# Stuff and Things > Sports >  What happened to the British Open?

## donttread

The British Open is known for it's old style course challenges to the pros. Greens that won't hold, bunkers many of us could not crawl out of and the like. 
They are playing it now at the storied Old course at St. Andrews and watching the coverage some of the obstacles are other but the scores are too low for too many. 
This is a torny that is known for making the pros play the bumb and runs and trouble shots we amateurs have to do. As recently as 1999 the event was won with a score OVER par.
It looks like commercialization, good or bad has had it's way since then, starting with an unreal 8 stroke win by Tiger in 2000 double digits under par. Either fans want the lower scores ( not me) or as often happens in sports the powers that be have decided what the fans want for them
Now it was Friday I think where the commentator said there were 54 players at or under par. I said the wife What? She nodded that I had heard the guy correctly. Now on Saturday multiple players double digits under par. Just another event, nothing special anymore.

Does anyone else think big time sports sometimes tell the fans what they want instead of asking? NFL comes to mind

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## Taxcutter

Where is the howling wind St. Andrews is famous for?

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donttread (08-05-2022)

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## Freewill

I think I read that the longest drive was 421 yards.  Which on some course would drive a par 5.

The old saw was "drive for show, putt for dough."  I always thought that to be BS and the USGA is proving me correct.  How many greens did we see being driven even 10 years ago?  I did notice something that may or may not be true, but it appears the historic rough is not as rough as it used to be.  Used to be if a shot strayed you were practically buried in the grass, I did not see that this year.


What is the average driver distance on the PGA Tour?It is fascinating that 50 yards separate the longest driver on tour (Dechambeau) from the shortest driver on Tour (K.J. Choi). Choi’s average drive is 271 yards. Over the last 30 years, the average driving distance on the PGA tour has increased by 39 yards, a 15% increase.

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donttread (08-05-2022)

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## donttread

> I think I read that the longest drive was 421 yards.  Which on some course would drive a par 5.
> 
> The old saw was "drive for show, putt for dough."  I always thought that to be BS and the USGA is proving me correct.  How many greens did we see being driven even 10 years ago?  I did notice something that may or may not be true, but it appears the historic rough is not as rough as it used to be.  Used to be if a shot strayed you were practically buried in the grass, I did not see that this year.
> 
> 
> What is the average driver distance on the PGA Tour?It is fascinating that 50 yards separate the longest driver on tour (Dechambeau) from the shortest driver on Tour (K.J. Choi). Choi’s average drive is 271 yards. Over the last 30 years, the average driving distance on the PGA tour has increased by 39 yards, a 15% increase.


You can't build the holes long enough really considering the membership has to play them, albeit from different tees. What you can do is making missing the fairway a real issue like carnoustie. Not difficult, if all else fails grow hay. Then those big drives become riskier.

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