Most weeks on the PGA Tour, golfers can be rewarded for playing bomb-and-gouge-style golf, hitting tee shots as far as possible to set up short irons and wedges into the greens. With holes often cut just a few feet from the edges of greens or tucked behind bunkers, in the United States the pros play an aerial game.
For this week’s British Open, however, all eyes are on the Home of Golf, the Old Course at St. Andrews in Scotland. On that course and other seaside links courses, the game is different. The sandy soil drains amazingly fast and the wind typically howls, serving as the course’s primary defense. Tee shots hit high into the air with drivers and fairway woods can be pushed and pulled offline, then bounce and roll as far as 100 yards, bringing pot bunkers, knee-high fescue and gorse bushes into play. Distance is still rewarded, but control is critical and judging how far shots will roll is important.
And with very little rain in the forecast for the 150th Open Championship, conditions likely will be firm and fast, so many players may add a low-lofted driving iron to their bag.
Back in Ben Hogan and Jack Nicklaus’s days, 1-irons and 2-irons were muscleback blades, and being able to hit one solidly was a badge of honor. Today’s driving irons, however, are often hollow and in many cases have multimaterial constructions that help them deliver more ball speed. They are also more forgiving than anything the Hawk or the Golden Bear ever played.
While some players may opt for a game-improvement long iron or a long iron from a distance-enhancing, better-player’s set (Tiger Woods had two TaylorMade P•770 irons in the bag at the PGA Championship), there are several other driving irons and utility irons that could find their way into players’ bags this week at the Open Championship.
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