What is a 'Trackman golfer' — and are they actually worse at the British Open?

SOUTHPORT, ENGLAND — There's a back-handed compliment that floats around professional golf these days: The notion of a "Trackman golfer." About this time every year, there's a notion that makes the rounds. It's one of those ideas that makes sense intuitively, but isn't actually backed up by anything.

Ahead of the 154th Open Championship, I asked Rory McIlroy about it, and whether it's true they never play well at the Open...

What is a 'Trackman golfer'?

A Trackman Golfer is a label thrown around by fans on social media onto players who are perceived to care—or perhaps overly care—about their launch monitor numbers. Golfers who are perceived to trust the numbers on the screen more than their own feel.

Because of that, they're associated with certain style of play traits:

• They primarily stick to stock shot shapes and stock club distances
• Their shot shape, generally speaking, is pretty straight
• They chase high launch-low spin drives
• A generally heavy focus on systems, measurements, and quantifications within their game

Put simply, a Trackman golfer is unlikely to ever stop caring about their own numbers. You'd rarely catch them saying something like: 'Feels like a 180 shot' then hitting a little knockdown cut 6-iron. Instead they'd say that a shot is playing 182 yards, because the wind adds 15 yards and the rough adds another seven so they're going to hit a stock shot with their 184-yard club.

The implication, and criticism, many fans have of Trackman golfers is that because they're so numbers-focused, they're worse in situations that require improvisation and creativity. Places like the Open Championship, where the conditions present challenges that are difficult to specifically plan for.

Which is the question I put to Rory...

Are 'Trackman golfers' bad at the Open?

Rory disagrees with that theory, and for good reason: Because that's not how players use technology. They're not all-or-nothing. They use Trackman, Foresight, and other launch monitor technologies to gather the information they need, which then allows them to play with feel on the course.

It's why Rory, for instance, is very feel-based—but he's also a heavy Trackman user.

"I think that TrackMan or any launch monitor, it's a very useful tool. I think you can get too into the numbers, which then can be detrimental...but I think it can actually help you with the feel of your golf swing at times."

Phil Kenyon is the world's top putting coach and agrees. There are great players of every type.

"Some players are more analytical, some players are more intuitive," he says. "Whether you're analytical or intuitive doesn't matter, just be consistent with your method."