The mere mortals of us who whack it around a golf course looking for an idea of how far to hit a shot to the green have embraced the use of a rangefinder for years.
Golf’s governing bodies made them legal in 2014, which meant that those who wanted to stick to the letter of the law could use range finders, post scores for handicaps, and play with them in a variety of amateur events.
But it also had a local rule that allowed any tournament committee to ban its use in that league. That is why they are never allowed on the various professional tours and at the major championships.
America’s PGA stepped outside that box last week, announcing that it would allow the devices in its three major championships: the PGA Championship, the KPMG Women’s PGA, and the Kitchen Aid Senior PGA. President Jim Richerson noted how the organization hopes to “ improve game flow ” by giving players easy access to the distances obtained by aiming the device at a flagstick and getting a number quickly.
This came as a surprise to those involved in the game’s highest levels.
“It’s so frustrating that they never asked those who know best what we think,” said veteran caddy Paul Tesori, who works for Webb Simpson. “I really don’t believe it will speed up the game for a minute.
“On a normal hole I still have the front [of the green] number, number, how many left or right and how many meters behind the pin. The last number we would get is the pin. What happens if the rangefinder is more than 1 meter away? Now we’ll have to redo all of our other numbers to match what we’re trying to do with the shot. ”
An old caddy who didn’t want to be identified said, “I’m 100 percent against it. I think at the level of the PGA Championship, the optics are bad. In my opinion, it will make the caddies who don’t prepare as much as possible. some others the ability to catch up.
“I also think at that level it won’t speed up the game much, if at all. Most guys want multiple numbers.”
Using rangefinders makes sense at other game levels, especially when caddies are not needed or used. For example, the American amateur allows them. But not the US Open. In fact, no major professional tour or championship allows the devices, and the PGA of America is breaking with that.
Another longtime caddy, Kip Henley, said the only real advantage would come on rare occasions, such as during the 2017 Open, when Jordan Spieth was so off line after a tee shot on the 13th hole of Royal Birkdale that getting a exact distance was guesswork.
“That was a damn great one [by Spieth’s caddie Michael Greller], but 30 caddies would have had 30 different numbers on that shot, ”Henley said. “I understand it speeds up the game on such strokes, but only minimally. From the fairway, the player still wants the numbers in the front and the laser doesn’t give you them.… It’s a big mistake, in my view. ”
The strange thing about the decision is that it didn’t come first. Nobody called for it. And while the PGA of America and PGA Tour have improved their relationship in recent years and worked together in many ways, the latter has no plans to shun local rule anytime soon.
In 2017, the tour tested the devices at four Korn Ferry events.
“We decided at the time to continue to ban its use in official competitions on the PGA Tour, PGA Tour Champions and Korn Ferry Tour for the foreseeable future,” the tour said in a statement. We will evaluate the impact of rangefinders. about the competition at the PGA of America’s Championships in 2021 and will then discuss the matter with our Player Directors and the Player Advisory Council. ”
You can bet you won’t see the devices at Augusta National for the Masters either.
However, the PGA is an example of how rules can be applied in different ways at different tournaments. It is already the only organization that is apparently willing to allow ‘favorite wings’ during the championships (lifting, cleaning and placing). She is not relying on the ‘one ball’ rule seen at all levels of the professional game. (The “one-ball” rule is that players can only use a specific brand and model ball for an entire round). This is just another example.
One theory: The PGA of America represents more than 28,000 club professionals across the country. In addition to teaching, they also run golf shops and sell equipment. Maybe this is a way to get the remote equipment some love from the audience. People can be induced to buy the product when they see the best in the world using it.
Tiger talking
Since he learned in early January that Tiger Woods had undergone a fourth microdiscectomy (on December 23) and also found out that he was already hitting balls, little information has been available about his status. Woods has not offered any public updates and it looks like he won’t have any media availability this week at the Genesis Invitational, the tournament he hosts and where he may be on site for the weekend.
Woods dropped to 48th place in the world this week, meaning he will be eligible for next week’s WGC at The Concession – which seems too early for his return. This week it has been eight weeks since the operation. The Arnold Palmer Invitational would also be in question, although it is possible. So now it will be a waiting game every week to see if he comes back. Arnold Palmer? Players? Honda? WGC-Match Play? The latter is 13 weeks past the procedure and a place where he could arrive at least in three rounds – due to the design – two weeks prior to the Masters.
Jordan’s rebound
Jordan Spieth has been part of the weekend discussion again lately; he has leads with 54 holes in Phoenix and Pebble Beach. While he was unable to add his 12th PGA Tour victory in either place – he finished T-4 at Waste Management Phoenix Open and T-3 at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am – the fact that he was there must have a chance encouraging to a player who has endured so much golf torn in the past three years.
Still, Spieth’s inability to get the ball into play from the tee – and some cold cuts with the putter – continues to doom him. The driver is especially tricky, as we saw on Sunday when he hit only six fairways at Pebble Beach. A few late birdies helped him shoot 2-under-par 70, but he’d hurt his chances with bogeys on the par-5 sixth and the par-5 14th. For the weekend, Spieth bogeyed four par 5s – and lost by 3 strokes.
As you might expect, Spieth has received many positives over the past two weeks.
“If I look back at San Diego’s Friday night and tell me I would share the 54 hole lead and be in the 54 hole lead for two weeks in a row and fight really strong both weeks, I would have told you. silly, to be honest, “Spieth said.” I wasn’t in a big headspace after that missed cut there [at the Farmers Insurance Open] and was just doing some really phenomenal work from Sunday to Wednesday of last week, that was probably the best few days of work I’ve done in a long time. It just made me believe in what I was doing and make progress. ”
Multiple winners, Berger’s par streak, etc.
With his win at Pebble Beach, Daniel Berger became the fifth player to win multiple times since COVID-19’s hiatus. Berger won back the first event, the Charles Schwab Challenge, in June. Dustin Johnson (Travelers, Northern Trust, Tour Championship, Masters) Jon Rahm (Memorial, BMW Championship), Bryson DeChambeau (Rocket Mortgage, US Open) and Collin Morikawa (Workday Charity Open, PGA Championship) are the others. … Berger has shot 26 consecutive rounds of par or better, the longest run on the PGA Tour. … Since Spieth last won at the Open 2017, Justin Thomas has nine wins, Johnson eight, Brooks Koepka six, DeChambeau six, and Rory McIlroy five. … Woods, who didn’t even hit balls due to injuries at the time of Spieth’s Open victory, has since racked up three wins. … Spieth is now 62nd in the world and can still make it to next week’s WGC at The Concession if he can jump into the top 50 on Monday – although the event will move beyond the top 50 to fill the field with 72 players .