Joy of Golf: Slow and steady is the way for Day

Joy Chakravarty 08:10 12/01/2017
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  • No need for speed: Jason Day.

    World No.1 Jason Day re-ignited the pace of play debate last week when he said he was playing too fast and pinpointed it as one of the main reasons why he was not as dominant in 2016 as he was in 2015.

    Ahead of the SBS Tournament of Champions in Kapalua, Day said: “In my opinion, I don’t care so much about speeding up the game. I’ve got to get back to what makes me good. If that means I have to back off five times, then I’m going to back off five times before I have to actually hit the shot.”

    Day is considered by many as one of the slowest players on the Tour, but has never been fined by the PGA Tour.

    In fact, there has been only one player who has ever been penalised in the US – Glen Day at the 1995 Honda Classic. Jason Day also said pace of play was not as huge an issue for professional golf, as it is for amateur golf.

    Even though I am bowled over by Day’s honesty in answering the question, I only agree with him to a certain point. I have never met any fan who has ranted about a five, or a five-and-a-half hour round during a professional tournament, but I have met thousands of club members who complain about the guys in front of them being too slow.

    As long as Day is not breaking the rules, which means he is not taking more than 50 seconds when hitting the first shot in his group, and his group is not lagging too far behind the group in front of them, he should be left alone.

    However, I also feel he should be mindful of his playing partners. They are the only ones who can get really annoyed by his goslow methods.

    Players like Henrik Stenson, Rory McIlroy and Brandt Snedekker are known for their pace of play, and I have seen some of them being rather unhappy after finishing a round with a slow player. As I love to mention, golf is the only sport where etiquette is more important than the rules of the game.

    That really is the reason why the section on what is morally right comes before what is legally and technically right in the ‘Rules of Golf’. Very early in that book is one line that Day needs to remember: ‘Respect for your fellow players’. Slow play, I feel, is being disrespectful to your fellow competitors.

    Time for change

    The beginning of the year is always a time to get excited about the new equipment being used by the professionals.

    Winter break is the only time when most players get quality time to test new stuff, and most of them hate to change anything more than a putter during the course of the season.

    The situation is more interesting this year because of Nike closing shop on equipment so many of their stars, including Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy, are out looking for new clubs.

    Testing times: Rory McIlroy

    Testing times: Rory McIlroy.

    Woods had a lot of time to test before his comeback. The big change for him is the use of Bridgestone balls (B330S) and going back to his trusted Scotty Cameron putter.

    There was a major change for women’s world No1 as well. Lydia Ko, after deciding to change her caddie and coach, has now opted to ditch Callaway Golf in favour of PXG (Parsons Xtreme Golf ).

    Most eyes were on McIlroy, who spent more than a week before Christmas hitting thousands of balls at The Els Club in Dubai with just about every equipment manufacturer sending him their clubs.

    Ahead of starting his season at the South African Open this week, this is what’s in McIlroy’s bag: Callaway Epic Sub Zero driver, TaylorMade M2 fairway woods, Custom Callaway Apex MB irons, Titleist Vokey SM6 wedges, Odyssey putter and 2017 Titleist Pro V1x balls.

    It’s a mish-mash right now, but the world No2 has completely utilised the freedom of being a free agent right now. Another interesting development is John Daly signing up with the new equipment manufacturers, Vertical Groove Golf (VGG).

    As is evident from their name, the Boston-based company has taken off the prevalent horizontal grooves on their drivers and replaced them with vertical ones.

    The USGA has cleared the driver as conforming and Daly says he is “hitting the ball further and straighter off the tee”.

    The power of Thomas

    Justin Thomas

    Justin Thomas.

    As Justin Thomas continues to deliver on his early promise – there was a time when most experts thought he’d win a major ahead of his close friend Jordan Spieth when both turned professional in 2013 – there is one aspect of his game which stood out time and again in that brilliant victory last week in Kapalua.

    The boy can surely pummel that balata. For someone who is 5 feet 10 inches tall and weighs a mere 66 kilos, the American smashed a drive which measured 404 yards in Hawaii, regularly hit it 20-30 yards past his playing partner Hideki Matsuyama and recorded several driver shots in excess of 350 yards.

    The ball tends to travel further in Kapalua, but Thomas had also hit a 414-yard scorcher during the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational in Akron last year – the longest drive recorded on the PGA Tour in 2016.

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