Tiger's hitting it long but not always accurate. Andy Lyons/Getty Images

Thank goodness for Country Kenny. It only took 11 weeks, but someone finally showed us that golf's not dead.

Of all the numbers to come out of Perry's Bay Hill victory last week ($900,000 winner's check, eighth career Tour victory), the most remarkable is 83.9. That's the percentage of fairways Perry hit on the way to his win at Arnie's Place.

It's been a long time since a winner's driving accuracy percentage meant anything.

This year we've been watching a new, drive-it-anyplace kind of game, a variant of golf that, oddly, still doesn't have a proper name.

What's clear, though, is that all you need to play it is three clubs: a driver, a wedge and a putter.

The rules?

1. Rear back and hit your tee ball like it just cussed at your mama.

2. Walk toward the marshall who just found your ball 300-plus yards away in the rough.

3. Smile and say thank you, 'cause you and your caddie never would have found it by yourselves.

4. Pull out your wedge and hit it inside 15 feet.

5. Make more putts than any other ball-basher in the field.

6. Cash the million dollar winner's check.

If there's any doubt that this new game has pretty much killed off the old, just have a look at the correlations between the world rankings and the PGA Tour's driving statistics. Three of the Big Four rank lower -- way lower -- than 100th in driving accuracy. (Ernie Els: 122nd; 60.1 percent fairways hit; Phil Mickelson: 151; 56 percent; Tiger Woods: 155th; 55.5 percent.) The only member of the Big Four ranked better than 100th is Vijay Singh (91st; 62.7 percent), which may explain why he had a chance against an old school ballstriker like Perry.

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Naturally, every member of the Big Four ranks among the longest hitters on Tour. Woods, having finally boarded the technology bus (see Alan Shipnuck's excellent story in Golf Plus this week), is ranked 3rd, at 305 yards a pop. Mickelson is 6th at 298, Els 10th at 296, and Singh 23rd at 293.

I don't mean to insult any of those guys. They can play golf when they have to, else they never would contend at major championships.

That's what makes this week interesting. The Players Championship, as near to a major as you can get without a dead guy's name on the trophy, will be just the second tournament this year (after Bay Hill) where there's appreciable rough, and an actual penalty for landing in it. (OK, the second stroke play tournament -- La Costa too was a ballstriker's test.)

What we have here in Ponte Vedra isn't gnarly, punch-it-out-sideways rough. But it is thick. And it will be wet (at least for the early rounds). Let's hope the Big Four torque it back a little bit and remind us that they also can play the grand old game.

Now, about this new game's name. Some pundits are calling it "smashmouth" golf. Others are calling it "flog," drafting off Johnny Miller, who said during Doral: "What's happening in the game of golf, in the pro game today is to just flog it out there. Vijay did it last year. He didn't care if he hit the fairway or not. If he hits the fairway, it's a birdie hole. If he doesn't, he can still make birdie half the time."

Me? I prefer "powerball," because it implicitly reminds you how much money you can make playing it.