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Mac O Grady - Oh Dear

VtDivot

SLIGHTERED
Supporting Member
Apr 16, 2005
7,154
32
This is complete horseshit.

Tiger breaking Jack's records not fair? Is O'Grady stoned off his rocker? Tiger is playing the same gear as the rest of the guys on tour.

Secondly - I played in a "fun" 9-hole tournament with classic clubs from the 50's (persimmon, blades, bulls eye putters etc) and shot 38. Two guys in our group broke par. I felt like the ball (we were using a modern ball) travelled as far (but not as high) as it would if I was hitting my modern equipment. The feel of the forgings was to die for... I had an old set of MacGregors, beautiful.

Forgiveness is the main improvement I think. I mean Jack could hit it 300 yards.
 

JEFF4i

She lives!
Supporting Member
Jul 3, 2006
13,545
95
O'Grady is a damned fool. There is no merit to his argument.

Why? Everyone has this equipment now a days, and thus, has the same oppurtunity.

The only point being made is that O'Grady is compromised his integrity for an idiot rant in hopes for sales.
 

SilverUberXeno

El Tigre Blanco
Jul 26, 2005
4,620
26
Yeah, the only comparison you could draw is that it might be easier to be competitive now than it was when Nicklaus was in his prime. But you can't say Tiger alone has the unfair advantage. If he does, then they all do, and if that's the case, Tiger is STILL the best golfer in the world, for being able to take that technology to a level other players can't (at least as frequently). Tiger is the best player of his time, Jack was the best of his time, etc. But there IS something to be said for the technology.

It's absurd to compare, really. I almost want to, but comparing itself it impossible. He wouldn't be the best if he didn't take advantage of every reasonable thing he could.
 

VtDivot

SLIGHTERED
Supporting Member
Apr 16, 2005
7,154
32
I think Tiger could still be competitve using old technology in today's game provided he could keep playing the same ball. I think he'd still win multiple times/year
 

dave.

Well-Known Member
Mar 20, 2005
5,926
2
I make one small point.

COR-limited by rules,no one questions it
MOI-limited by rules,no one bothers
Grips-heavily regulated,who cares
Driver cc-limited to 460,anyone give a toss?
balls-limited in size and weight,all sorts of things

etc etc etc

Yet grooves,which themselves have several pages in the R&A equipment book,are giving modern players an unneccessary advantage out of the rough.All that is required is another minor addition to an already swollen rule book,just ban U grooves on tour.Thats it.

And the balls,why not simply apply some regs on dimple design,no different than cor and moi regs at all?

Look beyond the fact that OGrady is a twat,and think about those 2 small points or pro golf will either be a putting competition,as is the PGA tour,hence why I never bothered with Setanta this year,or they will need Oakmonts every week (which admittedly was ****ing great).

The best 2 tournaments in the last couple of seasons have been Tiger at Hoylake and Tiger at Oakmont.He was awesome on both courses and neither of OGrady's points would have made much of a difference to him,apart from u grooves at Oakmont.If they can somehow give us tournaments like that all year then Ogrady is a fool,but they won't,so he isn't.
 

JEFF4i

She lives!
Supporting Member
Jul 3, 2006
13,545
95
But what makes O'Grady a twat is the fact that he neglects to state while balls and groove provide numerous benefits that Jack did not have, every player is capable of using them now. At best, it changes the nature of the competition very little.
 

dave.

Well-Known Member
Mar 20, 2005
5,926
2
But more powerful players can and do get exponentionally more benefits,thats the point he was making.Trevino would not exist in modern golf
 

JEFF4i

She lives!
Supporting Member
Jul 3, 2006
13,545
95
Granted, but look at Tiger's workout regiment compared to...well...nearly anyone.

He's commit more of himself to the unattainable perfection of golf, and thus, is rewarded accordingly.

I suppose it all comes down the pinnacle of golf form. Mind, body, and talent. Similar to the discussion where Phil was purported to be better than Tiger talentwise, that was disregarded, largely because of all three. My point being twofold;

A) Golf rewards those who do the most to conquer all three aspects, and to neglect any is to be at fault (like O'Grady has done).

B) To think that Tiger is a lesser golfer than Jack is simply foolish. In fact, as far as capability of the body aspect, Tiger has Jack beat. Jack did smoke for a little while (perhaps longer?), and you look at him in his prime physical form, and Tiger (which is still incredible), and you see superiority.

Once again, O'Grady is compromising his integrity for something to fickle as money. A shame really, as he is very intelligent. I don't even know that much about golf, he probably knows far more than I do, but using careful statements and neglect of information to support an argument with the direction of sales is...sad. Especially for someone like him.
 

IrishGolfer

Fac ut gaudeam
Supporting Member
Sep 1, 2004
6,542
4,976
Experiences in your golfing life!

sorry, made a mess of this. Oh, btw Mac O'Grady rules!
 

dave.

Well-Known Member
Mar 20, 2005
5,926
2
I'm not really that bothered tbh.He has a point about square grooves on tour,they are unneccessary
 

Dave Ireland

I'm sizzlin tonite
Aug 31, 2004
1,388
0
Ah .. Good oul Mac .. he has always courted controversy, but I give his arguments some merit. I remember in his day that he played both right and left handed - and there was an incident at 1 tournament when he blew a fuse coz he felt that the whitewash in the golf hole was laid on too thickly dimishing the size of the hole.

Was up with a pro shaft fitter couple of weeks ago just shooting the breeze while he installed a new shaft in the driver - this is hear say I know, but he was telling me that the Nike ball Woods uses is in actual fact manufactured by Bridgestone. He went on to explain that the Nike "tick" logo on the ball, acts in the same way as the bias on a bowling ball, and that this provides the workability of the golf ball in Woods' case. I'm not too sure whether it relates to the dimple pattern around the logo - I wouldn't imagine that it's weight biased... anyways I'd believe the Bridgestone end of things...
 

Eracer

No more triple bogies!!
Oct 31, 2005
12,405
8
Ah .. Good oul Mac .. he has always courted controversy, but I give his arguments some merit. I remember in his day that he played both right and left handed - and there was an incident at 1 tournament when he blew a fuse coz he felt that the whitewash in the golf hole was laid on too thickly dimishing the size of the hole.

Was up with a pro shaft fitter couple of weeks ago just shooting the breeze while he installed a new shaft in the driver - this is hear say I know, but he was telling me that the Nike ball Woods uses is in actual fact manufactured by Bridgestone. He went on to explain that the Nike "tick" logo on the ball, acts in the same way as the bias on a bowling ball, and that this provides the workability of the golf ball in Woods' case. I'm not too sure whether it relates to the dimple pattern around the logo - I wouldn't imagine that it's weight biased... anyways I'd believe the Bridgestone end of things...

So there is merit to the "chek go" device, and the line I draw around my ball does stabilize it in flight. No wonder I'm hitting the ball straighter.
 

goalie

Well-Known Member
Dec 24, 2006
7
0
One other thing: say one is to give Mac the benefit of the doubt, and conceed that his points are valid in regards to the equipment. Now, wouldn't that mean that someone like Tiger has to compete against much more equal comptetition since, unlike the old days, now anyone can hold the green from the rough??

I mean, seriously, if the new equipment allows people to compete at a high level with less skill, then Tiger is beating more people who, due to the equipment, are able to actually compete with Tiger, unlike Jack, who, according to Mac, was so much better than everyone else that he didn't really have to worry about anyone else with less skill catching him because of the equipment, he only had to worry about someone catching him with pure skill in the short-game and pure shotmaking ability.

If the equipment has given a lot more people the ability to play at the PGA level and actually compete to win, it makes Tiger's ability to dominate that much more impressive. It means Tiger is dominating over a lot more close competitors that they had in the "good old days."

Just my 2 cents.
 

Sandy

Well-Known Member
Aug 29, 2006
907
0
If you read the book 'The Disordely Compendium of Golf' - and I highly recommend you do! - there is a great little page in there where it lists all these bitter attacks on why Tiger Woods isn't as good as the old players, generally citing technology as being the reason he's as good as he is. Printed in the column alongside it is an identical argument being made decades earlier by people wanting to denegrate the likes of Hogan, Palmer, and especially Nicklaus. The similarity between the arguments being made is astounding, as are the radical calls for limiting technology back to hickory shafts, bound balls, etc.
 

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