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Bryson's victory is sea change in golf history


juliette91

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That's the way I feel. Like when Sarazen invented the sand wedge, or Hogan became synonymous with swing perfection, or Nicklaus ruled the roost with his power and his mind, or when Tiger (still!) upended everything with his steel eyed dominion over everything golf. But Bryson's victory, while it's so entertaining to watch ball speeds never dreamed of on tour, doesn't bode well for the sport. He is to be absolutely commended for his singular focus on getting faster and faster and faster. Combining those obviously successful efforts with his undeniably superb ball striking produces the next phase in the sport of golf (getting his wedges to behave would likely make him Woodsian unbeatable.)

Unfortunately for golf the land part of this equation cannot keep up, as is said they're just not making any more of it. The directional lines he can take that no one else (maybe Wolff and a couple others can come close) can will make Tiger proofing golf courses the new rage. But it's a losing proposition. For me it's sad to see these great venues worldwide lose their aura and charm to a mashup of science and will and skill.

Still, it's great entertainment and I'll be glued to watch just like everyone else.

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Not offensive......Just ruins a whole lot of great golf courses that do not have the room to lengthen.....Not any of the five main courses in my area play anything like they where designed to play.....66 year olds hitting the ball 15% farther than they did when they where 25......Not posting this to say what , if anything should be done, but it is not hard to understand that the equipment is creating a real problem for the game.

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Agreed. Even if this does translate to a major or two, lets see how his body holds up. That's a mighty lash he's taking with the driver now. I feel like it's going to take a delicate balance of training, recovery, not overloading his schedule, etc to maintain this for years without ending up with a Jason Day back.

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Now don't get me wrong, What Bryson is doing is entertaining to watch him getting numbers that were unreachable decades ago but as @juliette91 said when Tiger was smashing it, they Tiger Proofed courses and it didn't work with players getting more and more stronger in the gym and now its repeating with Bryson. It a knife edge choice either way, To me personally I think Technology is somewhat to blame but everything goes that way these days it evolves, buy a new Driver 1 week and then 4 weeks later a new model comes out. for example.
However the flip side of the coin I say it still takes skill to get those sorts of numbers and the right conditions. calm and clear bombs away In tougher conditions who knows. however like yourselves its destroying classic courses. I said in another thread, With the path Bryson has taken it will lead to 1 of 2 things,
He dominated the tour or 2. he destroys his body and game. Will he take his power game into the Majors, time will tell with next being the USPGA.

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I'll leave a few names... Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Jose Canseco, Barry Bonds....

Time will tell.

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I don't get it either. The game is simple, get the ball in the hole in the fewest strokes possible. Not sure why people are upset that golfers are evolving and finding new ways to score.

 

Bryson's length obviously helped, but what won the tournament was his putting. Wolff would have been right there if his putter didn't go ice cold

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I hesitate to post this for several reasons but here goes.

A) Sort of a weak field. (But you play against who shows up so BD can't help that.)

B) That course played perfectly into this strategy. I noticed on one of the par fives the "traditional" fairway bunker left, fairway bunker right was carried at 290. The trees were absent where BD's drive landed (though he did land in the fairway) so the "smart" and aggressive play were the same. Bomb it out past the bunkers into the area with no trees. It was a great spot to play to if you have the distance to get it there. Ross, certainly, and I doubt the current committee ever dreamed of guys clearing the bunkers by 60 yards. What about a course that asks you to shape your shot left and right?

C) His wedge game was not great. He gets that going he will be tough to beat.

D) What would it have looked like if the fairways were hard and running? Rough dry and wispy producing fliers?

 

(I go to baseball games for pitching and small ball too. Give me a smart defensive play or a well-executed hit and run over a homerun. Good baserunning where a guy takes the extra bag is appreciated too.)

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Not gonna lie....That year with Mark and Sammy going for the HR title was the last time I enjoyed watching baseball. If mlb allowed 1 batter and 1 pitcher to be on the roids from each team, I'd be okay with that. Long term, they will still end up in better shape than football players or ufc fighters. Terrible example to show the youth and lower level players though. And unfair. But would be interesting to watch.

I think Bryson definitely has an edge but let's be real, golf used to be a long term sport you could play until you were old if you avoided major injuries. Now with these clubhead speeds, guys will be more and more injury prone and likely have serious back issues in their early to mid 30s.

The game has definitely changed. Maybe make the rough taller than normal around the 300-400 yard range. Make it well known as a risk/reward distance.

 

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The benefit of this is hitting a higher lofted club farther. Being in the rough but being able to hit wedge or 9 iron also is a huge advantage. And if you lengthen the course that plays right into these guys hands. I don't think you are going to see the entire tour go this route. He is a unique individual who is fun to see out there.

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If it causes dozens of players to embrace the strategy of speed at all costs then it could cause a big change on Tour.

But I don't think Bryson will single-handedly be the level of impact you alluded to.

We've seen other overwhelmingly long players like John Daly, before. Golf is still hard and on certain courses it's not as advantageous.

And it's really hard to sustain greatness. I can see Bryson winning 4-5 times per year for a few years, maybe. But he's not suddenly going to win or dominate everything or win multiple majors in a row...

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Really appreciate the good posts! It may not have come out right in my original post but I don't for a nanosecond begrudge them the distance they're hitting the ball. They're so highly skilled that they can swing at 120+ and still keep the ball inside the white posts, more often than not actually in the fairway, too. Distance is a huge advantage but it is very well earned. It's not something that someone got handed to him, he had to work at it. Sure, being taller with more leverage is an born into it advantage but aside from that (and of course the advantage of money/being at a club where you get instruction, hone your skills, have time to play, time to practice, parents shuttling you around from tournament to tournament, great fall back positions should you fail, etc. etc.) helps a lot too.

Yes it wasn't a major but I thought it signaled something very important. But this course could easily bite you with penalizing rough, too, but some of the worst rough was actually around the greens and if you're going into them with GW, SW (he hit a 230 yard 8 iron into 17! Sunday) PW you'll hit the green more than you will that rough surrounding it.

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Thanks... great example of a huge misconception. The strategy of baseball is now dead, it's all homers and strikeouts. Anyone who really understands the games thinks the modern version sucks. Watching modern baseball is like equating a long drive competition to golf. Home runs, are actually quite boring, at least when they happen on a regular basis. Now a clutch timely hit homer with the game on the line, after the team strategically gets 2 or 3 people on the bases is great. A series of strikeouts and 1 run homers is the reason people have quit watching.

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The "problem " is the ball and the driver. Not players getting fit and learning to play better golf. The old balls either spun like crazy or didn't spin at all. You had a choice, the pros stuck with the spin because in the end it gave them more control over what the ball did. Now you take a giant forgiving driver and a ball that doesn't spin off the tee and this is what you get. Make the driver a solid mass at 175 cc's and make the ball spin so you have to learn to control it and Bryson would be hitting the ball similar to Jack in the 1960's. But his mental game and putting are much less accomplished and he would be a non factor.

Mr. Brand Manager Bryson has taken advantage to the circumstances presented to him and to his credit he is taking advantage of it, but personally I don't find his style of play very exciting at all. In fact I find it boring, it's like watching two guys bludgeon each other with clubs instead of watching highly skilled boxers practice the sweet science. Yeah it gets your attention for a few minutes then I doze off into a nap.

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You know how YouTube "recommends" vids to you? I got one where a long drive guy was playing Firestone the other day. He was cranking drives 350. Wasn't really doing much else spectacularly but walked away with a 70 I think. I noticed he under-read/under-played the break on putts three times and under-clubbed twice on par threes. Those are the kind of mistakes that get taken care of with a good caddie and better feel and practice. My point is that the extra 50 yards driving but also the ability to hit short irons from the rough when he was in it is the game changer.

100 yards from the rough is not that different from 100 yards from the fairway. 160 yards from the rough is a different ask than 160 yards from the fairway.

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To be fair, I think DeChambeau is VERY skilled. Every top 50 golfer is by definition extremely skilled. The ability to hit it long and straight is also a skill.

I don't think he would be a "non factor" if they reduced driver size/made the ball spin more. He'd probably figure out a way to take advantage of that, too. I'm not saying he'd be world #1, but he would still find a way to compete.

Remember, Bryson won 5 times in the past three seasons, prior to this latest win. And he's still only 26 years old.

He has already done unusual things like use huge grips, single length shafts, straight arms, straight arm putting, etc. And his putting appears to be very good (didn't he just lead in SG putting this week?)

So I think the distance gains were the cherry on top for Bryson, not the whole ice cream sundae. I'm not saying he'll be #1, but I think he'll be top 10 in the world for a while. And it's not just because of the driver/ball.

If it were as simple as being super long off the tee, we'd see Jamie Sadlowski and other long drivers dominating on Tour. But they aren't even close.

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It was great to watch but Golf is not just about bombing it. As a UK player we are used to much smaller greens, proper fairway bunkers that penalise you and rough / scrub where you don't bother looking. US PGA courses are so well manicured and usually drier than our tracks. Ever see a player need to wedge backwards, hit out of a bunker away from the green or lose a ball off the tee? The courses are set up for scoring, not to prevent it.

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Finau could be longer than Bryson if he wanted, he has a post where his ball speed is over 200 but he chooses not to swing all out .. maybe that will change ?

i’m pretty sure there are a handful of others that could hit those “Bryson numbers” if they wanted too .. ie Rors and DJ .....

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Sea change? Maybe a little overstated, remains to be seen. Bryson acquired his golf skill first them worked on his strength and body mass. He was fortunate to have the body make up and genetics to make the dramatic gains he has achieved. Not everyone will be able to do it. Guys like Rory and Justin Thomas have the genetics to be little guys. Justin Rose will always be skinny. If guys like Patrick Reed embarked on a similar regimen they would likely just get fat.

To me the key is Bryson was a world class player before he muscled up. We don’t know if it works in reverse. Can someone built like a true linebacker, 6’3” and 240 of muscle acquire the golf skill to be a world class player?

What we may see is other top players who have the potential to do what Bryson did go that route. I’m thinking Koepka would top that list.

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