MAJOR MISTAKE TO SAY IT’S ONLY SIZE THAT MATTERS NOW

SPORTS VIEW Michael Gannon

admire him. A lot’s been made about him bulking up but firing on two stone doesn’t turn you in to a major winner.

If it did yours truly would be sitting here in his XXL Green Jacket. Bryson going big has added yards off the tee but since when was that a crime?

The US Open likes to pride itself as the precision Major. The rough is deeper than a student of French poetry and the greens are like the kitchen floor after spilling a tub of bleach. But look at the past winners, Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnston and Gary Woodland – they all hit the ball a mile. And it’s not just about distance. DeChambeau hit 23 out of 53 fairways, better than the tournament average of 34 per cent. He was also lethal with his putter.

So spare us this notion that his victory is somehow a line in the sand for the game about the distances players are hitting it. We’ve had this debate forever.

Tiger Woods was blamed for wrecking courses with his length, Jack Nicklaus got the same patter when he was booming it in the 60s and 70s.

The trend has been going in the same direction for a long time and it’s something the game had to address regardless of who won at Winged Foot.

Change the ball, make the clubs smaller, whatever it takes, we all know the arguments. The Open at St Andrews in 2022 was always going to be a worry no matter what. It always is.

Every time it comes back to the Old Course there are fears the big guns will chew it up if the conditions are calm. The good thing is the chances of calm conditions in Scotland for four days on the bounce are about the same as me losing that two stone that didn’t help my golf game.

Golf has plenty of issues right now, from technology to slow play but there’s no need to make DeChambeau the fall guy, no matter how tempting it might be.