It didn't take Nike long...

[Rick Shefchik]

For some reason I can't post the entire ad, but you get the idea. Tiger rips one 363 yards at Doral, and two days later Nike is flogging his new driver for all their worth...and the distance race intensifies.

The ball is the easiest way to stop it.




 

[johnk]

It's all about the shaft, in my opinion.  

Just require shafts to be steel or wood, and the pros would have very few 340 yd drives...

[Phil_the_Author]

It also isn't true. Tiger did not drive the ball 363 yards. He drove a green on a hole that measured 363 yards in length. He did this from tees set a bit more forward Saturday (when he did it) than Sunday, and by cutting the corner of the slight dog-leg.

It was a mighty blast, a wonderful drive, but let's at least be honest about it.

By the way, there was so much hype by the announcers about Tiger being back to year 2000 form (even with Miller holding a sign up), that they sure got quiet when Mickelson answered his eagle back several holes later. He even left us with few "what ifs" on those two lip outs in the final holes. It should be a fun season to watch all play against each other.

[RJ_Daley]

Rick, while it didn't take Nike long to jump on this, you got me thinking what took Tiger so long to succumb to the new tech?  In fact, I think I'll start a new thread and post a question on it.

[Kevin_Reilly]

It also isn't true. Tiger did not drive the ball 363 yards. He drove a green on a hole that measured 363 yards in length. He did this from tees set a bit more forward Saturday (when he did it) than Sunday, and by cutting the corner of the slight dog-leg.

It was a mighty blast, a wonderful drive, but let's at least be honest about it.

Different hole.  He did indeed drive a measured (Shotlink I believe) 363.  It wasn't the 16th.

[MBL]

The 'drivable' par 4 was number 16.  Tiger drove the ball 363 on the front side (maybe the 8th hole) on Sunday.

As for the hype, the references to 'Tiger 2000' were as nauseating as the 'Phil's the hottest/best/etc' being flogged by NBC and Golf Channel through Saturday night.

[David_Madison]

Woods 363-yard drive was on the 8th, a par-5 that played a bit downwind. Woods did get a nice hop and then a bunch of roll, but I'd guess that the ball was still flown in the 315+ range.

[Rick Shefchik]

Philip -- I could be wrong about this, but I think the drive Nike is referring to was hit Sunday on one of the par 5s, a hole that measured about 560 yards (not taking the time to look it up.) Tiger reached that one with a driver and three-wood, as I recall, and the announcers said his drive was 363 yards. It looked like it hit a very hard spot in the fairway, and got a lot of roll, but nevertheless...


My point in bringing this up is: When will the equipment companies take responsibility for what they're doing to the game of golf? I know their primary responsibility is to their own bottom line, but this distance race seems absurdly short-sighted if it lengthens courses to the point of making the game so difficult that their future customers give up in frustration. Sure, most amateurs could just move up to the red tees, but that's not going to happen, either.  

[texsport]

It's all about the shaft, in my opinion.  

Just require shafts to be steel or wood, and the pros would have very few 340 yd drives...

More impressive to me were the 2-280 yard carried 3 woods he hit on Saturday and  Sunday.

Tiger's playing new technology shafts in both his driver and 3 wood that are just now being released to the public.
Mitsubishi Diamana 83 gm in his driver/ Mitsubishi Diamana 103 gm shaft in his 3 wood.

[Tony_Chapman]

Philip -- I could be wrong about this, but I think the drive Nike is referring to was hit Sunday on one of the par 5s, a hole that measured about 560 yards (not taking the time to look it up.) Tiger reached that one with a driver and three-wood, as I recall, and the announcers said his drive was 363 yards. It looked like it hit a very hard spot in the fairway, and got a lot of roll, but nevertheless...

The 363-yard drive was on the 8th and Tiger hit 6-iron for his second (198 yards).

They suspected his drive on 16 on Saturday carried about 320 (and, it appeared to stop like a 9-iron).

[Phil_the_Author]

  OOPS!

You guys are right! It was the other hole!

[Dan Kelly]

Is there some reason the announcers (more than one!) called it the IG-nite, rather than the ig-NITE?

Maybe they've got igniteous rocks in their heads?

P.S. And that 198-yard 6-iron went over the green, did it not?

P.P.S. I kept wondering if Tiger was thinking, as he strolled past Phil's drives, something along the lines of: "Inferior equipment. (Maybe a bad club, too.)"

P.P.P.S. And although I'm in need of a new driver, my Nike boycott continues -- so what's a guy to do?

[Rick Shefchik]

Dan -- Get a Taylor Made R7 -- that seems to be what all the pros except for Phil and the Nike boys are hitting.

Which reminds me: Wally Uihlein was probably one of the few interested observers to feel absolutely sick about Sunday's head-to-head dual between Tiger and Phil. Titleist used to have both of those guys, and now they're both gone.