"If the powers that be do not stop the golf ball arms race...you can say goodbye to the glory that is the Old Course at St. Andrews."

The technophobic agenda is running rampant here in St. Andrews as not only was I able to point out for Golf World that Saturday's wind-fueled fiasco has strong roots in regulatory cowardice and vision, but the chorus has been joined by Joe Posnanski at GolfChannel.com.

Posnanski made the connection between greens just a bit too fast for the slopes and wind which, rumor has it, sometimes blows here. Three straight majors and the folks in charge still stick to the same old speed. Cue that Einstein bro, he was on to something.

Posnanski considered the same thing I did: was play halted at the various nearby courses. Of course not.

He writes:

Companies fully understand that there are too many people out there willing to pay for longer golf balls. They will find ways to cut drag, to enhance lift, to defy gravity — or whatever else they can do to get a little bit more golf ball air.

And it will be up to the R&A and USGA to act and not just talk. Conditions are expected to be pretty mild on Sunday, which could mean it will be a shootout. Dustin Johnson and Jason Day and other long hitters will be hitting little wedges into holes. Guys will be driving par 4s. We could watch player after player overwhelm a defenseless St. Andrews.

And it comes back to Jack Nicklaus again. He has been warning about this possibility for years. Maybe St. Andrews can hold up now, but what about in five years? What about in 10? Everyone wants to see the Open Championship at St. Andrews. Everyone also wants to hit their drives farther. And, for the people who run golf, a choice will have to be made.

Beyond the usual stuff about the entire integrity and soul of the game being put at risk, there's another component in this as it relates to Jordan Spieth's historic quest. This in no way is meant to take away from Dustin Johnson's 36-hole position or use of his immense talent. But it's becoming apparent that he's using extreme distance versus to take most of the design elements out of play, as Graeme McDowell had predicted would be a key this week (Phil Casey's report here).

And I go back to this from Spieth from his post-first round press conference, a telling (and in no way bitter) statement about realizing he's got to be perfect to overcome DJ's advantage:

I saw a 65 in our group, and if D.J. keeps driving it the way he is, then I'm going to have to play my best golf to have a chance. It's hard to argue with somebody who's splitting bunkers at about 380 yards and just two-putting for birdie on five or six of the holes when there's only two par-5s. I don't have that in the bag, so I've got to make up for it with ball-striking.