"Hitting driver off the deck is a thing of the past? Perhaps not."

E. Michael Johnson in Golf World Monday took Bubba Watson's wildly fun driver off the 18th fairway at Kapalua as a sign that technology allows players to still work the ball.

We've all heard the naysayers of modern technology talk about how players don't work the ball anymore. Then there are those who bemoan that large-headed drivers have taken one of the coolest shots in golf--driver from the fairway lie--out of the game. We have a two-word replay for them: Bubba.

I see the shot as a reminder of what modern clubs, balls and architecture deprive us of all too often: fun shotmaking.

Driver off the fairway is not something I'm aware of was seen as a great loss for the game. What some of us miss are players taking a sidehill lie, combining it with their imagination and pulling off a peculiar shot that curve 40 yards and spend another 40 running along the ground. And all played out on par-5s that are just barely within reach!

Those are incredients that made Bubba's shot so much fun to watch. Not Bubba managing to hit a ball with a watermelon sized mallet!