The 87th Masters starts on Thursday, but the real action will likely take place before Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player and Tom Watson hit their ceremonial opening tee shots into the dewy North Georgia morning.
Tuesday night’s Champions Dinner will put the PGA Tour’s most outspoken defenders across a table from six LIV Golf defectors, and on Wednesday, Augusta National chairman Fred Ridley’s annual press session could swing the debate in what’s shaping up to be an even bigger, more financially impactful internecine war than PGA v. LIV: the future of the golf ball.
For the record, defending champ Scottie Scheffler is serving sliders, shrimp and a choice of steak or fish at the bread-breaking session for past winners—a frontal assault on anyone who said he couldn’t be more boring—but there may yet be plenty of spice. Scheffler eschewed chopped liver, but banned LIVers will be there, including Phil Mickelson, Bubba Watson, Dustin Johnson and Patrick Reed. The post-meal reports will more than likely strike a tone that’s some cross between The Hangover and The Godfather, i.e.: “It was great to get all the boys together again for night out because this was never personal, it was business.” In reality, there’s bound to be some tension.
Watson and Nicklaus have been LIV critical, and Nicklaus seldom holds back his thoughts these days, although his abiding respect for the club and the tournament—each the legacy of his idol, Bobby Jones—will encourage decorum. On the other hand, 1992 winner Fred Couples has hammered LIV at every chance, calling it a joke and saying Mickelson looked “stupid.”
For his part, Mickelson seems to have embraced his WWE-style heel turn by sporting all black and a scruffy beard as often as possible. He and fellow SoCal native Tiger Woods have a long complex relationship, so any interaction between them will be … interesting.
In all, 18 LIV golfers qualified for the 88-man field, as the majors seemed to have retreated on blocking the wayward sons lest they get sucked into charges they colluded with the tour. The LIV presence, at the least, will provide a first glimpse at how playing a handful of 54-hole exhibitions on lesser courses against limited fields prepares pros for a four-day grind at one of the game’s most challenging tests. All 18 LIVers have vowed to celebrate together on the final green should one of them win.
Winning will be tougher this year, as Augusta National has lengthened the famous and endlessly photographable par-5 13th hole from 510 to 545 yards in an attempt to restore the strategic challenges negated by players’ increased driving distances. In all, the Masters course has grown from 6,925 yards during Woods’ first win in 1997 to 7,545 yards today. A few years ago, the club also installed a new, larger driving range and practice area.
All of these alterations have been accompanied by construction expenses and some by real estate purchases of surrounding properties at significant cost. The 13th hole expansion alone is said to have run to $35 million. And of course, all those extra yards need to be maintained, meaning more man hours, more mower wear, more fuel burned, more fertilizer spread, etc. The outlay is necessary for one major reason: The ball flies too far, although that might soon change.
In the late 1990s, the wound ball with a soft balata cover that had been in favor for most of the 20th century got shoved aside by a urethane-covered solid core ball that was more durable but also flew farther and straighter. The impact was immediate.
In 1981 Dan Pohl led the PGA Tour in average driving distance at 280 yards. In 2005, Pohl led the Champions tour in that same stat—with an average drive of 300.5 yards. People don’t generally gain yardage while growing a quarter of a century older. Viewed another way: In 2000, one player on tour averaged 300 yards on drives (John Daly, 301.4); by 2005, 26 surpassed three bills. Last season, 98 players regularly bunted it out past the 300 mark, led by Cameron Champ at 321.4.
Those numbers have been aided by subsequent developments: driver technology, digital launch monitors that allow players to match their equipment and swing for optimal impact conditions, improved agronomy and a post-Woodsian focus on fitness. By far, though, the ball has had the greatest impact. It’s also the easiest, most cost-effective way to roll back distance.
That’s why, after 20 years of studying the increases and promising action, the USGA and R&A, golf’s governing bodies, on March 14 proposed the addition of “model local rule” that would permit tournaments of elite golfers to use a ball that did not fly as far, estimating it would cost players with the highest swing speeds about 15 yards. It would allow the players with a distinct length advantage to maintain that edge but not impact the average weekend hacker and recreational hot shot.
Ball manufacturers were not amused, crying “bifurcation”—a long-held point of debate in the industry over the effect of creating one set of rules for elite players and another for the average swinger. “Golf is an aspirational sport, and we believe at its very best when equipment and playing regulations are unified,” David Maher, president and CEO of Acushnet, owner of Titleist, which dominates golf ball sales, said in a release. The statement noted another concern: “In addition, multiple versions of golf ball models in the market would be confusing to golfers.”
The governing bodies maintain that this isn’t bifurcation, since local rules are common in golf to address particularities of certain events or courses. They aren’t splitting the rules; they’re simply providing a temporary exception in certain situations that organizers can adopt or not. Which leads to the question: Who would use the model local rule?
The USGA and R&A came up with it, so it’s a lock for the championships they oversee, which include the U.S. Open and The Open Championship, two of the four majors. The PGA of America—which runs the PGA Championship and the Ryder Cup—hasn’t committed, and the PGA Tour promised “to evaluate and provide feedback on this proposal.”
While discussing the ongoing distance studies during last year’s Masters, Augusta’s Ridley foreshadowed the changes at 13 made necessary by increases in hitting distance: “The 13th hole does not have the same challenges that it has historically. The fact that players are hitting middle to short irons into that hole is not really how it was designed,” he said. When asked about potential rules for reining in the ball, he added, “We look forward to further discussions … as well as future recommendations and ultimately implementation.”
The topic is sure to come up again on Wednesday, and even though the proposed rule will now officially enter a comment period for feedback from manufacturers, something Acushnet promised to “actively participate in,” an Augusta National commitment to use the rule at future Masters could all but decide the issue.
Of course, we haven’t yet heard from the lawyers, lobbyists and marketers, so settle in for another long golf battle.
