PGA May Have Them Driving for the Dough

Arriving just in time for the 83rd PGA Championship, something you haven’t seen at a major since the Masters--drivers. Those long-shafted, big-headed things that are used to bomb golf balls have been missing for a while.

At the U.S. Open, the USGA put out the not-welcome mat at Southern Hills, the same thing the Royal & Ancient did for the British Open at Royal Lytham. Both places were set up to take the drivers out of the players’ bags, a process accomplished by narrowing the fairways so much, players had to be on diets to walk them, and by growing rough so tall you could lose a caddie.

But when the PGA begins Thursday at Atlanta Athletic Club, it’s going to be a different scene. The driver is back, baby, and Tiger Woods, as well as more than a few others, is glad to see it.

“You can use a driver, you can drive it down there, you can get aggressive if you want to,” Woods said.

“Obviously, it is a reward for driving the ball in play and a long ways, but if you stray off, it’s a penalty, and there should be. It’s a major championship.”

Atlanta Athletic Club measures 7,213 yards and, since the PGA of America changed the 471-yard No. 2 and the 490-yard No. 18 to par-four holes, plays to a par of 70. There are only two par fives, but four of the par-four holes are at least 463 yards and a fifth is 454. The par fives are both considered birdie holes. No. 5 is 541 yards with a slight dogleg right and reachable in two, and the 547-yard No. 12 is also reachable.

Recent rain has left the course soft, which makes it play longer as well because the ball will roll very little on the fairway.

That brings up an interesting question: If an already long course plays even longer because of the weather, who has the advantage?

Of course, it’s the bombers, the guys who can air it out. Woods is one of them, but he’s not alone. Count the other big hitters and you come up with British Open champion David Duval, Davis Love III, Vijay Singh, Ernie Els, Sergio Garcia, Mark Calcavecchia and Lee Westwood, to name only a few.

Actually, there really are not more than a few, according to Hal Sutton. The 1983 PGA champion said that the trend of toughening up courses by adding distance is sure to have an unwanted result.

“All of the things they’re doing now plays into the hands of the long hitters,” Sutton said. “They took the field down from 150 to 25. There are only 25 people in the tournament that can win.”

Singh agreed, sort of.

“I don’t think it’s 25, but it’s trimmed to where all of the longer hitters are going to have the advantage,” he said. “Most everyone hits the ball a long ways now, with the equipment and the ball flying so much further. [But] obviously, the long hitter stands out.”

Duval said he saw a lot of mud on the course during his practice round and that the soggy conditions--plus the setup--clearly benefit the long hitters.

“You cannot roll the ball out there off the tee,” he said. “It’s all carry right now, every yard you hit. I think that brings in the long hitters. We come off of Lytham where you couldn’t hit many drivers and coming to a course that’s just a meat course. It’s nice. There’s a lot of drivers out there and I think that’s a test of the players’ ability that we don’t see--that we haven’t seen as much lately. And I think it’s a good thing.”

That’s what Els probably was thinking in his practice round Tuesday. At the 490-yard closing hole, he had only a six-iron left to the green after his drive.

Retief Goosen says Woods is one fortunate player this week.

“The course is actually set up perfectly for Tiger,” the U.S. Open winner said. “I think he’s smiling all the way. Most of the troubles are around 290 yards and he flies it 300 or 310. I think he’s very happy with the way they have gone about setting the course up, making it very long, because he knows it favors him. The rest of the guys are going to have to hit five-irons into the greens while he’s hitting eight-iron.”

But before that, he’s hitting a driver, at least some of the time and that’s a lot more often than we’ve seen lately. Chances are, it’s going to be bombs away at the PGA and that’s not all bad, is it?

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PGA Championship

When: Thursday-Sunday

Site: Atlanta Athletic Club (Highlands Course, 7,213 yards, par 70)

Purse: TBA (2000, $5 million). Winner’s share: TBA (2000, $900,000)

TV: TNT (Thursday-Friday, 10 ba.m.-4 p.m.; Saturday-Sunday, 7:30-10 a.m.) and Ch. 2 (Saturday, 10:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m.; Sunday, 11 a.m.-5 p.m.)

Defending champion: Tiger Woods

Last year: Woods successfully defended his title, beating Bob May by a stroke in a three-hole playoff at Valhalla in Louisville, Ky. Woods and May set the PGA record of 18-under 270.

Notes: Woods is trying to become the first player since Walter Hagen (1924-27) to win three consecutive PGA titles. . . . The tournament is the final event in the U.S. Ryder Cup points race. The top 10 gain automatic berths and captain Curtis Strange will add two players Monday.