They say in golf, accuracy is more important than power. They say if you can find the fairway your scores will be lower. At Turnberry, these old proverbs seem to be more true than almost anywhere else. That’s right, in order to score well, and we’re already seeing evidence of this all over the leaderboard, you have to drive well. Those that are accurate off the tee this week will see success, those who aren’t, just won’t.
Paul Casey & Peter Kostis Agree: Driver is Key
When golf.com asked Paul Casey via his Twitter account about this, he had one very simple, very true thing to say:
“Drive the ball well. Look at the two previous Turnberry winners, Norman and Price. Both drove it brilliantly. Same this week.”
How true it is. Watching Tiger Woods miss fairway after fairway, and now seeing him waiting in the wings at +5, desperately hoping to at least make the cut, it shows just how dangerous errant tee-shots can be to your score. That said, looks like some PGA Pros are making a few driver changes this time around.
Shorter Drivers for More Accuracy?
For some players, that means playing with drivers that are much shorter than their usual clubs. As you know, a shorter driver usually leads to much more accurate tee shots, but much less power. In a links course like Turnberry, accuracy once again trumps the need for power.
Fairway Woods Off The Tee?
Who else will be making these changes, and moreover, in Rounds 3 and 4 could we see more players opting for a fairway wood or hybrid off the tee instead of driver? Will we see more ‘choking down’ on the drivers out there, shorter clubs or will we just see them stay in the bag? I guess we’ll see, but at least we finally know, Accuracy > Power. At least at the British Open.
