Tiger On Distance Insights: "It's going to be probably...well after my career and my playing days that we will figure that out."
/Tiger Woods was asked at today’s Genesis Invitational about the Distance Insights Report and remained consistent with past views, but did reiterate how the sport has run out of room to grow courses.
Q. Tiger, how do you see the discussion around the distance insights study evolving and how would you like to see that discussion resolved?
TIGER WOODS: Well, I've always said that the game of golf, it's fluid, it's moving. The golf ball is certainly going a lot further than the balata days. We've changed it from using a tree to using high-tech metal. We've come a long way in this game. What's been crazy, I've been a part of all that. My career when I first started, I beat Davis Love in a playoff and he was using a persimmon driver. To see the technology advance as fast as it has, the average distance was, from when I first came out on here, if you carry it 270, it took a lot of trouble out of play. Now guys are hitting their hybrids and 5-woods 270 in the air. So the game has evolved and it's changed. We're running out of property to try and design golf courses that are from the back 7,800 to 8,000yards, it's difficult.But on top of that, we want to keep the game so enjoyable and we've trying to get more participation, and having the larger heads, more forgiving clubs, it adds to the enjoyment of the game. So there's a very delicate balancing act where we're trying to keep the game at, but also as we've all recognized, the players have changed over the years, too. When I first came out it was just Vijay and myself in the gyms and now seems like everyone has their own trainer and physios and guys got bigger, stronger, faster, more athletic like all sports.
He seems resigned to not seeing any kind of rule change for the remainder of his playing days:
Q. Just to follow up on that, can we put you down for bifurcation or do you still want to read the report and kind of think that through?
TIGER WOODS: Well, I think that is certainly on discussion, it's on the table whether we bifurcate or not. It's only one percent of the guys or women that are going to be using that type of equipment, but we want to keep the game enjoyable, we want to keep having more kids want to come play it. It's so difficult now, I mean, with everyone walking around with their head down because they can't get away from their mobile device to come out here and play a game that's hopefully more on the slow side, we want to have that type of enjoyment. Part of the discussion going forward is do we bifurcate or not. That's, you know, it's going to be probably even well after my career and my playing days that we will figure that out.
And this on Riviera and classic courses:
Q. Tiger, one more thing on the distance. Riviera seems maybe as well as any other course to have withstood the test of time and the changes, I mean, without having to add five, six, seven hundred yards. What is it about this place that's allowed it do that?
TIGER WOODS: You know, it has and it hasn't. We've lengthened 12, redone 8, they've moved a few tees back. Yes, the alleyways are still the same, but when they moved No.12 back, what, 70yards, it used to be just a 1-iron and a wedge and now you're hitting driver and 4-iron. Yeah, there have been some holes that they're able to extend, but for the most part the confines are what they are here. So where they've tried to add distance, they have, but there's really nowhere to go.