In an interview Tiger said he was surprised how far he was able to hit his new 3W. However I've seen Phil produce a 308 yard 3W (teeshot) in competition with my own eyes, and conditions (wind, slope, bounce etc) was not particulary a factor.
I find it interesting that two years ago Phil decided to dial it back and hit more fairways....and he finally won a major.
This year he shows up and he's back to wanting to hit it farther. He's doing this by lifting his heel and turning his hips a lot more than last year. He's creating a lot more wrist cock and cluhead lag. Rick Smith was talking about it a few weeks ago and said - "only a pro should try this".
Phil's made the determination that distance is more important than accuracy off the tee. And the PGA stats seem to support this. Of course, this strategy will not work at the US Open. It will probably work just fine at Augusta.....as long as he doesn't get too wild.
Tiger in no way could swing like he did on a few holes for the entire week. That had to be hard on the body.
It is good to see that Tiger finally took Phil's advice and started to take advantage of technology (inferior equipment remark several years ago).
Guess I will consider going to graphite and maybe, just maybe to a head bigger than 240 cc.
On Sunday when Tiger tried to drive the green on 16, I happened to be on the phone with Yoda. Yoda pointed out that he came out of his shoes and "threw away" the club. Sure enough, he eneded up quite a bit shorter than on Saturday - even accounting for the tees being back 15 yards on Sunday.
I find it interesting that two years ago Phil decided to dial it back and hit more fairways....and he finally won a major.
This year he shows up and he's back to wanting to hit it farther. He's doing this by lifting his heel and turning his hips a lot more than last year. He's creating a lot more wrist cock and cluhead lag. Rick Smith was talking about it a few weeks ago and said - "only a pro should try this".
Phil's made the determination that distance is more important than accuracy off the tee. And the PGA stats seem to support this. Of course, this strategy will not work at the US Open. It will probably work just fine at Augusta.....as long as he doesn't get too wild.
You said it. It started last season. Bomber hitting wedge from rough trumps player in fairway hitting 7 iron. Mickelson and Woods miss 40+% of the fairways (like they did this week) at the US Open, and the cut is going to be staring them in the face.
If you saw the replay of Tiger's swing at that hole he actually had both feet off the ground somewhere around impact!
Also, whether he was shorting or not is debatable....the tees were a good 20 yards further back and there was no wind helping him this time. Factor both of those things in and add some yardage to his drive and he'd probably be on the green again.
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I'm not a TGM or PGA certified Pro, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night
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