04/25/24
July 03, 2003
Tiger says the PGA is full of corkers ...: guys who are using illegal drivers. While Woods has hit his woods an average of one yard less this year, he's dropped from 2nd to 30th in driving distance. Should the PGA start checking every player's driver before a round, or should the players still be responsible for reporting it themselves?
How big is the difference between 30th and 2nd (and in between)? and here's the clickable links NYT San Diego
posted by jasonspaceman at 10:27 AM on July 03, 2003
How big is the difference between 30th and 2nd? If you hold accuracy constant, then over the course of a tournament, removing the par-3's, the longer driver has a distinct advantage on 56 holes. The advantage will be even more pronounced on par-5's. I think this is a big deal and has to be investigated. The precipitous drop from 2 to 30 despite hitting his drives the same distance is evidence of something. Maybe it's legit, maybe not, but voluntary club testing won't work.
posted by vito90 at 10:33 AM on July 03, 2003
Is tiger even hitting his driver as much? That could be one of the reasons for the drop. Or it's those Nikes...
posted by corpse at 10:42 AM on July 03, 2003
It mostly adds up to circumstantial evidence, but I think it’s pretty clear that there is a problem with “corking” in the PGA. Tiger’s drop in driving ranking is one piece of that, but the antidotal evidence from Woods and other players is what sways me the most. I think the most interesting thought coming out of this for me is a greater understanding of the Tiger Influence. Jack Nicklaus has been speaking about the affects of technology on the game for years. In that time he has argued for constraint from manufacturers and a tightening of the rules to curb the distance players are hitting. Again, The Golden Bear, Jack Effing Nicklaus! (not some slob) has been discussing this for some time... years, if not a decade. But look what we have now that Tiger makes mention of the issue. There are feature stories, probable rule changes and an increase in self-governance from the players… in a week. I don’t think he’s God or nothin', but he does hold some influence, eh.
posted by 86 at 10:45 AM on July 03, 2003
Corpse, Tiger's average has remained the same. He hasn't fallen, others have risen.
posted by 86 at 10:46 AM on July 03, 2003
Jason, you da man! The change in the distance of some of these guys points to manufacturers juicing up the driver heads. Why? Because there's no testing. Even the players wouldn't necessarily know, because I'm sure they don't test every club. Why would they? If the manufacturer says it's legal, shouldn't that be enough? Here's the fix: 10% of each starting 162 is randomly tested each day. If caught with an illegal driver, the player is DQed from the tourney, and the manufacturer must remove all its advertising from other players for the remainder of the tourney. Don't know if it's legal, but it would sure stop it quickly.
posted by wfrazerjr at 11:37 AM on July 03, 2003
Thats a tad harsh. Especially considering if the player isn't in on it. I say confiscate the club, replace it with a legal and tested club and deal with the manufacturer in some way that would make them feel the sting. A season long ban would scare the bejeezas out of any equipment maker.
posted by garfield at 11:59 AM on July 03, 2003
I have to wonder if physical conditioning plays a part in this. Tiger was early on the weight lifting bandwagon (he reportedly benched 300 in college) and following his lead a large number of tour pros began working out regularly. As more and more players move in that direction it would seem logical that driving distance would be impacted the most. I tend to believe that something funny is going on as well - the size of this year's jump is just too suspicious - but I don't discount weight room influence either. Clearly the PGA needs drug testing as well. Have you seen the guns on Jim Furyk?
posted by kloeprich at 12:01 PM on July 03, 2003
Garfield, much of golf is based around self-reporting. Even if the player is unaware, it's his fault, and he's to blame. The equipment is there for guys to get their drivers tested. Let's see 'em line up to use it after the first DQ. And man, a season-long ban? Who's being harsh? Not that I disagree - harsh is how things get fixed. I wonder if they are having the same discussion on the LPGA?
posted by wfrazerjr at 01:46 PM on July 03, 2003
That sucks. That's like taking cold medicine from the team doctor and losing your medal. I guess that is harsh, but I don't have much sympathy for a company that would put a player's career in jeopardy for some extra exposure. I think the LPGA is always looking for longer drivers.
posted by garfield at 02:12 PM on July 03, 2003
Here are a couple more links, although I still can't do this on a Mac (please, someone, I'll pay you — make link thingies for me!): NY Times news story: http://www.nytimes.com/2003/07/03/sports/golf/03tiger.html?ex=1057896000&en=dc2b114f3b58d316&ei=5062&partner=GOOGLE Column from San Diego paper: http://www.signonsandiego.com/sports/canepa/20030703-9999_1s3canepa.html