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THE TAKE By Lewine Mair
Colin Montgomerie, a former world No 2, was mulling over the number of injuries in modern golf and tennis. “In golf, Tiger raised the bar in terms of hard hitting and he would seem to have had the same effect when it comes to injuries. Most of those who've tried to play like Tiger have suffered as he has with fitness issues.”
Rory McIlroy, Jason Day and Paula Creamer were the first three players to come to Monty’s mind; McIlroy with his persistent back problems, Day with a veritable litany of troubles, and Creamer with recurring wrist complaints.
He then advanced the names of a trio of tennis stars: “They’re no different from the golfers in going hell for leather to stay at the top of their game," he said. "Novak Djokovic has elbow troubles, Rafa Nadal has back and knee issues – and then you have Andy Murray who’s just had this hip operation. He will have been out for a year by the time he makes his comeback – and a year’s a long time in the career of a tennis player.”
A day or so before this interview, the 2010 European Ryder Cup captain had been flicking through the TV channels when he came across the famous John McEnroe vs. Björn Borg Wimbledon final of 1980. “It was like tennis in slow motion,” he said. So much so that it had put him in mind of how, though there were plenty of players who walloped their drives in his golfing heyday, there were others like himself who never came close to giving the ball 100 percent. “Today, you see professionals who are trying to hit 110 percent all the time. Sometimes, when I’m commentating, I find myself saying ‘Ouch!’ Just watching them hurts.
“If you go from a pause at the top of the swing to something over 100 mph on the way down, it’s the kind of movement that can only do your spine a mischief. It’s not what the body’s meant for.”
“I’m not sure quite what it is that he’s got but I can see it in his eyes. He’ll be tough to beat in a Ryder Cup context; the Americans could find him thoroughly disconcerting.”
Colin Montgomerie on Tyrrell Hatton
Montgomerie is sometimes given to wonder if the present generation have decided “to throw everything at it” for 10 years before calling a halt. “There’s certainly enough money around to be able to do that now, but are these people going to be battling damaged backs and hips throughout their retirement?”
As you would expect, Montgomerie has kindred concerns about how the latest in “bash and wedge” golf is affecting courses.
Here, he goes straight to St Andrews, which is widely expected to host the Open in 2021. “The 18th is already more of a par-3 than a 4, while holes like the third, the ninth and the 12th are all more or less drivable. What has to be remembered is that players like Jon Rahm and Brooks Koepka are not getting any shorter over the next three-and-a-half years.”
He cites Augusta National as another famous venue which is struggling to keep the powerhouses in check. “They’re already cutting the fairways from the greens back to the tees so that you’re not hitting down-grain. That helps, only the gains are wiped out by higher agronomy standards which make for firmer, more consistent surfaces and better bounces.
“The authorities are talking about how to bring things back a bit and I think you’d find that a lot of spectators would like to see the same. Yes, people enjoy watching tee shots of 350 yards, but I’m sure they got just as much of a kick out of following the top players in the days when they came in all shapes and sizes and knew how to work their way round a course.
He picked out the 5-foot-4-inch Ian Woosnam as a case in point.
Mention of the 1991 Masters champion had Montgomerie naming Tyrrell Hatton (5 feet 9 inches) as a player who is making a good fist of keeping up with his mostly towering rivals: “I’m not sure quite what it is that he’s got but I can see it in his eyes. He’ll be tough to beat in a Ryder Cup context; the Americans could find him thoroughly disconcerting.”
In which connection, it was worth asking this eight-time winner of the European Tour Order of Merit if he had any ideas up his sleeve as to how the Europeans, under captain Thomas Bjørn, should adjust their modus operandi at this year’s matches now that the Americans have picked up on the art of team camaraderie.
Of course he had. He went back to the 2005 Open when a journalist (a brave one, presumably) pointed to how he, Monty, would be playing with Tiger Woods the next day.
“The writer told me that Tiger would drive the ball further than me, that he would hit his irons more accurately and that he would putt better," Montgomerie said. "Then he went on to deliver his punch line: ‘So how the hell are you going to beat him?’
“I told him I agreed with everything he had said, and then I took a bit of a risk by saying that I intended to score better than him. If only on the Saturday, that’s what happened. I went round in 70 to Tiger's 71.
“Thomas will be telling his team something like that and, more and more, I think he’s going to have the cast to pull it off.”
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