Champions Geezers: If We Lose Distance No One Will Watch!

E. Michael Johnson posed a ball/equipment rollback question to some Champions Tour geezers this week who apparently are laboring under the delusion that a mass audience still (A) cares about their tour and (B) watches them play because they hit it a long way.

"That's an interesting question," said Tim Simpson, four times a PGA Tour winner. "I think a good part of what people pay to see is that the stars of years gone by are still hitting the ball a pretty good distance and are making birdies and shooting low scores. Take that away and this tour might be less appealing."

Hmmm...less appealing to the masses than it already is? Is that possible?

Indeed, the average driving distance on the Champions Tour is 276.4 yards -- only 11.6 yards less than the PGA Tour number.

Okay I have to stop right there. You're talking about 50-year-old men with bellies who couldn't average within 20 yards of that number in their athletic prime! Anyway, go on...

Currently 17 seniors have a scoring average in the 60s (the PGA Tour has only 10) and already this season there have been 22 rounds of 64 or lower, including a 60 by Nick Price at the Toshiba Classic. It is a tour where going low is almost a necessity -- both in terms of winning and connecting with the fans. Technology clearly plays a large role in that.

Clearly? I think we could point to a long list of 0.1 ratings on Golf Channel tape delay airings that might shoot a hole in the theory.

Now, Jay Haas essentially says technology kept him relevant when his skills should not have been keeping him level with the flatbellies on the PGA Tour. If we were talking about HGH, there would be calls to ban whatever drug it is.

Modern equipment also has a role in keeping players sharp as they ready for the senior tour.

"I'm not so sure I could have kept up on the PGA Tour those last five years leading into the Champions Tour without it," said Jay Haas, who, in the season prior to his 50th birthday, had a pair of runner-up finishes and eight top-10s in 25 starts on the PGA Tour, winning more than $2.5 million (15th on the money list) and earning a berth on the Presidents Cup team. At 50, he won another $2 million, had eight more top-10s and was a captain's pick for the U.S. Ryder Cup team. "I was in good shape, but if I was still using a 43-inch wooden-headed driver with a steel shaft I would have been 25 yards shorter, at least."

Therefore Johnson concludes this 25 yards is the difference between us watching Jay Haas and us not watching Jay Haas try to win an Outback Steakhouse Classic.

Those 25 yards may be the difference between entertaining and uninspiring. Yes, the Champions Tour would still be relevant even with an equipment rollback, but whether it would be as exciting is doubtful, said Jim Thorpe. "I'm 62 years old and still hammering the ball," said Thorpe. "That's what people want to see. That's what I want to see. Why would anyone want to mess with that?"

I repeat: no one is watching this tour whether they hit it 200, 250, 300 or 350!