Rory McIlroy is among the best golfers on the planet playing in India this week, and something has become very apparent.
The Delhi Golf Club has presented a challenge that is completely unique compared to anything we typically see on the PGA Tour. Tiger Woods said it was the narrowest course he had ever played, which forces players to play a totally different brand of golf.
Rory McIlroy and Michael Kim said they didn’t use their driver once in their opening round. McIlroy didn’t even bother to put the club in his bag. Instead, they were forced to navigate the New Delhi jungle with strategy and precision, rather than brute force.
It’s made for a brilliant spectacle. You have to have every shot shape in your locker to find the fairway around this course, let alone the green. On the PGA Tour, players can bypass obstacles with sheer distance off the tee. But at Delhi Golf Club, they have to play the course.
Scottie Scheffler should feel particularly vindicated about the quality of golf we have been treated to in New Delhi because of something he said earlier in the year.
Scottie Scheffler said what he doesn’t like about modern golf courses
Scheffler is a player who would have relished the experience of playing at the Delhi Golf Course. He’s an expert iron player with an incredible ability to shape his shots in any direction.
In May, Scheffler expressed his frustration at modern golf courses, which often don’t allow him to showcase his shot-shaping talents.
The world number one told Grant Horvat, “What they are doing to golf courses now, I don’t like. They take out all the trees, make the greens bigger, and typically make the fairways bigger as well. So the only real barrier to guys trying to hit it as far as they want to or need to is trees.
“When you host a championship tournament, if there are no trees you can hit it wherever you want. If I miss the fairway by 10 yards I am in the thick rough. If I miss it by 20, you are in the crowd.”
This point was made incredibly apparent at the Ryder Cup. Keegan Bradley shaved down the rough at Bethpage Black, making missing the fairway a non-penalty, according to McIlroy.
Scheffler struggled at the Ryder Cup, but Bradley and Team USA did him no favours with the course setup. He was given no opportunity to demonstrate his elite approach play, as there were no obstacles for him to navigate.
Meanwhile, in Delhi, players have been given a true challenge. Not by growing the rough out to a ridiculous length like at Oakmont, or extending the length of the course like at Quail Hollow. The trees have naturally tightened the course, resulting in spectacular golf.
Rory McIlroy explains how he is playing without his driver
It’s been interesting to watch McIlroy navigate this golf course without one of his biggest weapons. Unaccompanied by his driver, McIlroy shot a three-under 69, leaving him in contention for the lead four shots back from his good friend, Shane Lowry.
Before the tournament, McIlroy explained how he planned to tackle the challenge of Delhi Golf Club. He said, “I’d say that the next time I hit my driver will be in Abu Dhabi. I don’t think I’ll hit a driver this week. I just don’t feel like the risk is worth the reward.
“I’d rather leave myself two or three clubs back and hit a 7-iron into a par 4 instead of hitting a wedge where if you just get it off-line here and the ball is gone. You’re hitting it into jungle and you’re not going to be able to get it out. You can rack up a very big number very quickly.
“So being strategic and being smart with your play off the tee, especially, is very important. I can see why S.S.P. has done so well around here. You just keep hitting it down the middle, hit it 260, 250, 260 every single time, and if you do that, then you can do very well around this golf course.”
It’s been incredibly refreshing to see players having to think their way around a course, instead of just smashing a driver off the tee with little consequence. Perhaps the best way to tackle the exponential growth of technology in golf is with smarter course design.
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