Zurich Classic: Time For Four-Ball To Go?
/Four adults playing their ball and picking up when they’re out of the hole? That should (theoretically) go faster than four grown men playing pure stroke play.
Four-ball is a complete slog of a format with the best male golfers and needs to be eliminated where possible. But since the world’s best rarely are out of a hole and they’re slow as it is, the format produces a death march.
The Ryder Cup will not abandon four-ball matches even though they were not added until 1963. But the Zurich Classic is supposed to be entertaining. Its two best ball rounds drag on forever and produce so little tension.
But foursomes? Straight alternate shot certainly brings a different tension level. Maybe an excess of intensity given that foursomes is a match play format and was never envisioned as a form of stroke play.
As No Laying Up tweeted, four rounds of alternate shot might make the Zurich better. But four days of pure alternate shot would prove too fan-unfriendly over four days. I’d prefer to see the event go to Scotch foursomes (both players hit drives). Maybe play that version for three days and move to straight alternate shot for the final day?
Your thoughts?
