The mere mortals among us who play on a golf course while looking for some idea of how far we need to hit a shot to the green have embraced the use of distance measuring device for years.
The governing bodies of Golf made them legal in 2014, which meant that those who wanted to comply with the letter of the law could use rangefinders, post scores for handicaps and play with them at various amateur events.
But a local rule was also attached, allowing any tournament committee to ban its use in that competition. Therefore, they were never allowed in the various professional tournaments and major championships.
The PGA of America last week came out of that box, announcing that it would allow devices in its three main championships: the PGA Championship, the KPMG Women’s PGA and the Kitchen Aid Senior PGA. President Jim Richerson noted how the organization hopes to “improve the flow of the game,” allowing players easy access to yards obtained by pointing the device at a flag and quickly obtaining a number.
This came as a surprise to those involved at the highest levels of the game.
“It’s so frustrating that they never asked those who know what we think,” said veteran caddy Paul Tesori, who works for Webb Simpson. “I really don’t think it will speed up the game a minute.
“In a normal hole, I will still have the front [of the green] number, transport number, how many left or right and how many yards behind the pin. The last number we would get is the pin. What happens then if the rangefinder is more than 1 yard away? Now we’ll have to redo all of our other numbers to adjust what we’re trying to do with the shot. ”
Said a longtime caddy who declined to be identified: “I am 100 percent against this. I think that at the PGA Championship level, the optics are bad. In my opinion, it will allow caddies that do not prepare as well as some others, the ability to catch up.
“I also think that at this level it will not speed up the game much, if at all. Most guys want multiple numbers. ”
Using distance measurement devices makes sense at other levels of play, especially where caddies are not needed or used. US Amador, for example, allows. But not the US Open. In fact, no major professional tour or major championship is allowing the devices, with America’s PGA breaking away from that.
Another longtime caddy, Kip Henley, said the only real benefit would come in rare cases, such as at the 2017 Open, when Jordan Spieth was so out of line after a stroke at the 13th hole of the Royal Birkdale that getting an exact yard it was an assumption.
“That was great [by Spieth’s caddie Michael Greller], but 30 caddies would have 30 different numbers on that shot, ” said Henley. “I understand that it will speed up the game in pitches like this, but only minimally. From the fairway, the player will still want the front numbers and the laser won’t give you those … It’s a big mistake, in my eyes. ‘ ‘
The strange thing about the decision is that it was hardly a prominent topic. Nobody was crying out for this. And while the PGA of America and the PGA Tour have improved their relationship in recent years and have worked together in a number of ways, the latter does not plan to avoid local rule anytime soon.
In 2017, the tour tested the devices at four Korn Ferry events.
“At the time, we decided to continue to ban its use in official PGA Tour, PGA Tour Champions and Korn Ferry Tour competitions in the foreseeable future, ” the tour said in a statement.” We will assess the impact that rangefinders have on competition in the PGA of America championship in 2021 and then discuss the matter with our players ‘directors and the Players’ Advisory Council. ”
You can bet you won’t see the devices at Augusta National for the Masters either.
The PGA, however, is an example of how there is the potential for the different ways in which rules can be applied in various tournaments. Already, it is the only organization that seems to be willing to allow “favorite lies” (getting up, cleaning up and putting up) during its championships. It does not invoke the “one ball” rule seen at all levels of professional play. (The “one ball” rule states that players can only use a specific brand and model of ball for an entire round). This is just another example.
One theory: PGA of America represents more than 28,000 professional clubs across the country. In addition to teaching the game, they also run golf stores and sell equipment. Perhaps this is a way to get remote devices to like the public. People can be moved to buy the product if they see the best in the world using it.
Tiger talk
Since he learned in early January that Tiger Woods had a fourth microdiscectomy (on December 23) and also discovered that he was already hitting the balls, there is little information about his condition. Woods did not offer public updates and it looks like he will have no media availability this week at Genesis Invitational, the tournament he organizes and where he can be at the venue over the weekend.
Woods dropped to 48th place in the world this week, which means he is eligible for next week’s WGC in the Concession – which appears to be too early for his return. This week marks eight weeks since the surgery. The Arnold Palmer Invitational would also be in question, although it is possible. So now it’s a waiting game each week to see if it comes back. Arnold Palmer? Players? Honda? WGC-Match Play? The latter has already spent 13 weeks of the procedure and is a place where he could reach at least three rounds – because of the format – two weeks before the Masters.
Jordan’s rebound
Jordan Spieth returned to the weekend’s discussion recently; it had 54 holes in Phoenix and Pebble Beach. Although he failed to add his 12th win on the PGA Tour anywhere – he finished T-4 at the Waste Management Phoenix Open and T-3 at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am – the fact that he was there with a chance has that is encouraging for a player who has endured the ire of golf so much in the past three years.
Still, Spieth’s inability to put the ball on the tee – and some cold stretches with the club – continues to condemn him. The driver is especially problematic, as we saw on Sunday, when he reached just six fairways at Pebble Beach. A few late birdies helped him shoot 70 under par, but he had hampered his chances with bogeys in par 5 sixth and par 5 14. Over the weekend, Spieth bogeyed in four par 5s – and lost by 3 strokes.
As you can expect, Spieth is having many positive results in the past two weeks.
“If I look back on Friday night in San Diego and you tell me that I would share the 54-hole lead and have the 54-hole advantage two weeks in a row and really fight hard in the two weeks, I would have told you’re crazy, to be honest, “said Spieth.” I wasn’t in a big headspace following that cut lost there [at the Farmers Insurance Open] and I did a really phenomenal job from Sunday to Wednesday last week, which was probably the best period of a few days of work I’ve done in a long time. It made me believe in what I was doing and make progress. ”
Several winners, Berger pair streak, etc.
With his victory at Pebble Beach, Daniel Berger became the fifth player to win several times since the COVID-19 break. Berger won the first event back, the Charles Schwab Challenge, in June. Dustin Johnson (Travelers, Northern Trust, Tour Championship, Masters) Jon Rahm (Memorial, BMW Championship), Bryson DeChambeau (Rocket Mortgage, US Open) and Collin Morikawa (Workday Charity Open, PGA Championship) are the others. … Berger threw 26 consecutive rounds of the pair or better, the longest streak on the PGA Tour. … Since Spieth’s last Open 2017 victory, Justin Thomas has nine wins, Johnson has eight, Brooks Koepka six, DeChambeau six and Rory McIlroy five. … Woods, who was not even hitting the balls because of injuries at the time of Spieth’s Open victory, has had three wins since then. … Spieth is now in 62nd place in the world and can still reach the next week’s WGC at The Concessão if he manages to enter the top 50 on Monday – although the event goes beyond the top 50 to fill the field for 72 players.