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Ignore The Complaints - Golf Is Meant To Be a Challenging Game

By: | Mon 14 Mar 2022


I COULDN’T help but smile to myself when, one after another, the world’s leading golfers lined up to complain about how difficult Bay Hill was during the Arnold Palmer Invitational. And they were at it again during the weather-affected Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass.

The issue at Bay Hill revolved around how difficult the course was although it was interesting to note that were no complaints from Rory McIlroy after an opening round of 65, seven under par. And he still wasn’t moaning too much when he followed it with a 72 in the second round. 

But after a pair of 76s at the weekend, McIlroy said the course was bordering on unplayable. Not for Lucas Herbert, it wasn’t - he managed a 68 in the final round. And Tyrrell Hatton, the world’s angriest golfer, also closed out with a 69 to finish second.

I don’t believe there were too many complaints from Scottie Scheffler either as the young American won his second PGA Tour title.

McIlroy was so frustrated that he broke a wedge in anger.

Rory McIlroy

(Image Credit: Kevin Diss Photography)

I even heard former PGA champion Rich Beem telling Sky viewers that if the PGA Tour insists on making Bay Hill so difficult that they may struggle to attract the world’s best golfers. Really? Isn’t this what golf is all about? 

Scheffler picked up a cheque for more than $2m for his victory at Bay Hill - is it really too much to expect professional golfers to have to earn such huge rewards?

And at TPC Sawgrass the complaints centred on the course supposedly being unplayable on Saturday when the wind was blowing. It was no such thing, as evidenced by Justin Thomas’s 69 and Bubba Watson’s 68. Golf is an outdoor sport, and that means the elements are going to play a part.

I don’t know about you but I get properly fed up watching birdie fests week after week. These guys are meant to be the best, but give them a bit of proper rough, some wind and hard, fast greens and they go to pieces.

Golf is not a one-dimensional sport. It is meant to be all about facing different challenges, playing different courses in varying conditions. Give them huge, wide open fairways and super-soft greens and they will go out there and make birdies and eagles for fun. 

But there is more to golf than that. Sometimes you have to stand over a golf ball and think about where you can and cannot hit it. 

I remember that in the build-up to the 1999 Open Championship at Carnoustie all the world’s leading players lined up to moan about how hard the course was after the R&A decided to let the rough grow. And that was even before a shot had been hit in anger. 

This, remember, is one of the sport’s four majors. If you are good enough to win a major then you are surely good enough to pick the right club from the tee in order to avoid hitting your golf ball into knee-high rough.

Sadly, the 1999 Open is best remembered for Jean Van de Velde’s collapse. I prefer to recall the wonderful 67 that eventual champion Paul Lawrie put together in the final round, coming from 10 shots behind to win.

I do not want to see tournaments being won with scores of 30 under par every week. All club golfers have times when we struggle to get the ball from A to B - it is reassuring to watch the world’s best having to solve the same sort of puzzle from time to time.

The US Open is being played at Brookline in June. I predict here and now that we will once again have to listen to players complaining about how unfair a test it is. 

It makes me laugh to hear professional golfers complaining about wind and rain. They should try playing 18 holes on a January day in the UK.

It is time that they just got on with it. Or accept the Saudi dollar and head off to play in 48-man, 54-hole events on some of the easiest courses on the planet. That may be somebody’s idea of tournament golf, but it’s certainly not mine!


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Tags: PGA Tour FedEx Cup daily picks



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