Does equipment really matter? Is technology that important
to winning golf tournaments? Tiger Woods' answer is an unequivocal
maybe.
The eight-time professional major winner and No. 1-ranked player
for the last 207 weeks has decided that no matter how good the technology
was in his Nike driver, it was not as good as the technology in his
1997 Titleist 975 D driver. Deciding that the latest technology does
not matter, Woods switched back to his Titleist driver this week at
the Buick Open.
"I hit it shorter than the old driver," Woods was quoted as saying
Monday, speaking in reference to his smaller 260 cc-headed Titleist
versus his larger 300 cc Nike driver. "But it feels good to step up
and hit something I feel confident hitting."
Woods used the Titleist driver until the beginning of 2002 when he
made the change to Nike's driver. But the driver has always been an
issue for Woods, especially when other players were hitting the ball
past him. Last month after the U.S. Open, Woods publicly asked for
mandatory testing of drivers at PGA Tour events due to the length his
competitors were showing with their equipment.
"I think the PGA Tour needs to be on the forefront of that and make
sure everything is regulated and we are all playing with the proper
equipment," Woods said a week after finishing tied for 20th at the
U.S. Open, his worst performance in a major since last year's tie for
28th at the British Open.
The old Titleist driver appeared in Woods' bag for the first time
in 18 months at a made-for-TV exhibition Monday night, in which Woods
and Ernie Els lost to Sergio Garcia and Phil Mickelson 3 and 1. Els
and Mickelson use Titleist's 975 E and K drivers, respectively. Both
drivers are generations ahead of Woods' driver. Garcia was using a
TaylorMade driver, which is legal but has been part of the controversy
surrounding hot drivers that Woods has been championing over the last
month.
While Woods unleashed a drive that was measured at 375 yards on Monday,
he mostly found himself behind all three competitors off the tee when
he used the same clubs as the other three.
In March, in an interview with Golf Magazine, Mickelson spoke
about how good Woods was, but at the same time called into question
his equipment. Mickelson suggested that the Nike equipment might be
holding Woods back.
"He hates that I can fly it past him now," Mickelson said in the
interview. "He has a faster swing speed than I do, but he has inferior
equipment. Tiger is the only player who is good enough to overcome
the equipment he's stuck with."
At the time, the comments were viewed as sour grapes from the then-world
No. 2. In hindsight, Mickelson appears clairvoyant in his comments
and validated by Woods' decision to make a change in drivers.
While most people would point to Woods' driver as a problem for him,
Woods has used the Nike driver in nine wins, including the Masters
and U.S. Open, since the start of 2002.
Michael Campbell also has nothing bad to say about Nike equipment.
Campbell recently added a 400 cc driver to his bag and won last week's
Nissan Irish Open on the European PGA Tour.
So the new experiment will begin again for Woods this week at the
Buick Open and then in two weeks at the PGA Championship. This change
may be Woods' opportunity to salvage a season in which he has not won
a major. His last was at the 2002 U.S. Open.
"Honestly, I have no idea how long I'm going to play with it," said
Woods of the Titleist driver. "I just want to go back to something
I played well with in the past."
DOUBLE CLICK
www.antiquegolfscotland.com
For all of the talk about technology these days, maybe players should
go back to olden times. Looking for a good James Braid mashie iron?
Try these on for size.
