While the R&A and the USGA have proposed a move to limit the length of drivers, putting a restriction of 46-inches and so short-circuiting any possible use of 48-inch driver as considered by Bryson DeChambeau, Shane Lowry has offered the view that the sport’s ruling governing bodies should be cautious about any moves that will change equipment or ball characteristics.
“I’ve never considered using a long driver and I don’t think, if you were to go out on the ranges over the last couple of years, how many people you’d see would have used a driver over 46-inches? I don’t think there’s many but the fact they are (proposing to limit length of shaft) doesn’t make much difference whatsoever. The only reason they are doing it is because one person (DeChambeau) keeps talking about it all the time and about how far he is hitting the ball,” said Lowry.
Lowry – in Saudi Arabia this week, where he is completing the third leg of the Middle East Swing on the European Tour before returning to the United States for a busy schedule up to the Masters in April – doesn’t believe there is any need for any dramatic changes with regard to equipment, even with the ever-increasing distances being reached by some players off the tee.
As he put it, “I had a good chat with Ian Poulter and we talked about it and things like, if they do roll back the equipment and the golf ball, how it will affect the shorter hitters a lot more than the long hitters. The long hitters will have more of an advantage. If they roll back the ball, Bryson and all these other guys are still going to hit it 300 yards whereas the rest of us will be hitting it 260, 270 yards and we are still all going to be playing 500 yards Par 4s. (They) need to be quite careful what they’re doing.”
He added: “I think the game is fine the way it is. The best players are the best players in the world because they are all round better golfers than everyone else, not just long hitters.”
Lowry has had a new driver in his bag for the past two weeks, in Abu Dhabi (missed cut) and Dubai (tied-27th), but is looking for an improvement with the short stick – his putter – if he is to impact in the Saudi International at Royal Greens Golf & Country Club.
“I didn’t have the best two weeks the last fortnight but I think I have been around long enough to realise that a full season doesn’t rest on the first two weeks of the year . . . I am probably not holing as many putts as I would like but, other than that, I feel like my whole game is pretty good. I am driving the ball pretty well. I have a new driver in the bag that has been going pretty well and I definitely can’t blame that, whereas my iron play is probably as good as ever, and it’s just putting it all together and that ultimately is holing those six-footers for par. And, when you get a few birdie chances, you have to knock them in and get a bit of momentum from there.”
Lowry is hoping that the putter turns hotter on the desert course as he completes the Middle East swing before heading stateside for a two-week break followed by a busy stretch that will see him into a run of “five events that are some of the biggest on the planet” – the WGC in Florida, Bay Hill, the Players, the Honda Classic and the World Matchplay – before taking a week off ahead of the Masters.
