BOMB: I feel like what my mother used to tell me when I was being a pain as a child: Hot, Tired, Cranky, Sick and Crazy. But that's what hanging out at Winged Foot for a week will do to you. And as all the other scribes in this media center are banging out copy about Philly Mick and Monty puking all over the 18th hole, my mind is elsewhere (as a good equipment geek's mind should be). I'm thinking Winged Foot proved what me and many others have been saying about equipment regulation: why don't you try growing some rough first and see how it goes? Mike Davis and the USGA set-up squad did a heckuva job here taking on modern technology and winning. Think about it: Five over par is a winner and no one is barking about the golf course. Might just be what was needed for the USGA to put the brakes on any talk about clubhead size reduction.
GOUGE: Well, well, well. What a difference a week makes. A week ago, we were just fine with the old Great Big Bertha, and now, well, we're not so sure any change is necessary. Oddly enough, I could be persuaded to say "Hold on," too. Maybe the rush to rollback isn't necessary. But that's only if you're worried about score and not skill. Has the level of skill required to execute a driver swing diminished? The evidence is clear that you don't have to hit it as squarely on the face to receive a satisfactory result. But clearly the modern, souped up driver doesn't swing itself or Philly Flub wouldn't have hit one into a trash can and another off the roof of a corporate tent. But let's just look at the recent historical past of driving distance at the U.S. Open. Since 2003, driving distance has averaged 288, 296, 295 and 291 this week. But it was just 265.5 at Bethpage four years ago. Of course, it rained that week. So distance is down about four yards from last year to this. But in 1984, Greg Norman fanned a 6-iron into the rough at 18. In 1974, Hale Irwin smoothed a 2-iron into that green. And Geoff Ogilvy in 2006? Couldn't have been much more than a 7-iron. In other words, about what we got 22 years ago. Of course, talk to Winged Foot members and they'll tell you, for example, that players were approaching No. 1 green from unbelievably short distances. Roll the ball back? You can if you want. Roll clubhead size back? You can if you want. But I do know this, from the back tees, I'm still hitting 3-wood into half the holes at Winged Foot, including my third at the 640-yard par-5 12th. But then I'm not playing in the U.S. Open, and I shouldn't be playing the back tees. And I definitely won't be playing the back tees if they roll anything back. You want to hit it like the pros? You need speed. Speed plays a bigger role, than elevating your launch angle or reducing your spin, and it pretty much doesn't matter where your center of gravity is positioned or how stable your clubhead is on off-center hits if you can't make the clubhead move like a semi on the loose on the downswing. Fitting is nifty, but speed is the key to distance. Pros have it. I don't. No amount of technology is going create pro-like speed. Of course, no amount of technology can account for stupidity, either.
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