Golf is a game accessed by millions around the world at all levels but former Ryder Cup captain Paul McGinley has lamented the state of the current game.
With professional players now launching the ball north of 300 yards on a regular basis and many par five holes being played as par fours in the modern era, golf is very much a changed sport to that we’ve seen over the years.
For the average golfer at home, those sorts of distances are the stuff of dreams but it remains that every player, regardless of ability, has access to the same equipment.
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There has been so much talk over the years of a ‘bifurcation’ of the sport to give different equipment to the pros and amateurs.
And after playing golf with Rory McIlroy over the last year, Paul McGinley has made his feelings on the state of golf well heard.
Why Paul McGinley is upset with the state of modern golf
This topic is as split as the topic on slow play. Everyone will have a different opinion on the subject and the reality is there is no right or wrong answer.
However, after seeing just how much further Rory McIlroy hits a ball than him, McGinley has suggested something needs to change for the good of the sport.
“It has already [been overtaken by technology]. I mean it’s a real shame what technology has gone and in my view where it is. I know the players don’t believe this. Of course, turkeys aren’t going to vote for Christmas. They don’t want any changes,” McGinley remarked for Indo Sport’s YouTube show.
“But I think it’s a real shame the way that technology has overtaken the professional game. I think it’s great the amateurs are finding so much fun in the game. These bigger heads in the drivers are much easier to hit than the small heads we used to hit when I started on tour. But it’s a real shame that the distance and the power the players have now.
“I played with Rory quite a bit now in the last year or so, I have been around him a lot. I was involved in the TGL, we did clinics at most of the events we played in. I played with him last year at Queenwood. I mean he is 65 yards outside of me. I know that because I got the binoculars out when he was standing at the ball. 65 yards! I still play pretty decently. That was a big one when he was going across a corner, but in general he is 40 yards outside of me.
“Which around Queenwood which is a pretty good golf course, which is 7100 yards. If you said to me Paul, I want you to go out and play Queenwood that you know well and I want you to talk 40 yards off every tee shot and wherever you get to you can tee the ball up and drive from there and I want you to play and see what score you have. I tell you what, I would back myself to shoot 67 or so. The course would be so much shorter. I would be hitting mid irons into par fives and wedge into all the par fours. And the golf course would become very accessible.”
Going into further detail, McGinley then suggested that the modern player has simply advanced quicker than the technology and in the end, popular courses are making concessions for a small amount of players.
“That is what you are looking at with these elite players. 7200, 7300 yards, if there is no wind to bash them around or heavy rough, they are so capable and can overpower the golf course, where it looks like they are not putting very well and you add up the score and it’s 68 or 67 and if they do putt well it’s 64,” he continued.
“I think it’s a shame that they’re able to hit the ball well over 300 yards with every single tee shot and the golf course then have to put in these new tee boxes, they change the angle of the hole and everything is being adjusted for the 0.1% of the golfing population because they have outran technology.”
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What Rory McIlroy has said about bifurcation in golf
When we talk about bifurcation in golf, we’re talking about equipment issues like balls, clubs, and everything that goes with it.
At the moment, an amateur has the same access to the equipment as a tour pro, albeit given the cost of things, maybe not to the same extent.
The golf ball roll back has been a big topic of discussion for some time now, with plans to ensure the ball doesn’t travel quite as far.
Indeed, that’s something that McIlroy has defended in the past.
Once again, McIlroy has been outspoken on an issue but also as usual, not everyone agrees with him.
Something must change though, or golf risks becoming a sport almost unrecognisable from the game we all know and love.
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