Proclaimed the greatest shot ever hit(!?!?!!?!?!?!?!?) and subsequently defended with various rationales from the statement author, Brandel Chamblee, the fun social threads were in response to his highlighting of Dustin Johnson's spectacular 12th hole drive. But the 433-yarder awoke GolfChannel.com's Randall Mell to take a different view.
While it was a special shot that hit just the right speed slot, it might not have even been the greatest shot Johnson hit in winning at Kapalua, much less compare to anything hit in a major championship last year. It was, however, 433 yards mostly great fun to watch because of the way DJ's ball interacted with the ground (not the actual carry distance).
Nonetheless, as any rational human knows, trying to design a fun challenge for a game played at these distances is expensive and leads to longer rounds. Prompting this rant from Mell.
It was another irritating example of how much the game has been corrupted by high-tech witchery, of how scientifically hot-wired drivers and balls are making the game way too easy.
So was Johnson hitting 15 drives of 375 yards or more on the week.
Yes, the Plantation Course at Kapalua isn’t your ordinary venue, with all those hills and high winds boosting big hits, but today’s players are dramatically shrinking the dimensions of venues everywhere.
Johnson’s savage lash at the 12th couldn’t have been better timed, coming in the year’s opening event, because it sets up what finally may be the year golf’s governing bodies force a showdown with golf ball manufacturers.
FYI, the May 2002 Joint Statement of Principles is coming up on its 16th anniversary!
The question today is whether Dustin Johnson’s monster drive was good for the game or bad for the game, whether it was something to celebrate or something to disparage.
The war on the ball starts with the nature of that question.
It's both something to celebrate that a player of his ability can put all of the tools at his disposal together to hit such a drive. It's the inability to make the case that he can display his skill at 10-20% less distance, and maybe even reap more of a skill advantage, that is something to disparage.