Road hole

Was disappointed to hear that they are increasing the length of the Road Hole for next year's Open.  The article I read said it was due to golfers like Rory McIlroy being able to hit their approaches with short irons reducing the hazard of the front bunker and the road behind the green. The article went on to say that Tim Henman birdied the hole in the recent pro-am. 

Surely a better solution  would have been to insert fairway bunkers to reduce the length of drives.  Making the hole longer just plays into the hands of the really big hitters.

Having played "the old lady" on many occasions I can't see how they are going to move the 17th tee back 35yds without causing problems. It will mean driving over the 16th green and bringing the 2nd fairway into a target area.

I could see the tee extended about 10yds and the corner being blocked off so forcing players further left for a longer 2nd shot.

TheLyth

Lots of courses now are making the fairways narrower the further they get, so a long drive must be more accurate than a shorter one.