[GDRussiayear]

Before I fell asleep watching the pre-round , and actual coverage of this weeks tournament, I heard 3 different talking heads make a statement about the length of this weeks course. They said that due to the length, (7600+ yards) and playing conditions, the longer hitter would find it easier to score better than the shorter hitter. They also went as far to say the shorter hitters chances of actually winning this tournament were very low, when compared to the longer ball strikers. If so, there is a built in, unfair advantage from the start.

What is the driving yardage number that separates the PGA's long hitters from the short hitters?

[scewDeasp]

Robert Garrigus leads with 312.6 avg
Tiger is 27th at 297.3 avg
Kenny perry is 48th at 294.1
Justin Rose is 93rd at 288.7
Padraig Harrington is 133rd at 284 avg
Brain gay is 200th with 269.0 avg
Cory Pavin is 201 with 259.4

[viagradiscounttt]

Driving distance has almost become a useless stat on Tour. It used to be that they only measure two drives per round, everyone on the same two holes. The holes would face different directions so the wind would cancel out. They may have changed this over the last few years, not real sure.

Anyway, there are many guys who hit the ball a ton. Just because their average is lower than some, it doesn't mean they are a short hitter. There have been 47 drives over 400 yards and 273 drives over 375. Chances are, these are not used for the official driving distance statistics. And for every drive that is 340, they hit a 4-iron off the tee that goes 240.

Just because a guy is listed as having an average driving distance of 275, that doesn't mean he can't hit out there to 330 or 340. He just doesn't do it on the right holes. None of these guys are afraid of the distance.

[Alkassyinhisk]

One thing I heard this morning which makes sense to me is that due to the length of the par 5s (they are really long) at Hazeltine, most players cannot reach in two anyway. So this would give an advantage to the shorter hitters who are good wedge players.

In the end, the winner is going to have all parts of their game working. But all things being equal, I'd rather average it 295 off the tee than 260!