Forget putting, it’s another issue driving Tony Jacklin crazy

Former Ryder Cup skipper says golf chiefs should look to limit what happens off the tee rather than on the green

p70 sport main 01.03 SAN FRANCISCO, CA - JUNE 14: Bubba Watson of the United States hits his tee shot on the 12th hole during the first round of the 112th U.S. Open at The Olympic Club on June 14, 2012 in San Francisco, California.

Kevin Garside

1 March 2013

The world’s top golfers are competing at the Honda Classic today with the sport divided over anchored putters. But that is not the major problem eating away at the game according to former Ryder Cup captain and trailblazer for European golf, Tony Jacklin.

Governing bodies on both sides of the Atlantic, the Royal and Ancient Golf Club and United States Golf Association, want to ban long putters anchored to the body. They have the support of the big ticket sellers Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods, both in action in Florida. But the head of America’s PGA Tour, Tim Finchem, says no.

A three-month period of consultation on the putter issue ended yesterday with a decision to ban or not expected at the end of May. Yet for Jacklin the critical issue is not the length of the putter but length off the tee. Until golf addresses the problem of a ball that flies more than 300 yards without bouncing, a greater crisis is threatening the game, he claims.

“There has never been a bigger gap between amateur and professional golf, and it has nothing to do with the putter. The ball is the cause of it. Pros are the only ones who hit the backside out of the ball every time. Amateurs just hit it further into trouble,” Jacklin said during a visit to R&A headquarters at St Andrews this week on behalf of Open sponsors Glenmorangie.

“The ball going as far as it goes does not make golf a better game. That is not what it’s about. But it suits all these companies who make big money selling these balls on the idea of distance, distance, distance. What about direction? Does that not matter? And if you can’t putt you can’t play golf anyway.”

To counter ball and equipment development courses are becoming ever longer and rounds taking more time to complete, negative side effects that induce apoplexy in Jacklin.

“It is all about making billions for equipment manufacturers,” he said. “And it is ruining the game. To take five, six hours to play a round of golf is ludicrous. They are using more land to build these huge courses. It costs more to maintain that land.

“I have hosted the British Par-3 Championship for five years in Warwickshire. We have as much fun in 10 acres, playing around it twice.

“They only thing we don’t do is try to knock the skin off the ball with the driver. The shortest hole is 87 yards, the longest is 150. Everything is smaller but we have a hell of a time, not least because you get round in an hour.”

Jacklin would like to see a new regulation governing ball behaviour which restricts the distance through the air. He accepts, however, that this is unlikely to happen.

“I used to hit the ball 265 yards,” he said. “I wasn’t the longest and not the shortest either. I still hit it that far today because of the ball. I did a thing a few years ago using a hickory-shafted mashie. I could hit it just as far as a metal-shafted five-iron just because of the ball. They want to tell you it’s the iron because they want you to buy the iron but it’s the bloody ball.

“It needs to be brought back 15 per cent but they are not going to do it because they see that as rolling the game backwards. I don’t agree. People buy into the idea that paying £500 quid for a driver is going to make everything better. It suits the manufacturer but no one else. For the amateur player it’s like putting a band aid on a problem that can only be fixed by hard work and discipline. That will make you a better golfer not a fancy driver and a ball that flies more than 300 yards.”

Jacklin has more sympathy for those trying to hang on to the longer putter. “To have had it for 30 years and to change now is ridiculous,” he said. “And it will force a split in the game between the PGA Tour, if they insist on resisting proposed changes, and the rest. You are not going to tell players like Tim Clark, Peter Senior and Carl Petterson, guys that have always putted with a long putter, that they are going to stop it. If you do their lawyers will be on straight away and I wouldn’t blame them.”

Tony Jacklin is an ambassador for Glenmorangie, Official Spirit of The Open Championship. Go to glenmorangie.com/golf for your chance to win a trip to the Open Championship.

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Forget putting, it’s another issue driving Tony Jacklin crazy

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