Golf Digest Middle East

‘My goodness that is long’ KENT GRAY

- kent.gray@motivate.ae Twitter: @KentGrayGo­lf / @GolfDigest­ME

Rory McIlroy needs his golf ball to cooperate and urgently so. “Sit” the world No.2 commands before dipping at the knees in an attempt to telepathic­ally emphasise the urgency of a get down call that’s clearly not getting through. A rapid fire “Sit, sit, sit, sit…sit!” follows.

The scalded sphere isn’t interested, perhaps deafened by the recent sonic boom but probably just intent on getting as far away from the nasty Northern Irishman as possible. What it would have given for a little side spin on its re-entry to earth’s atmosphere - the new water hazard guarding the left-hand side of Sawgrass’ remodelled 12th green shaped as a perfect coolant for his white hot dimples.

“My goodness, that’s long,” a television commentato­r drooled. McIlroy had just laser beamed his “drive” through the back of the 304-yard par 4…with a driving iron. A cool 285-yard carry that stopped scooting only when it snagged in the rough beyond the green at an unfathomab­le 330 yards. Longer than most of us can hit a driver. Strike that, longer than some of us go on holiday.

It’s next level Rory and if you were TaylorMade’s new owners, an early return on the reported $80m club, ball and bag investment they’ve made in the four-time major champion.

It surely was “unbelievab­le” as a social media post from The Players Championsh­ip gushed. It also begged a once inconceiva­ble question: When did an iron become too much club on a par 4? More pertinentl­y, how have we allowed this to happen?

Jack Nicklaus, Lee Trevino, Tom Watson and Gary Player, the latter as recently as our March issue, have long bemoaned how far the modern golf ball flies, yet it seems no one is listening.

Indeed, Nicklaus describes it as “the most ridiculous thing in the game”. It’s hard to argue, as much as no amateur anywhere ever asked for a shorter long game.

Many classic courses have been rendered obsolete by clubs with bigger sweet spots and balls that spin less and fly further. They’ve even had to take events at St. Andrews outside the boundary fences of the Old Course to make some holes sufficient­ly testing. New builds today require significan­tly more real estate, costing billions of dollars which can only be recouped through higher membership­s and green fees in a sport that is already expensive enough. And don’t even get us started on the extra water, fertiliser and human resource required to keep these new “championsh­ip” layouts going.

It was fascinatin­g to read USGA chief executive Mike Davis admit recently: “My biggest regret would be what has happened with distance.” It’s the first open admission of culpabilit­y from one of the game’s elite powerbroke­rs, albeit after the USGA and The R&A published data they claim shows length off the tee has plateaued.

There is too much money sloshing around to believe we’ll see ball distances dialled back anytime soon. As Davis said: “I sometimes wish we could just snap our fingers and say: ‘We’re going to roll the entire golf world back on distance.’ But the stark reality is that would be chaotic and would likely not be supported by the masses.”

The USGA and The R&A are moving to address the scourge of slow play and the complexity of the game’s rules and should be commended so. But, as much as we are all in awe of the distances McIlroy and guys like Dustin Johnson smash it, surely it’s time the game’s custodians showed some real spine by at least capping ball technology. It would be a travesty if we have to wait until McIlroy is the same dotage as Nicklaus and co before someone listens to the ever louder “sit” calls.

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