Golf and PGA Tour News

Maybe Lefty Is Right
By: Keith Dobkowski, Golf News Writer

Woke up this morning to the sound of birds singing. Yes, spring is
near and golf season is here. And yes I know that the West Coast
Swing is already done. Daly came out of nowhere, again, to win.
Vijay couldn't miss a top ten till he missed the cut. The field edged
closer to Tiger only to have Tiger win the Match Play and $1.2
million to boot. Even Lefty is back with a victory, a handful of top
tens and a little less bounce in his midsection.

And Mark O'Meara won. Yes Mark O'Meara. O'Meara, of British
Open and Masters fame in 1998, had not won since until the
Dubai Desert Classic this past weekend. The 47 year old beat the
likes of Tiger Woods, the world's number one player, Ernie Els,
and Colin Montgomerie, just to name a few.

In the time that has passed since O'Meara's last
victory and a season that earned him player of
year, O'Meara's favorite playing partner, Tiger
Woods, has compiled the following stats. Tiger has
won every player of the year award since (that
means five), six majors, and 33 total tournaments
earning over $30 million.

O'Meara has now joined a slew of old guys in the past year to win
on tour. The 'Walrus' Craig Stadler, proud owner of a green jacket
from 1982, won the BC Open at age 50. The 'Jake' Peter Jacobson
(fellow Duck, I am proud to add) won the Greater Hartford Open
at age 49. Along with Fred Couples, owner of a green jacket and
two player of the year awards from the early 1990's, won the
Houston Open at the ripe old age of 44.

Add in Jay Haas, Fred Funk, Bernhard Langer, Mark Calcavecchia,
Hal Sutton, Nick Price, Brad Faxon, John Cook, Jeff Sluman, Scott
Hoch, Kenny Perry, Steve Lowery, David Peoples, Loren Roberts
and Bob Tway and you have a hall of fame roster and a Ryder Cup
team filled with victories and Major wins in the 1980's and now
again in the new Millennium.

So when 'Lefty' Phil Mickelson decided to address
Tiger's sub par, in this case meaning bad,
equipment, it is the reverse we should be
concerned about.

Like dumbing down a test, today's equipment is making the
storied tracks of old outdated and short. Technology, specifically
titanium faced drivers and graphite shafts, is butting heads with
the likes of Pebble Beach, The Olympic Club and Augusta National.
Golf is better served by Pebble Beach than by 350-yard drives.

Only a few years back, Fred Couples led a charge to create a
Majors' tour. A tour specifically for players aged 37 to 55 who had
won a major. Couples did not think he could compete any more on
the PGA Tour. Tiger, Els and Sergio Garcia were hitting the ball too
long for players of Couples' age to compete. Two wins in 2003
may have changed Couples' view.

HELLO TITANIUM...

Increasing distances of 10 to 20 percent, titanium faced drivers
have leveled the playing field. After Tiger went winless in Majors
last year and faltered to start this year until the Match Play, fans
and media grumbling pointed directly at the players' fear of Tiger
diminishing. When in reality it is the superior equipment being
used.

Tiger uses a steel shafted and steel headed driver from the
1990's. It is 43" in length and has a persimmons head design. In
comparison, most PGA pros are using graphite shafts measuring
over 45" in length and titanium heads reaching 450 cubic
centimeters in size.

Look no further than the driving statistics. In 1997, Tiger first full
year on tour, he finished second with a 294 yard average. From
1998 to 2001, Tiger finished no lower than third and continued to
average around 295 yards per drive. Then in 2002, Tiger dropped
to sixth, averaging 293 yards. And last year, Tiger had his best
career average of 299 yard per drive, yet his ranking dropped to
11th.

Tiger's retort to Lefty was a call for testing of drivers. Tiger
insisted that many Tour Pros were using equipment that did not
conform to the regulations of golf.

As a golfer and a fan, I agree, but not for Tiger's sake. I agree for
Pebble Beach's sake. Golf and specifically the PGA tour is better
served with Pebble on its schedule. Memories of Watson's chip at
the 17th, Tiger's 15 stroke U.S. Open win and world's best being
unable to hit the 100 yard seventh should not disappear into Golf
Lore because of Pebble's mere 6800 yards in distance.

Creating and, more importantly, regulating the rules surrounding
equipment is necessary on the PGA Tour. Shaft length and
flexibility and driver head size and spring rules must be reviewed
and revised. The same holds true for golf balls.

The greatest players should play the greatest tracks in golf. For
the day when Pebble and St. Andrews and Augusta become too
short due to technology, the true loser will be the game.