79 replies to this topic

[zm231]

I haven't seen a thread on this and forgive me if there already it but I am in total disbelief at how far he's hitting his irons right now. He hit sw from 144, 9i from 177, 8i from 187 or so, and he pulled 7i from 223 at the matchplay this year it's ridiculous. The guy is absolutely murdering his irons right now I was wondering if anyone else thought this was crazy too. And it would be one thing if the wind was behind him or something and the shot was downhill, but he's been doing this all year! He's picked up some serious yardage since working with hank.

Edited by zm231, 04 June 2012 - 09:59 PM.

[MadGolfer76]

Impressive until context sets in (downhill, wind, etc.) and then it is, well...still pretty good, but at least more believable. Using blades with (supposedly) weakened lofts no less.

[Golfnutgalen]

I'm surprised as well, though Tiger has mentioned several times that he's compressing the ball better than ever. The Tiger Woods of 05-09 (when I really started watching golf on TV) would often hit more club and abbreviate that follow through. Though, it must be said, Phil also murders his irons now; I think it has just as much to do with the new equipment as the Foley swing.

[SteelPride]

Some people don't understand how much carry he gets on his irons too. He hits absolute moonballs, especially with his long irons (3-4i)

Sure his lofts are totally tweaked and customized, but nobody on this board has ever flushed an iron like Tiger has, or any other great ball striker.

Anyone know what iron he was teeing off with on 18 all week? Im thinking the 3i and he was probably nuking them between 265-280, which is %#$%$ insane.

3i - 9i - to 5 feet on a 470 yard par 4?????????

Jesus that would be awesome!

[jdhallissey]

The bottom of his club said 8 iron on 18 and they were not playing it at 470 sorry to burst your bubble. It was in the 430ish range google earth it and check the bunker distance. Sabbo does not FLY driver 340 in the air. There are a hand full of guys who can do that Sabbo is not one of them and according to the booth he did. You will see when the guys are playing a long par 4 they are hitting 3wood and drivers.

Tiger does hit it fair but not much farther then most guys I know.

[Golfnutgalen]

 SteelPride, on 04 June 2012 - 10:15 PM, said:

Some people don't understand how much carry he gets on his irons too. He hits absolute moonballs, especially with his long irons (3-4i)

Sure his lofts are totally tweaked and customized, but nobody on this board has ever flushed an iron like Tiger has, or any other great ball striker.

Anyone know what iron he was teeing off with on 18 all week? Im thinking the 3i and he was probably nuking them between 265-280, which is %#$%$ insane.

3i - 9i - to 5 feet on a 470 yard par 4?????????

Jesus that would be awesome!

3-iron off 18, 264 on Saturday, 265 on Sunday. Earlier this year he was hitting the 2-iron 270-290 yards!
-Shottracker says 18 was playing 444 yards for the week, it's still insane though.

 jdhallissey, on 04 June 2012 - 10:20 PM, said:

There are a hand full of guys who can do that Sabbo is not one of them and according to the booth he did. You will see when the guys are playing a long par 4 they are hitting 3wood and drivers.

Sabbatini hit it 327 long enough

Edited by Golfnutgalen, 04 June 2012 - 10:25 PM.

[SteelPride]

 Golfnutgalen, on 04 June 2012 - 10:20 PM, said:

 SteelPride, on 04 June 2012 - 10:15 PM, said:

Some people don't understand how much carry he gets on his irons too. He hits absolute moonballs, especially with his long irons (3-4i)

Sure his lofts are totally tweaked and customized, but nobody on this board has ever flushed an iron like Tiger has, or any other great ball striker.

Anyone know what iron he was teeing off with on 18 all week? Im thinking the 3i and he was probably nuking them between 265-280, which is %#$%$ insane.

3i - 9i - to 5 feet on a 470 yard par 4?????????

Jesus that would be awesome!

3-iron off 18, 264 on Saturday, 265 on Sunday. Earlier this year he was hitting the 2-iron 270-290 yards!


-Shottracker says 18 was playing 444 yards for the week, it's still insane though.

i want to know what it feels like to hit a blade 2 iron 280 yards.

wowzers.

[swanry30]

I'm setting myself up here... Flat out - with his new swing pattern he will hit the ball further period.  It's more compact, leveraged and he is using the ground and angles to smash the living hell out of it.  You can tell it was difficult (still is) with club selection at times.  He has put himself into some difficult up and down situations flying the ball long.

Recently, I made a similar swing change and can attest to the distance increase.  

[QMany]

 swanry30, on 04 June 2012 - 10:54 PM, said:

I'm setting myself up here... Flat out - with his new swing pattern he will hit the ball further period.  It's more compact, leveraged and he is using the ground and angles to smash the living hell out of it.  You can tell it was difficult (still is) with club selection at times.  He has put himself into some difficult up and down situations flying the ball long.

Recently, I made a similar swing change and can attest to the distance increase.  

You set yourself up, and I agree.

[swbyps]

Yea...That Sean Foley sure is some kind of quack. What did he tell Tiger to do on sunday..."Go out there and put on a stripe show". Tiger is going to win the British Open.

[nova6868]

A stripe show?

[Thrillhouse]

 swanry30, on 04 June 2012 - 10:54 PM, said:

I'm setting myself up here... Flat out - with his new swing pattern he will hit the ball further period.  It's more compact, leveraged and he is using the ground and angles to smash the living hell out of it.  You can tell it was difficult (still is) with club selection at times.  He has put himself into some difficult up and down situations flying the ball long.

Recently, I made a similar swing change and can attest to the distance increase.  

I also agree, the characteristics of the new swing are leading to some massive iron distances.

[UCRgolfer11]

 SteelPride, on 04 June 2012 - 10:15 PM, said:

Sure his lofts are totally tweaked and customized, but nobody on this board has ever flushed an iron like Tiger has, or any other great ball striker.

WRONG! I am sure there are more than one person who can hit high towering long irons on this board.

[MattTheTaff]

There are 4 ways to increase distance with your irons.

1) make the lofts stronger

2) make the shafts longer

3) get as fit as you possibly can and work on your swing.

4) have nick Faldo commentating on your round. Apparently nick reckons I hit my PW 175 yards, even though it says 4 on the sole of the club

[markysparky]

Part of the marketing of tv golf is to hype the mystique of the pro game, and that's going to get a lot of hyperbole coming out of the booth; golf is tough to make exciting if you don't make the players seem otherworldly. For my money, I'm more impressed that they can pull shots off under pressure like they do; any sort of gallery has me sweating!

[SwooshLT]

Tiger plays very weak iron lofts compared to most.....PW is reported to be 50*......so going with that his 9-iron is 46*....still weaker than most PW's..........A strong young man who compressing the ball very well; As Swanry said; this leverage he is getting is incredible......on 17 he hit 9-iron from 198 downwind....flew probably 190-192 in the air as he left himself with a 20ft putt.......Not sure why all the disbelief......driver clubhead speed is 123mph....you hit it flush and compressed with outstanding launch and spin you get distances that most average player don't understand....I don't hit that far but at one point years back I hit my irons insanely long....compression goes along ways.

[kg92lefty]

 SteelPride, on 04 June 2012 - 10:23 PM, said:

 Golfnutgalen, on 04 June 2012 - 10:20 PM, said:

 SteelPride, on 04 June 2012 - 10:15 PM, said:

Some people don't understand how much carry he gets on his irons too. He hits absolute moonballs, especially with his long irons (3-4i)

Sure his lofts are totally tweaked and customized, but nobody on this board has ever flushed an iron like Tiger has, or any other great ball striker.

Anyone know what iron he was teeing off with on 18 all week? Im thinking the 3i and he was probably nuking them between 265-280, which is %#$%$ insane.

3i - 9i - to 5 feet on a 470 yard par 4?????????

Jesus that would be awesome!

3-iron off 18, 264 on Saturday, 265 on Sunday. Earlier this year he was hitting the 2-iron 270-290 yards!


-Shottracker says 18 was playing 444 yards for the week, it's still insane though.

i want to know what it feels like to hit a blade 2 iron 280 yards.

wowzers.

So does tiger, because his 2 iron is not a blade

his lofts are weaker than traditional blade lofts today.

[SwooshLT]

 kg92lefty, on 05 June 2012 - 06:41 PM, said:

i want to know what it feels like to hit a blade 2 iron 280 yards.

wowzers.

So does tiger, because his 2 iron is not a blade

his lofts are weaker than traditional blade lofts today.

He played one for years........just switched about 9 months ago....

[J.W.]

They post their Trackman stats now for driving distance and ball data.  Trackman doesn't lie, there's some long players out there but the iron distances aren't what it seems.  Tiger ball speed is just sub 180... Very very long but there's average 80's shooters that hit it harder than that.

[Vindog]

 SteelPride, on 04 June 2012 - 10:15 PM, said:

Sure his lofts are totally tweaked and customized, but nobody on this board has ever flushed an iron like Tiger has, or any other great ball striker.

LOL

you don't say....

Edited by Vindog, 05 June 2012 - 07:35 PM.

[TNGolfer8]

Do you remember a couple of years ago when Steve Williams accidentally dropped his 9 iron into a green side pond?  On the next hole Tiger needed the 9 iron for a shot of............... 128 yds!   I know that pros always have a little more if they need it, I'm just not sure I believe a lot of the yardages we are told sometimes.    Years ago at the TPC Sawgrass, I overheard a caddy tell his player that he had 187 to the hole, and the player asked for a 5 iron.  He hit a good shot but came up a few yards short.  Later on that evening, I'm watching highlights on TV, and that shot is replayed.  The yardage given by the announcer was 205 yards.

[maxmw]

Driver:    285 yards (carry)
3 Wd:     265 yards (carry)
2 Iron:    245 yards
3 Iron:    230 yards
4 Iron:    220 yards
5 Iron:    208 yards
6 Iron:    190 yards
7 Iron:    172 yards
8 Iron:    158 yards
9 Iron:    142 yards
Pitching Wedge:    128 yards
Sand Wedge:    106 yards
Lob Wedge (60°):    92 yards

these are from 2007

Edited by maxmw, 06 June 2012 - 05:42 PM.

[zerofade]

He does play more traditional lofts and he smashes it for sure. But i recall a par 3 this past week where I believe he hit a 9i and furyk on the same hole came and hit an 8i.. So that tells me hes tour long but not superhuman long.. And there was another thread that dealt with the announcers playing up how long and what club theyre using into these holes..

Edited by zerofade, 06 June 2012 - 05:56 PM.

[SurfDuffer]

 maxmw, on 06 June 2012 - 05:42 PM, said:

Driver: 285 yards (carry)
3 Wd: 265 yards (carry)
2 Iron: 245 yards
3 Iron: 230 yards
4 Iron: 220 yards
5 Iron: 208 yards
6 Iron: 190 yards
7 Iron: 172 yards
8 Iron: 158 yards
9 Iron: 142 yards
Pitching Wedge: 128 yards
Sand Wedge: 106 yards
Lob Wedge (60°): 92 yards

these are from 2007

Based on this post his yardages aren't that different from many low single digit handicappers and elite ametures.   The only one that stands out to me is 265 with the 3-wood which is really long for a 3-wood.

[Jc0]

Tiger doesn't hit his irons much longer than anyone else, but he knows how to deloft the club better than anyone in the game.  He can hit his 3 iron normal height and have it go 230 or he can deloft the crap out of it have it land at 240 and run out to 260.  If you ever watch him hit a stinger long iron you see the ball always rolls like 20 yards.

[maynard170]

 zerofade, on 06 June 2012 - 05:55 PM, said:

He does play more traditional lofts and he smashes it for sure. But i recall a par 3 this past week where I believe he hit a 9i and furyk on the same hole came and hit an 8i.. So that tells me hes tour long but not superhuman long.. And there was another thread that dealt with the announcers playing up how long and what club theyre using into these holes..

True but using more traditional lofts would put Furyk's 38* 8i at 7i, correct? Leaving Tiger's 9i at 46* is a 2 club gap. Rather large gap.

[Sean2]

I was watching a tournament a while back and they had John Cook on as a guest. The announcers were doing their usual schtick with so and so has so many yards and he's using "x" iron. After a while, Cook basically said "bulls**t".

[QuigleyDU]

This whole tour distance BS is getting old. I attend a tour event every year.  Its the same one and it is at altitude. 5000+ feet.

I always go to the same spot where I can watch players hit into a par 4 green then tee off at a 210ish yard par 3 I am usually close enough to the tee to be able to see what club they pull.  It is usually a 5 iron for 90% of them with a few 6 irons and 4s mixed in.

Edited by creeder06, 10 June 2012 - 01:33 AM.

[DLiver]

Scott Stallings, on playing competitor Tiger Woods' 146-yard shot from an extremely deep fairway bunker to 10 feet from the pin: "That shot on 17, man, you don't see that every day. I mean, he hit a wedge over a 20-story building out of a fairway bunker to 10 feet. In all honesty, I thought he was going to lay up and the next thing I saw it come out and go right upside the flag. I said, `That's why he's one of the best players that's ever played.'"

[schmatt]

I think the conditions are what is making not only Tiger, but most pros, look like they can hit the ball 50 yards farther than everyone else.  When you hit an iron shot downwind, especially a short iron, you are going to gain ~10% in distance.  Not only that, but they are playing rock hard greens that require them to land the ball 10 to 20 yards short of the pin.  If you really pay attention to both the conditions and where the ball actually lands, their distances are good, but nothing like the commentating is making them out to be.