Orikoru
Tour Winner
You can't compare the likes of us to what Tiger does though, if he doesn't want to hit driver he can hit a 3 iron further than we all hit our drivers. It's not the same game. I agree with Kellfire, at the level we're talking about that means having to hit second shots with long irons, fairway woods or hybrids which is at least as likely to go wrong as being in trouble off the tee with the driver.I don't say I do it, in fact above I say I love hitting my driver and smashing it up towards the green. However it is not negative so much as pragmatic, golf is about shooting the lowest score, not hitting the longest tee shot. Tiger I believe won the Open because he took irons off the tee as his driver was likely to put him in trouble, a 16 year old at my course plays off of 5 and hits nothing above 4 iron.
If, and it is only an if , your driver or woods are so hit and miss that you can put yourself in trouble very easily, including hitting OOB then it may make sense to be hitting mid irons to ensure you are in play. This approach won't work for everyone.
I will use myself as an example, if my driving is on fire then I will shoot the lowest scores I am possible of. I can over power my course, drive 6 par 4s and hit 4 par 5s in 2. However if my driving is off, it will lead to me losing a hell of a lot of balls, so my score will be ridiculous.
My 6 iron goes 200 yards, meaning I can still hit every par 4 in 2, albeit with a longer club than if it was driver, all the par 5 in 3, and will be hitting a pitch in. Strategically and on average I will shoot better scores playing irons of the tee, although by lowest rounds will be hitting driver, but only when driver is working.
The other thing to say, is to forget about what par a hole is, don't get hung up on the GIR stats of each hole, if there is a par 4 with OOB all done the left and you have an occasional hook, but driver is the only way to reach in 2, leave it alone, hit your iron, get on in 3, potentially close if you are pitching from 60 yards.
You may not make your birdy but you will pretty much be ruling out a card wrecker.
I honestly understand the point about wanting to shoot the lowest possible and get birdies, but perhaps for handicap golfers that will probably find their handicaps are high because of triple and quadruple bogeys would reduce their scores by being pragmatic over club choice, and selecting the club that will keep them in play, and not the one that may result in a birdie once in ever 100 attempts