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Notebook: Why All the Low Scores on Tour? It's the Ball, StupidBy Jaime Diaz
Almost overnight the game has changed on the PGA Tour because an ever-expanding
number of players are driving the ball huge distances, which allows them to
attack every pin with shorter irons. As a result, Mark Calcavecchia broke the
Tour's alltime scoring record with a 256 at Phoenix, and Davis Love III
shot a course-record-tying 28 on the front nine of the final round at Pebble
Beach. In all, six of the last eight winners of stroke-play events have either
broken or tied tournament records, and none of those winners are named Tiger
Woods.
"Everything has changed," says Dennis Paulson, an adherent of the new, extreme style of play. "We used to think that 62 or 63 was a good score. Now there's no one in the top 70 who thinks he can't shoot 59, or even 58 or 57. Guys are hitting par-5s with 280-yard three-woods, and every time you look up, somebody's holing out from the fairway. All of a sudden, anything's possible." The best laboratory to test the irresistibility of this new scoring force is this week's Bob Hope Chrysler Classic in La Quinta, Calif. Anything but an immovable object, the Hope is the Tour's annual birdie binge. The four courses on which the 90-hole tournament is played have wide, fast-running fairways, little rough and perfect greens. The light desert air and typically climate-controlled weather also contribute to ideal scoring conditions. In the last decade the worst winning score at the Hope was 23 under, by Mark Brooks in 1996. The Hope is where, in '99, David Duval shot a 59 in the final round without making a putt longer than 10 feet. One of the most impressive displays of sustained subpar golf in history, Tom Kite's tournament-record 35-under 325, also occurred at the Hope, in '93. Considering golf's 2001 odyssey, I expect Kite's record to be shattered this week and, if the planets line up correctly, the first official 58 to be shot. These are outrageous predictions, but they are based on the powerful forces that have converged to create a sea change on Tour. The most obvious force is Woods. Nothing motivates the competition like defeat. Tiger's training methods have become models that many pros have copied, but it is Woods's assault on par in 2000 that has become the real motivator. "The days of trying to hang on with even par on the back nine on Sunday are gone," says Jay Haas. "Everybody's pushing with more birdies, and the winner ends up going really low just trying to survive." Most players agree, though, that the most noticeable difference in the game is superior equipment. "The new stuff is improving at a much faster rate," says Jeff Sluman. "I've got a new driver and a new ball, and I'm 20 yards longer than last year. It's a joke." Scott Simpson, 45, missed all of last year with a broken left ankle, but when he came back this season -- with a new ball and a new driver -- he was longer, despite the rust. "The game has definitely changed, in a lot of the same ways as tennis," he says. "It's more about power and less about hitting different shots." Says Love flatly, "The latest technology is the reason the scores are so low." Most players agree that the solid, nonwound ball has made the biggest difference, not titanium drivers with better shafts. The nonwound balls have a higher rate of initial velocity and a more penetrating flight than wound balls. Therefore, in a trend that was first noticed last year (Golf Plus, May 1, 2000), pros are flocking to nonwounds. At the 2000 Buick Invitational, 13% of the field played a nonwound ball. About 77% did so there last week. What's more, all seven Tour events this season have been won with nonwound models. Since switching to a nonwound ball late last year, Phil Mickelson has become the most enthusiastic spokesman for the new style of play -- extreme golf, if you will. "Par should be attacked and birdies should be made on almost every hole," he says. "They can't hide the pin from me. There are 18 holes to be birdied." The way things are going, somebody could do just that at this week's Hope.
ShotLink's Weak
Link
The Tour's ballyhooed ShotLink system -- the combination of lasers, satellites and tournament volunteers recording club and distance on every shot for statistical purposes -- has run into an unexpected snag: The caddies are dead set against it. Scheduled to launch at the March 1-4 Genuity Championship at Doral, ShotLink should be a bonanza to the statistically minded. The caddies, however, see the system as nothing but trouble and another example of the Tour's taking them for granted. Although global positioning satellites, laser range finders and handheld computers are all important parts of ShotLink, the most critical piece of information is gathered in a decidedly low-tech way: The caddie must tell a volunteer walking with each group which club the player used on every shot. At Torrey Pines a group of caddies voiced the concerns of their peers in a meeting with Tour officials. "By not talking to us before this, the Tour has been disrespectful of what is essentially the player's office," says Cayce Kerr, who loops for Jay Williamson. "Inside the ropes is a very sensitive area, and none of us want to be put in a situation where we aren't doing the best possible job for our player. He pays us, not the Tour." When the Tour sent out a directive for caddies to tell ShotLink volunteers which club their pros used on every shot, it was met with resistance. Many caddies say they will not cooperate unless they are paid between $50 and $100 a round. "The Tour needs us," says one caddie, "and that's a bad position for it to be in." Another caddie suggests that caddies signal every shot as a one-iron -- by extending a middle finger. The caddies have some support among the players. Jeff Sluman believes that some ShotLink volunteer inevitably will ask a player or a caddie a question at an inappropriate moment. "After a player hits from the drop zone after dunking one on 17 at Sawgrass, that's not the time to ask if he hit a sand wedge or a gap wedge," says Sluman. "Some players go off more than others, and it can put the caddie in a difficult situation. That has to be worked out before the players are on board." The Tour, citing a successful dry run at last year's Tour Championship, contends that relaying club selection is simple and unobtrusive. As for compensation, the Tour's position is that the anticipated increase in purses due to ShotLink will trickle down to the caddies. Says Kerr, "That's selfish and characteristic of the Tour." Issue date: February 19, 2001
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