No place for 8,000-yard courses, says Augusta boss
Fred Ridley, the Augusta National Golf Club chairman, has talked about golf being at an “important crossroads” in the game’s distance debate.
Speaking in his traditional pre-masters press conference, Ridley also urged the R&A and USGA, the sport’s governing bodies, and other interested parties to put forward “thoughtful solutions as soon as possible”.
The call was made in reaction to proposed changes to the current rules and equipment standards, which were outlined by the R&A and USGA in February and are currently in a review phase.
“As I have stated in the past each year, we look at every hole of our golf course,” said Ridley. “Fortunately, we do have the ability to make any number of changes to protect the integrity of the course.
“At the same time, we hope there will not come a day when the Masters or any championship will be played at 8,000 yards to achieve that objective.
“This is an important crossroads, so we will continue to urge the governing bodies and all interested parties to put forward thoughtful solutions as soon as possible. If there is no action taken, for whatever reason, we need to look at other options.”
Brooks Koepka, the four-time major winner, has revealed that he will be teeing up in this week’s 85th Masters with a broken knee, writes Martin Dempster.
The 2013 SSE Scottish Hydro Challenge champion underwent surgery just under a month ago to repair a dislocation and ligament damage to his right knee. That seemed certain to rule him out of the season’s opening major, but the 30-year-old has rolled up at Augusta National and says he is ready to battle the pain barrier.
“There's like an internal brace they put in there right where the screw is,” said Koepka of his right knee. “They had to put it there just because it's still broken.”
Koepka, who tied for second behind Tiger Woods in 2019, said he was having most problems walking downhill on the undulating Georgia course. He also admitted that bending down to pick up his ball was quite a palaver.
"It [walking downhill] puts all the pressure on the patella. It's going to hurt downhill,” he said.
"I can't bend down. My knee doesn't go. I mean, that's the most stress you're going to have on your patella. I don't have that much motion in my knee.
"Prone I can get it to about 90 degrees and that's about it. But getting down, it's going to look funny."
Koepka is, though, quietly confident that he can give a decent account of himself.
"Game feels fine. Game is good. Playing good,” he said. “I like how I'm swinging it. Everything should be fine.”