Five talking points from Jason Day's Players Championship victory
Monday 16 May 2016 12:40, UK
From Jason Day's comparisons with Tiger Woods to criticism about the set-up and speed of play at TPC Sawgrass, we look back at the talking points from the Players Championship.
Too early for Tiger talk
With Jason Day in a class of his own at TPC Sawgrass, it is inevitable that comparisons will be made to the dominance of Tiger Woods in his prime.
Day's seventh victory in 17 starts on the PGA Tour extended his lead over a faltering Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlroy at the top of the world rankings, and the Aussie has proved adept at hitting the top of the leaderboard and staying there.
We've been here before. When McIlroy had his golden run in 2014, winning two majors and a WGC in a remarkable month, we wondered how close he would get to Tiger's haul of 14 major titles.
The focus switched to Spieth last year after he won The Masters and US Open, missed out on a play-off at The Open by a shot and finished second to Day at Whistling Straits - the best single-year performance in the majors since Woods collected three in 2000.
And now, Day is clearly the man to beat every time he tees it up, and questions are being asked about what "Tiger-like" records he can emulate while in the form of his life.
The conclusion is simple: It is far, far too early to compare Day's run of results with any of the purple patches - and there were many - that Woods enjoyed before injuries started to take their toll.
When Day, Spieth or McIlroy have half a dozen majors in their locker, then we can maybe take a look at the stats from 1997 onwards and discuss them along with Woods as if we really mean it.
Until then, hold fire!
Too much change?
Despite Day's dominance in the PGA Tour's flagship tournament, the biggest talking point of the week was the extreme conditions the world's best players had to face on the third day at TPC Sawgrass.
The tournament organisers clearly didn't like Day breezing through the first 36 holes without dropping a shot and setting a new halfway scoring record at 129 - 15 under par.
The Aussie matched the course-record of 63 on day one, Colt Knost did likewise on day two and three-putted his final green to miss out on a magical 62, and Rory McIlroy could have had the record to himself had he not made a mess of the ninth - his last - on Friday.
McIlroy's back-nine 29 equalled the record set by Shane Lowry barely 24 hours earlier, and a reaction was always likely. But did they go too far?
The sprinklers were given a night off, the greens turned brown and carnage ensued on Saturday as the average round soared to 76.65. And the worst eclectic score was a mind-boggling 124 - 52 over par!
Sergio Garcia needed six putts to get down at the fifth, and even Day had a four-putt at the sixth. McIlroy three putted four times, including three in four holes after the turn, and the set-up of the Stadium Course was roundly condemned.
In a tournament dubbed "the fifth major", conditions should be more difficult than your average PGA Tour event. But the contrast between Friday and Saturday appeared to be too extreme, and gave the players no time to adapt.
There were no complaints from Ken Duke though, and his 65 is up there for one of the rounds of the year.
Speed it up!
The testing set-up on Saturday led to another hot topic of the year rearing its ugly head yet again - slow play.
Golf's governing bodies all around the globe are increasing their efforts to drive younger engagement to the game, but watching the game's elite take over five and a half hours to complete one round of golf on Saturday was a huge turn-off.
Given the tough conditions and the excessive scoring, there are allowances, that's only common sense. But five and a half hours? Seriously?
But here's the biggest problem - the players are getting away with it. If I'm a professional golfer, I'd want to take my time between shots and leave nothing to chance. And as long as I haven't got an official berating me and handing out penalties, I'm going to push the regulations to the limit.
The European Tour have been proactive in tackling the scourge of slow play this season and have begun enforcing "monitoring penalties", a situation which hit the headlines when Jordan Spieth was warned for slow play in Abu Dhabi back in January.
But the PGA Tour do not appear to be reluctant to follow suit. It is now generally accepted that a three-ball will take five hours on average to complete a competitive round.
The 45-second shot guideline is much the same as the old six-second rule for goalkeepers in professional football - it is overlooked week in week out. It is time to tackle this properly, and only shot penalties - not a paltry fine - will get the players to get a move on.
Golf's new look
Two of the quicker players in the game, Rory McIlroy and Rickie Fowler, were the subject of much debate on the opening day of The Players - and the discussions were not about their golf games.
Fowler has long been known for pushing the boundaries of golfing attire that would be deemed acceptable, except in the most stuffiest of clubhouses, and his Sunday orange outfits in homage to his alma mata - Oklahoma State University - is as familiar a sight as Tiger's Sunday red.
But his most recent trend of wearing trousers that resemble jogging bottoms, combined with high-top shoes borrowed from the basketball court, has divided opinion. And then, his good friend Rory McIlroy pitches up at TPC Sawgrass in identical fashion.
There have been a number of characters over the years who have been just as recognisable for their outfits as their golf swings. Doug Sanders was the most colourful dresser of his generation, Gary Player was "the man in black", the likes of Rodger Davis and Payne Stewart did their best to keep plus-fours in the shops, and Ian Poulter's sharp combinations ended up as a clothing business.
But will the jogging trousers, or "jodhpurs" as Wayne Riley described them, take off among the golfing public? I challenge anyone to wander down to their local municipal dressed as Rickie Fowler this week and see if you are ordered to change clothing before you are allowed onto the course.
Crossing the pond
The divide between the PGA Tour and the European Tour can be highlighted by comparing the quality of the fields at their flagship events.
There were 46 of the world's top 50 players teeing it up at Sawgrass in The Players Championship. But next week, only 14 have signed up to play the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth.
Rory McIlroy, the 2014 champion at HQ, is the highest-profile absentee this year as he juggles with a hectic schedule in which he will not have more than a week off in one go up until the Ryder Cup in the autumn.
PGA Tour Golf
There are other notable names who used to be regular visitors to the West Course that now stay away due to the controversial restructure of the layout overseen by Ernie Els some 10 years ago. And last year, the conditioning of the course, particularly the greens, was called into question.
European Tour chief executive Keith Pelley has made no secret of the fact he wants the season-ending DP World Tour Championship to become the Tour's signature event, further damaging the prestige of one of the most popular and well-attended events on the calendar.
However, last year saw a record attendance over the four days despite a clearly-exhausted McIlroy missing the cut, and the crowds are guaranteed to flock to the historic Surrey venue once again to watch the likes of Justin Rose, Masters champion Danny Willett and a host of rising youngsters.
The cream of the European Tour are happy to support the PGA Tour and play at their headquarters, but it's hard to see their American counterparts returning the favour.
