John Huggan: Fed-Ex delivers a bonus

IT is one of the great joys of golf at the very highest level that the PGA Tour and its diminutive commissioner, Tim Finchem, play little or no part in the game’s five biggest events.

IT is one of the great joys of golf at the very highest level that the PGA Tour and its diminutive commissioner, Tim Finchem, play little or no part in the game’s five biggest events.

The fact they’re not involved in the four majors and the Ryder Cup is a state of affairs that surely puts smiles on the faces of those who prefer history, tradition and titles to the short-term and instantly forgettable vulgarity that is piles of cash.

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Still, it would be churlish in the extreme not to acknowledge the qualified success of the PGA Tour’s money-laden Fed-Ex Cup and the so-called “play-off” system, which will climax at next week’s Tour Championship in Atlanta.

At a time of year when the minds of the American sports fans typically turn to matters NFL, the not inconsiderable financial incentive provided by wee Timmy has produced some terrific leaderboards. At last week’s BMW Championship, for example, world No.1 Rory McIlroy was chased home by the likes of Lee Westwood, Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson. So all concerned are to be commended for creating a stage big enough to keep most of the world’s best players on the golf course.

Mickelson, in fact, is a perfect example. One of the reasons why the game’s best-ever left-hander has such a rotten record in the Ryder Cup is that, pre Fed-Ex Cup, the Californian would show up for the biennial matches “fresh” from at least a month away from competition. After the USPGA Championship in early August, “Lefty” would usually “shut it down” for the year. Now, well into September, he is still out there competing.

On the other hand, the inner workings of the Fed-Ex competition remain a complete mystery to all, including the players. The last two champions, Jim Furyk and Bill Haas, won the thing without actually realising they had done so. So the convoluted format – one that could conceivably see a player win the first three play-off events and come second in the fourth, yet not win the overall prize – needs to be changed.

There are a few alternatives, but I prefer the most straightforward – adding up all the shots over the four weeks of competition. The guy who hits the ball the fewest times wins, with the caveat that the winner of each event receives, say, a six-shot bonus for doing so. That way, even those with just a basic grasp of arithmetic will have at least a clue as to what the hell is going on.

THE welcome success of Rory McIlroy over the last few weeks – professional golf needs a new dominant figure – has diverted attention away from the ongoing debate over the legitimacy or otherwise of so-called “broom-handle” and “belly” putters. Thankfully, the young Ulsterman has, so far at least, found no need to resort to either of those dreadful implements.

But here’s the thing. While longer-than-standard putters are to be condemned and, in time, run out of the game, they do not represent a serious threat to the way in which golf is played at the highest level. While many people were getting bent out of shape by the fact that three of the last five majors have been won by players wielding belly putters, a far more significant aspect of the modern game was slipping by almost unnoticed.

According to my friend Darius Oliver and his admirable blog (www.planetgolf.com), McIlroy’s victory at last month’s USPGA Championship was “at least the 35th in succession by a major champion using a 400+ cubic centimetre driver head”. Oliver goes on to call this phenomenon “an abomination” and he isn’t far wrong.

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Think about it. While the long putters may have to an extent changed the look of the professional game, they have not significantly altered the way golf is played or, indeed, scoring levels. The same cannot be said of drivers with heads the size of frying pans, or, indeed, the hybrid clubs that have largely replaced long irons.

Back in the not-so-distant days when Greg Norman was the best player in the world, the Australian largely built his pre-eminence on his ability with the longest club. Norman was a magnificent driver using a persimmon-headed club and a balata ball, his superior technique giving him – quite rightly – a significant advantage over his competition.

Were Norman competing seriously today, that edge would be all but gone. Purely through the advent of technology, players can now “buy” a better game, to the point where practically everyone on tour is at least good off the tee. The art of driving has been almost completely lost.

The same is true of long iron play. Where once the likes of Jack Nicklaus, Norman and Nick Price could gain a deserved advantage from their ability to hit long, high shots with 1 and 2-irons, these days even the most peely-wally competitor can duplicate the height and length of shots struck by his obvious superiors simply by reaching for his hybrid club. Equipment rather than talent has levelled the playing field. All because of the inattention and/or incompetence of the game’s rulesmakers.

JUST the other day, the Scottish Golf Union announced the three-man squad that will represent our nation at the forthcoming World Amateur Team Championship in Turkey. Jack McDonald, pictured, was not one of those named. Despite reaching the semi-final of this year’s Amateur Championship at Royal Troon and breaking par in three of his four rounds at Castle Stuart in the Scottish Open – where he played the final round with Ernie Els, the man who, one week later, would be crowned Open champion – the University of Stirling student from Barassie was deemed surplus to requirements by the selectors. McDonald is currently 102nd and the highest-placed Scot on the World Amateur ranking list. The three selected for the Eisenhower Trophy next month, Graeme Robertson, Paul Shields and Matthew Clark, are 131st, 166th and 248th respectively.

Anyway, this extraordinary decision was apparently based on McDonald’s absence from the top 15 on the SGU’s “Order of Merit”, a season-long amalgamation of events across the nation. The 19-year-old, who works with former Italian Open champion Dean Robertson and not the SGU’s “national coach”, Ian Rae, played in only four of those tournaments and finished 21st in the standings.

Also questionable is the public declaration of team captain Scott Knowles. Those selected apparently gained their places through consistency and/or superiority in Order of Merit events, nearly all of which are, like the upcoming Eisenhower, contested over 72 holes of stroke play. Which sounds fine until you take a closer look at just where those tournaments are played.

Unfortunately, too many are held on courses that are either short or relatively easy or both. McDonald’s obvious ability to stand out on “big” courses like Troon and Castle Stuart has been disregarded in favour of men who excel at pitching and putting. Places like Craigmillar Park, Crail, Tain, Newmachar, Dumfries & Galloway and Longniddry are nice enough tracks (mostly) but hardly the most testing. It’s hard to imagine they have much in common with the Antalya course in Turkey, one that measures over 7,000 yards.

Yet again, the amateur game – perennially rife with prejudice, parochialism, bias and petty infighting – shoots itself in the soft spikes. Sadly, it was ever thus.

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