's for reduced golf balls will get louder.

The fact that he put muscle on just draws attention. But in fact I still believe DJ, Rory, Finau etc could drive the same distance as him if they went out and smashed it 100% - but they don't. They hit it at 85-90%. The truly impression thing is that Bryson worked out a swing that he can hit it all out 100% every time and still keep it in play.

 

[robinthehood]

The fact that he put muscle on just draws attention. But in fact I still believe DJ, Rory, Finau etc could drive the same distance as him if they went out and smashed it 100% - but they don't. They hit it at 85-90%. The truly impression thing is that Bryson worked out a swing that he can hit it all out 100% every time and still keep it in play.

Rory was longer and more accurate than DC at the open this week. It was his all round game that won it for Bryson, take a look at the stats.

 

[pendodave]

Not sure what to make of it to be honest.
Something seems broken. When there's no particular need to hit a fairway (as long as you're not behind a tree) and it's possible to chop your wedge onto the green or into the greenside rough with ease, what has golf become?
Although it's counter intuitive, the best way to make golf more skillfull might be to remove ALL rough from these places so that errant shots rolled further into trouble and fufther into runoff areas. Silly thick rough is just like bumpers on a 10pin alley for these guys - it makes golf easier, not harder.

 

[robinthehood]

Not sure what to make of it to be honest.
Something seems broken. When there's no particular need to hit a fairway (as long as you're not behind a tree) and it's possible to chop your wedge onto the green or into the greenside rough with ease, what has golf become?
Although it's counter intuitive, the best way to make golf more skillfull might be to remove ALL rough from these places so that errant shots rolled further into trouble and fufther into runoff areas. Silly thick rough is just like bumpers on a 10pin alley for these guys - it makes golf easier, not harder.

That's just blatantly not true is it....

 

[TigerTime]

Plenty of golfers hit it as far, even further than Bryson mk2. It's too simplistic to suggest he just bombed his way to victory, but that's all that will get taken away from this and the cry's for reduced golf balls will get louder.

Yeah I didn't mean to take away from it in that respect. End of the day he's a professional golfer who quite simply played the course to his best ability and won. Perhaps questions should be asked of those setting up the course, if not already.

 

[Orikoru]

One single player was able to beat the course and finish under par this week. Just one. And people are panicking about the state of golf.

 

[clubchamp98]

Not sure what to make of it to be honest.
Something seems broken. When there's no particular need to hit a fairway (as long as you're not behind a tree) and it's possible to chop your wedge onto the green or into the greenside rough with ease, what has golf become?
Although it's counter intuitive, the best way to make golf more skillfull might be to remove ALL rough from these places so that errant shots rolled further into trouble and fufther into runoff areas. Silly thick rough is just like bumpers on a 10pin alley for these guys - it makes golf easier, not harder.

That’s the most sensible suggestion I have heard for a while.
Thick rough is now proven not to work.
Bryson worked a way how to tame the course.
But do we change the courses because of a couple of bombers?
The USGA has a problem will be interesting to see what their answer is.
My only concern is how this will affect his body in a few years .
Will we see him in agony on the tee like Tiger.
As a spectacle it was not a classic.

 

[Deleted member 16999]

Last 5 US Open winners
BDC
Woodland
Koepka
Koepka
Johnson

Not exactly known for being short off the Tee, sadly the US Open is known for trying to catch the best out by growing the rough etc, so why blame the world’s best if they try and come up with a plan to exploit the set up.

Maybe the USGA need to look at their agenda.

 

[robinthehood]

One single player was able to beat the course and finish under par this week. Just one. And people are panicking about the state of golf.

Yeah it was the usual US Open, long, brutal rough everywhere, fast greens. Obviously its not always watchable due to the time diffs in the USA, but this yesr in NY i realised its pretty turgid golf anyway and havnt been missing much.

 

[USER1999]

One single player was able to beat the course and finish under par this week. Just one. And people are panicking about the state of golf.

Well, I guess you didn't grow up watching guys playing persimmon, and balata balls. The game as it is now is not golf, it's morphed into something different, and it's pretty boring and samey to watch. Whack it as far as is possible, go find it, and whack it with a wedge.

 

[Beezerk]

Well, I guess you didn't grow up watching guys playing persimmon, and balata balls. The game as it is now is not golf, it's morphed into something different, and it's pretty boring and samey to watch. Whack it as far as is possible, go find it, and whack it with a wedge.

You'll be moaning about F1 cars being too fast next, or the guy breaking the 20 odd year old pole vault world record.
It's just progression that happens in all sports. And they wonder why some people moan about golf being stuck in the dark ages ?

 

[clubchamp98]

That's just blatantly not true is it....

I think He has a point off the tee it stops the ball going into further trouble.
But it does make it harder around the greens.
It dosnt really penalise the very big hitters.
It is more of a problem for the average hitters playing longer clubs out of it For their second shots.
Bryson hardly hit more than wedge on most holes.

 

[Swinglowandslow]

They would absolutely rip up the courses you and I play - If you think Winged Foot this week wasn’t really hard then you’re daft

I didn't say it wasn't hard. And they would "rip up etc , as you say. But that's because they would use different tactics, most being much shorter.
But the point is that what made it difficult for the average tour pro, did not make it difficult for the big hitters , the exceptional big hitters like BdeC and Wolff. Because for them the rough was not penal enough in that they could and did play out of it with wedges etc.
Interestingly, other biggish hitter like DJ and JT, seemed to not use the same tactics, but went with what was the popular conception talked about at the beginning, of "staying on the fairway is vital here because of the thick rough etc etc"
If you recall, BdeC said at the start that his tactic would be to bomb it and not worry too much if he went wide.
That was proved to be the correct tactic.
Talk has been for a long time, how to tame the bombers who are reducing all so called long holes to Driver and short iron. Change the ball, lengthen the course, etc .
And now this Open has revealed the real remedy. Make the rough at these extreme driver lengths, unplayable.
Put in very long thick stuff that can't be played from, better still , bushes.
Like me, I will bet it's not so long since you and others here found themselves in a bush of some sort where the ball was unplayable. Where no swing was at all possible. By any standard of golfer. Where you had to take an "unplayable" penalty drop.
These tour pros don't do that.
That's because their courses are open in that regard. If there are trees, they are big trees that afford them a swing.
This really came home to me when I watched the first post lockdown game , the exhibition game at Seminole. I saw a big wide open area where they only lost the ball if it went into the water. ( these pros have the benefit of spotters, remember)
Since then I've watched all the week end tournaments and I don't recall one that is festooned with bushes as I am advocating.
If Wing Foot put in loads of bushes either side of the fairways, from near the green back to a point about 260 yds from the tee, then let's see BdeC use the same tactics!
Hitting fairways really would count for something then.

 

[Deleted member 16999]

I think He has a point off the tee it stops the ball going into further trouble.
But it does make it harder around the greens.
It dosnt really penalise the very big hitters.
It is more of a problem for the average hitters playing longer clubs out of it For their second shots.
Bryson hardly hit more than wedge on most holes.

Surely that also compliments BDC’s skill with the wedge? What next? Ban Pro’s from using any club with more than 30 degree loft?
Maybe replace bunkers with temporary paddling pools as bunkers are not hazards to these guys, infact often they’ll aim at a bunker as the “best” miss.

Or internal OOB’s 5yds off the fairways?

 

[davidy233]

Don't remember people moaning when Seve was winning majors from the deep rough

 

[Deleted member 3432]

Revisit the grooves, manufacturers have got round the last change to groove configuation with adding extra grooves and milling etc.

Wedges are creating more spin that ever before, change the rules regarding grooves and reduce the spin. That then makes it harder to control the ball from out of the rough. I don't mind long hitting having an advantage, its always been the case except now accuracy doesn't matter. That is just wrong and is making the game one dimensional.

Failing to do that hold all pro events on tracks like Riviera or Valderama which will test all parts of their game.