Length isn't everything

I've never gotten drag racing. I've never understood  what you learn from a straight quarter mile.  The chances are if you put a Ford Mustang against a Mini Cooper S on a drag race the mustang would walk it.  However, put them on a race track with corners hairpins etc, the playing field will be much more level and reflect the driver skill as well as the capabilities of the vehicle. And I am quite confident that the Cooper S would come out on top.

Unfortunately too many PGA Tour events are becoming the golfing equivalent of a drag race! 

There is no other way to put this, but watching the World Golf Championship at the weekend left me bored senseless.  

Was the best putter going to win? No! Was the best short game player going to win? No! Was the best mid to long iron player going to win? No! Was the best all round golfer going to win? Probably not.  This developed into a long hitters contest.  

I must admit that I find that very boring and predictable.  

On entering Sunday, the top five on the leader board were also top five in driving stats. Is this really what we want to watch? 

There is no way a Luke Donald style player will ever win on a course like Doral, and this is wrong.  The idea of the four world golf championships, is that it allows us to watch the best players in the world, playing the best courses in the world.  Well that was the concept.  Sadly, it is a concept that seems to have been forgotten.

There are far too many courses that cannot contain long hitters.  There are far too many courses on tour that favour long hitters.

Now many of you will now try to tell me that long hitting is a skill in its own right.  But for me golf should not be about how far you can hit the ball.  It should be about ability, about touch, about feel and about all round skill.

For years we have said "drive for show, putt for dough" it seems to me that the PGA are doing their best to make this phrase obsolete.  

If you are not the longest in the game, you develop other skills to make up for your short comings.  And I will hold my hands up that I'm not the longest, but length should never be the main attraction it's what you do with your game that's important!