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Greg Norman: “If I had to do it all over again, I would go to one-length clubs”

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Greg Norman has never been a man to shy away from speaking his mind, and during Saturday’s Golf Channel broadcast of the QBE Shootout, the Australian declared that if he had the opportunity to begin his career again, he would do so with single-length irons.

Norman stressed how his experience while experimenting with Cobra King One Length irons led him to conclude that single-length irons are more beneficial than standard irons because “your spine angle stays the same” no matter what club you are using.

“Believe it or not, if I had to do it all over again as a 13 or 14-year-old, I would go to one-length clubs,” Norman said. “I actually had a set made for me when [Bryson DeChambeau] first came and joined, and I got it straight off the bat. When you think about it, my 4-iron and my 8-iron are the same length, but my ball flight was so good on all of them because your spine angle stays the same.”

The Australian went on to say that anyone looking to introduce their kid to the game of golf, should give them single-length irons to optimize their chances of success.

“I think parents now, for longevity, golf is a sport you can play your entire life, so if you look at that motion that [DeChambeau is] going through there, it’s such an effortless motion. He’s stacked up beautifully. At the end of the day, the motion is so simple through there. So the one-length golf club, in my humble opinion, give a kid at six, seven, eight…get him used to it and he’ll do well.”

Norman won 88 times in his career, including 20 wins on the PGA Tour and two major championship victories. Could the Shark have achieved even more if he had have used single-length irons during his career instead of standard irons?

Let us know what you think, GolfWRXers!

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Gianni is the Managing Editor at GolfWRX. He can be contacted at [email protected].

24 Comments

24 Comments

  1. Bill

    Dec 12, 2018 at 4:01 pm

    I’ve been playing with 3 lengths in my set. 2,3,4,5 long irons, 6,7,8,9 mid irons, and all wedges the same. # different lengths, 3 different missions and it maximizes the power and control of each group. Single length weakens the long irons because they are too short, mid irons are ok, but single length are too long for control. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

  2. Craig

    Dec 12, 2018 at 3:34 pm

    There will never be a critical mass of people using one length clubs because there are very few teachers of the method.

  3. retired04

    Dec 12, 2018 at 12:38 pm

    Just curious-How many of you naysayers have actually had a set of single length irons in your bag for a 30-90 day get acquainted/get-used-to honest try? Got a feeling the number is close to zero. Kinda changes the picture, doesn’t it?

    I tried them-couldn’t believe the difference once I could wrap my head around the fact that my PW was the same length as my 7 iron-and have never looked back. Any bona fides? Yeah-am 71 and been in and around the golf business since I was 12(repair work at Dad’s course), single digit since high school, college scholarship, rep for years, managed courses….still single digit albeit from shorter tees now. Played blades my hole life other than an occasional experiment, but I was open minded enough to try one length. Got fitted by Cobra rep for lie angle (he came up with the same 2* flat I have always used), some practice, played 2 rounds and sold my Wilson Staffs. Have taken some grief from other players-don’t care because one length is easier.

    My bet-once teachers/parents/players begin to realize the benefits of one length (especially with Cobra’s new blade type TEC Black one length irons), other manufacturers will enter the market-and it will be sooner than most of you expect. Players won’t know until they try them. Have you really tried them?

    Think about it. You irons, the very clubs you use to get it close to the hole-every one is now the same length, lie angle, gram weight, swing weight (mine came from Cobra +/- 2 GRAMS and all exactly D2)-and they all swing the same-rather than 6 or 8 or 9 slightly different swings. Are you kidding me?!?!

    Full disclosure: 1. I do not and have never worked for Cobra; 2. My 2 gap and sand wedges are shorter, BUT ALL 3 ARE THE SAME LENGTH (I have a stockpile of heads); 3. Yes, I tried the old Tommy Armour single length irons-couldn’t get the mid or long irons airborn.

  4. Edward Bardoe

    Dec 12, 2018 at 11:25 am

    the single length idea is for irons that you wish to make the same swing and get different distance. Not drivers or other clubs where maximum distance is the goal (three wood would be the same for non-pros, for the non-talented like me even hybrids) or club played for “touch” or different distance results like wedges. De Chambeaus wedges are allegedly in the single length, but whatever length they are, he chokes up on the grip the 2 inches that would separate a seven iron length from a lob wedge. Basically your single length “set” is 4 to PW.

  5. ogo

    Dec 10, 2018 at 10:31 pm

    Closed comments thread?!!

  6. ogo

    Dec 10, 2018 at 10:27 pm

    …. and played them in the 1996 Masters debacle instead of his Cobras.

  7. Steve

    Dec 10, 2018 at 9:53 pm

    Kids who are ages six through eight do not play with full sets of irons.

  8. ray arcade

    Dec 10, 2018 at 7:03 pm

    What happened to his left hand??

    • Sam Boulden

      Dec 11, 2018 at 4:42 am

      Chainsaw accident a few years ago

    • JD

      Dec 11, 2018 at 8:20 am

      His left hand is on his hip. That’s someone else’s right hand on the edge of the counter.

  9. Tom

    Dec 10, 2018 at 5:16 pm

    You would think a guy who believes in the one -length club theory would have only had one wife, not three?

  10. Tom

    Dec 10, 2018 at 4:45 pm

    This guy talks too much, he is full of it!

  11. Tom

    Dec 10, 2018 at 4:44 pm

    Will he be using one length irons in he father-Son event this week?

  12. Jamie

    Dec 10, 2018 at 12:38 pm

    Still a part-owner of Cobra, Greg? Are you sure that’s not your motivation for saying such things?

  13. Dan

    Dec 10, 2018 at 10:53 am

    Imagine if 1/2 of his 2nd place finishes were 1st place. Not sure single irons could have overcome others luck

    • Peter McGill

      Dec 14, 2018 at 2:56 am

      Luck? If he didn’t shoot those 40’s on the back nines, things would have been very different.

  14. Gun Violent

    Dec 10, 2018 at 10:42 am

    Well of course he says that, he’s still with Cobra! He wouldn’t be able to say it if he was with Titleist or some other company. Duh. He is such a good boy salesperson. Always has been. And he think’s that’s being clever.

    • Commoner

      Dec 10, 2018 at 12:44 pm

      GV’s post is right on the ‘money.’ (Sorry; had to do it.) Where are ethics, principles, morals, et cetera today?

      • Funkaholic

        Dec 12, 2018 at 10:46 am

        When someone offers you the kind of money he is making, then you can judge. you can’t buy a game and the pros know it, brand loyalty is silly nonsense. Nothing unethical about pushing a product that you are paid to rep.

        • A. Commoner

          Dec 12, 2018 at 5:12 pm

          Was not appropriate to time and place.

  15. Blake

    Dec 10, 2018 at 10:42 am

    No he wouldnt. Im sure this isnt influenced at all by his relationship with cobra and them being the only ones pushing single length clubs

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News

Morning 9: Wyndham Clark on back injury | DiMarco’s bold Champions Tour take | Houston Open photos

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By Ben Alberstadt with Gianni Magliocco.

For comments: [email protected]

Good Thursday morning, golf fans, as day one of the Houston Open gets underway.

1. Wyndham Clark hurts back…still hopes to play

ESPN’s Mark Schlabach…”Reigning U.S. Open winner Wyndham Clark injured his back while working out at home Monday, but he hopes to play in this week’s Texas Children’s Houston Open, which starts Thursday at Memorial Park Golf Course.”

  • “Clark, the fourth-ranked golfer in the world, said he was lifting weights and “got caught in an awkward spot doing a lift and [his] back went.”
  • “It’s not something that happens regularly, but it happened and you live and you learn,” Clark said. “I’m trending in the right direction. I’m hitting it or feeling stronger and more mobile every day. I’m going to give it my best effort tomorrow and hopefully I can play and compete. If not, I’ve got to get ready for tournaments to come after this.”
Full piece.

2. DiMarco’s bold Champions Tour take

Our Matt Vincenzi…”While speaking on the Subpar podcast, former PGA Tour winner and current PGA Tour Champions player Chris DiMarco said he hopes LIV buys the Champions Tour.”

  • “We’re kind of hoping that LIV buys the Champions Tour,” he said.
  • “Let’s play for a little real money out here. I mean this is kind of a joke when we’re getting $2 million. There were like seven guys last week from TPC (Sawgrass, at the $25 million PLAYERS Championship) that made more money than our purses.”
Full piece.

3. Charley Hull’s course management problem?

Our Matt Vincenzi…”Charley Hull came just short of her third LPGA Tour victory over the weekend at the Fir Hills Seri Pak Championship when she played her last two holes at 3 over to slip all the way to 10th on the leaderboard.”

  • “After the round, Hull was blasted by Sky Sports commentator and former LPGA Tour player Trish Johnson for her lack of golf course management.”
  • “While speaking on the Sky Sports Golf podcast, Johnson spoke harshly of Hull.”
  • “I’m probably her harshest critic, because I know how good she is. She doesn’t win anywhere near enough for her talent, and she doesn’t get involved enough, in all honestly.
  • “The thing with Charley is that you’re never going to change her. I read something the other day that said how much she loves the game and it’s her love of the game [that costs her]. She’s never going to change and she’s just going to go for every pin.
  • “In theory that’s great, but it won’t win you golf tournaments, it just won’t because she’s not that much better than anybody else.
Full piece.

4. Sahith’s interesting idea

Golf Channel’s Brentley Romine…”Which brings Theegala to his big idea: “There’s got to be something, like a fan challenge or – I think it would be awesome to see a scratch handicap go out and play like the Monday after a tournament, keep the same conditions and see what they would shoot just to put it into perspective how hard a PGA Tour golf course is.”

  • “Theegala loves the thought so much that he’d even come out and watch.”
  • “Shoot, I’d commentate on it,” Theegala added before continuing, “I have a pet peeve, sometimes when I watch golf on TV, a great example is hole 8 at Valspar last week. It’s a 230-yard par 3, the green’s 12 yards wide and someone will hit the middle of the green and, you know, they’ll be like, ‘Oh, really smart shot there.’ I’m like, ‘Well, no, he’s absolutely laced this 4-iron in the middle of the green, that’s right where he’s looking and to hit a 4-iron that straight is really, really hard.’ … Even like chipping, a lot of the stuff just looks flat on TV, but then when you get over the chip, like, oh, great, I have to land it over a mound on a downslope down grain?”
Full piece.

5. Top am Rachel Heck not going pro

Golf Channel’s Brentley Romine…”As Rachel Heck nears the end of her college golf career, she has decided that the LPGA isn’t for her.’

  • “Heck, the 22-year-old Stanford senior who won an NCAA individual title as a freshman and has climbed as high as second in the world amateur rankings, penned a first-person essay for No Laying Up in which she explained her reasoning for remaining amateur after graduation this summer and starting an internship not in professional golf but rather private equity. Heck, a political science major, also will be pinned as a lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force.”

Read her piece on No Laying Up: https://nolayingup.com/blog/why-im-remaining-an-amateur

Full piece.

6. DJ’s new LIV signing

Golf Monthly’s Elliott Heath…”Dustin Johnson‘s LIV Golf team 4Aces GC has announced former TravisMathew CEO Chris Rosaasen as the side’s new General Manager.”

  • “Rosaasen, who is a long-time friend of Johnson, is also the founder of the team’s apparel sponsor Extracurricular and has been CEO of the Omniverse Group for the past four years.
  • “He joins with more than 20 years of “brand-building, marketing, and business leadership” according to LIV Golf, which says his “record of innovation in the golf industry will strengthen and accelerate the growth of the 4Aces GC brand.”
Full piece.

7. Photos from the Houston Open

  • Check out all of our photos from this week’s event!
Full piece.
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Four books for a springtime review

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One thing that never changes over time: snowy evenings give purpose to reading (is it the other way around?) It has been a snowy 2024 in western New York, and I’ve had ample time to tuck into an easy chair with a blanket, coffee, and a book. You’re in luck, because despite the title of this piece, I’ll share five books and their worth with you.

There is great breadth of subject matter from one to five. Golf is as complicated as life, which means that the cover of the book isn’t worth judging. The contents begin the tale, but there is so much more to each topic presented within. If you’re like me, your library grows each year. Despite the value of the virtual, the paper-printed word connects us to the past of golf and humanity. Here’s hoping that you’ll add one or more of these titles to your collection.

        

Rainmaker

Hughes Norton interviewed with Mark McCormack for 20 minutes (30 if you count the missed exit at Logan International) while driving the founder of IMG from Harvard to the airport. The lesson of taking advantage of each moment, of every dollar, because you might not get another opportunity, is the most valuable one that life offers. I say to you, be certain to read this book, because another opportunity to bend the ear of Hughes Norton may not come our way.

Hughes Norton was with Tiger Woods for waaayyy fewer years than you might guess, but they were the critical ones. Be warned: not all of the revelations in this tome are for the faint of heart. Some, in fact, will break your heart. Golf was a sleepy hamlet in the 1990s, until the 16-lane interstate called Eldrick “Tiger” Woods came into town. Everything changed, which meant that everything would change again and again, into eternity. Once the ball starts rolling, it’s impossible to stop.

My favorite aspect of this book is its candor. Hughes Norton is well into his time on Planet Earth. He has no reason to hold back, and he doesn’t. My least favorite aspect is that George Peper got the call to co-author the book (and I didn’t.) Seriously, there is no LFA for me, so this is the best that I could do.

Decision: Buy It!

The Golf Courses of Seth Raynor

Michael Wolf, James Sitar, and Jon Cavalier, in abject partnership, collaborated to produce a handsome volume on the work of gone-too-soon, engineer-turned-golf course architect. Seth Raynor was pulled into the game by Charles Blair MacDonald, the crusty godfather of American golf. Raynor played little golf across the 51 years of his life. His reason? He did not wish to corrupt his designs with the demands and failings of his own game.

Jon Cavalier began his photography career as a contributor to the Golf Club Atlas discussion group. I met him there in a virtual way (we still have yet to shake hands) and have exchanged numerous emails over the years. Despite the demands of his day job, Cavalier has blossomed into the most traveled and prolific course photographer alive today. His photography, both hand-held and drone, makes the pages pop. Michael Wolf invited me and two friends to play his home course, despite having never met any of us in person. His words, melded to those of James Sitar, are the glue that connect Cavalier’s photos.

My favorite aspect of the books is the access it gives to the private-club world of Raynor. Fewer than five of his courses are resort or public access, and knowing people on the inside is not available to all. My suggestion? Write a letter/email and see if a club will let you play. Can’t hurt to try! My one complaint about the book is its horizontal nature. Golf is wide, but I like a little vertical in my photos. It’s not much of a complaint, given the glorious contents within the covers.

Decision: Buy It!!

Big Green Book from The Golfer’s Journal

Beginning with its (over)size, and continuing through the entire contents, there is no descriptor that defines the genre of the Big Green Book. It is photography, essay, layout, poetry, graphics, and stream of consciousness. It harnesses the creative power of a lengthy masthead of today’s finest golf contributors. Quotes from Harvey Penick, verse from Billy Collins, and prose from John Updike partner with images pure and altered, to immerse you in the diverse golf spaces that define this planet.

One of my favorite aspects is the spaces between the words and photos. Have your friends and others write a few notes to you in those blank areas, to personalize your volume even more. One aspect that needs improvement: the lack of female voices. I suspect that will be remedied in future volumes.

Decision: Buy It!!!

Troublemaker and The Unplayable Lie

Books that allege discrimination and mistreatment check two boxes: potentially-salacious reads and debate over whose perspective is accurate. In the end, the presentation of salacious revelation rarely meets the expectation, and the debate over fault is seldom resolved. Lisa Cornwell spent years as a competitive junior and college golfer, before joining The Golf Channel as a reporter and program host.

Despite the dream assignments, there were clouds that covered the sun. Cornwell documents episodes of favoritism and descrimination against her, prior to her departure from The Golf Channel in 2021. Her work echoes the production of the late Marcia Chambers, who wrote for Golf Digest in the 1980s and 1990s. Chambers took issue with many of the potential and real legal issues surrounding golf and its policies of access/no access. Her research culminated in The Unplayable Lie, the first work of its kind to address issues confronted by all genders and ethnicities, and immediately predated the professional debut of Tiger Woods in 1997.

My favorite aspects of the two works, are the courage and conviction that it took to write them, and believe in them. My least favorite aspects are the consistent bias that many groups continue to face. Without awareness, there is no action. Without action, there is no change.

Decision: Buy Them!!!!

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Tour Photo Galleries

Photos from the 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open

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GolfWRX is on site in the Lone Star State this week for the Texas Children’s Houston Open.

General galleries from the putting green and range, WITBs — including Thorbjorn Olesen and Zac Blair — and several pull-out albums await.

As always, we’ll continue to update as more photos flow in. Check out links to all our photos from Houston below.

General Albums

WITB Albums

Pullout Albums

See what GolfWRXers are saying in the forums.

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