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The short and long of it

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Posted: Tuesday March 21, 2000 12:34 PM

ORLANDO -- Short hitters may be an endangered species in the winner's circle at the Bay Hill Invitational, now that the Bay Hill Golf Course has been lengthened in the last few years. Take the experiences of two former champions: Loren Roberts, who won it twice thanks to his virtuoso fairway-wood play, and Paul Goydos, who caught the course in a year when it played firm and fast. "It was about 6,800 yards when I won," Goydos grumbled, "not 8,100 like it is now."

THE SHORT GAME NCAA superfan Fred Couples, playing a practice round by himself late Monday afternoon at the Players Championship, caught up with fellow player Loren Roberts on the 11th green. Roberts asked him how he was feeling. "The only aches and pains I have are Stanford and Arizona," Couples joked. ... The real reason Roberts plays so well at Bay Hill: the practice range. "For some reason, the way the tee points to the right and the range goes out to the left, it fits my eye," Roberts said. "I can be swinging all over the map and for some reason, I can line up and find what I'm doing and start hitting it good when I come here. My caddie wants me to move here." ... David Sutherland has been on a roll this year. He was in contention at Riviera and the Honda Classic, opened in Tucson with a 64, and has made seven consecutive cuts, a consistency he's never before enjoyed. "Seven is a record for me. I don't think I've ever made more than four cuts in a row before," Sutherland said. "What was Byron Nelson's record, 119 in a row? I'm getting closer." ... Brandel Chamblee, who tied for 10th in two of his last three tournaments, has been striking the ball well all year but struggling with his putting. He pulled an old Ping Scottsdale Anser putter out of his garage and used it at Bay Hill, where he played the last three rounds in 11 under par after an opening 76 that featured an 8. "I bought the Anser years ago and just had kept it in my garage as a collector's item," he said. "I'm looking for a putter that's as comfortable to me as my driver is. I step over my driver and it just feels like butter. So I'm in my garage thinking, Surely I've got a putter in here that's like that. I got 'em all out and said, Which one of you sumbitches is it? I stroked them all on the carpet in my garage. I kept pulling that one Ping back, thinking, This one feels good, looks terrible. It had only 1 degree of loft. I changed the loft on it and put it in my bag this week and putted great." Is that your final Anser?

You can't blame Roberts and Goydos if they feel like stunt doubles from Honey I Shrunk My Tee Shot! Goydos shot a pair of 69s to start the tournament but was not in contention on the weekend. "Since I won, they've lengthened it a lot and the winners have been Phil Mickelson, Ernie Els, Tim Herron and now Tiger Woods," Goydos said. "Lengthening the course has probably helped them. The lengthening has yet to produce a short-hitting champion.

"The funny thing about it is, to say, 'Because a course is long, therefore it favors Tiger,' is a ridiculous statement. A par-3 course would favor Tiger. I think a miniature-golf course would probably favor Tiger. You can't say a certain setup favors Tiger because every course favors Tiger. He's the best player."

Roberts played well on the weekend, shooting 67 in the final round to tie for fourth at 11 under par. That was seven shots behind Woods, who played conservative golf Sunday to preserve his lead. "They've moved several tees back," Roberts said, "especially at the eighth. Everything has to go right now for a medium-to-short hitter to win here now. All that does is play into the hands of the long hitter. The only way to keep the integrity of the golf course is to grow rough and put a premium on straightness. I have noticed over the last couple years, fairways are getting wider.

"At Dallas, where I won last year, I've heard they've put another 100 yards on three holes. It'll be a lot tougher for me there. If we're going to play courses that play 7,500 and 7,700 yards, we're not going to beat Tiger."

Sports Illustrated senior writer Gary Van Sickle is a regular contributor to the magazine's Golf Plus edition. Click here to send a question to his Golf Mailbag.

The opinions expressed here are solely those of the writer.

 

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