GOLF WRECKED BY GRIP AND RIP ROBOTS
LEGEND JACKLIN BACKS MOVES TO REDUCE DISTANCE
RYDER CUP legend and twotime Major winner Tony Jacklin says golf has become “boring” and the sport is in desperate need of a radical shake-up.
The R&A announced on Tuesday that it is planning to break the “ever-increasing cycle of hitting distance”, but Jacklin, above right, says he and his contemporaries have been telling golf’s rule-makers for decades that something needed to be done to stop the ball travelling so far.
“It’s boring watching golf these days,” Jacklin said. “It has become all about smashing the ball as far as you can and about putting contests.
“You see the distances players hit the ball and they can use wedges to get out of the rough and on the green. If they were hitting it 50 yards shorter and having to hit five irons, they wouldn’t get on the green from the rough.
“The game is upside down
with new technology. It was brought in to help the amateurs, not the pros, but the ball is the biggest culprit. They’re hitting nine irons where top players were hitting five irons 50 years ago.
“The courses are getting longer so it costs more to keep them maintained and it takes so much more time to play.
“I also don’t consider these elite guys to be that talented and nobody looks like they’re having a good time. They’re all just going about their business.
“A 30-foot putt goes in but they don’t smile, there’s no fistpumping.
The players have become too robotic and don’t interact with the galleries. It’s the same people every week getting millions of dollars. Who cares any more? It’s not like when
Arnold Palmer or Seve Ballesteros were in their pomp. “It used to be a real spectacle to see those charismatic players in action. Tiger Woods still pulls the crowds and he’s got a bit more oomph... but there’s little emotion shown.”
The R&A and USGA will assess the potential of a “local rule” which would allow tournament committees to “specify use of clubs and/or balls intended to result in shorter hitting distances”. Jacklin believes golf is at a crossroads. “A lot of us seniors have been imploring the R&A and the USGA for years to rein in the distance the ball travels,” he said. “The players shoot 61s and 62s every week and it’s making a mockery of the game. It’s crazy.
“There’s no finesse. You don’t see them fading or drawing the ball, it’s all about gripping it and ripping it. Tiger put it in a nutshell when he said the guys go for the driver every time.
“I always thought you had to hit the fairway to give yourself a chance with the second shot but accuracy doesn’t matter now.
“Arnie said it for the last 10, 15 years of his life, Jack Nicklaus likewise, Greg Norman, Gary Player. A 7,500yard course that used to be a test is not a challenge to the modern guys because they hit wedges and nine irons into the green more than 50 per cent of the time. I’d like to see the ball go a maximum of 275 yards.
“We used to read about Harry Vardon, Bobby Jones, Ben Hogan, the greats of yesteryear, but golf has gone so far away from what they all did.
“This is not sour grapes from an old man. I just have the best interests of the game at heart because it’s a game I’ve always loved.”