GW_December_Preview

DECEMBER 2015, ISSUE 13 VOL 5 6 | JASON DAY WORLD EXCLUSIVE | GOLF'S NEW BIG THREE | RORY'S EXEMPTION | US OPEN CRISIS | HIGH-TECH DRIVERS TEST | FIX BUNKER FAULTS | SPAIN AND PORTUGAL
HIGH-TECH DRIVER TEST
CALLAWAY GREAT BIG BERTHA v TAYLORMADE M1 v COBRA KING LTD
A RYDER CUP
WITHOUT RORY
Why the European Tour had
to give McIlroy a free pass
GOLF’S NEW
BIG THREE
WORLD EXCLUSIVE
A MAJOR
IN CRISIS?
Why Spieth, McIlroy and Day
Why the stature of the
could dominate for years
US Open is under threat
JASON DAY
The incredible untold story of his rise from
drunken teenage street fighter to World No.1
THE UNLUCKIEST GOLFERS OF ALL TIME > GOLF IN
SPAIN & PORTUGAL > THE GREATEST SEASON EVER
FIX YOUR
BUNKER
FAULTS
3 ways to cure your
fear of the sand!
PAGE 64
DECEMBER 2015 £4.50

GOLF WORLD EXCLUSIVE
DRUNKEN
TEENAGE
STREET
FIGHTER
TO WORLD
NO.1
The incredible, untold story
of Jason Day. By Ben Everill.

GOLF WORLD
TEST
TECHNOLOGY-PACKED
Increased attention to adjustability and centre-of-gravity location characterise the new
TAYLORMADE
M1
£429
It is typical of golf’s dark sense of humour that,
just as enhanced statistical analysis can now
prove that the key to lowering scores is piling on
the distance, golf club engineers have run out of
ways to make drivers more powerful.
Or have they? Yes, it is true that the 0.83 COR limit
agreed by the R&A and USGA in 2002, which limited
spring-like effect on the clubface, effectively drew a line
under increased driver power. But there are other
avenues to increased distance than speed off the face,
and modern driver R&D is pursuing them relentlessly.
Take for example the clubhead’s balance point, or centre
of gravity. Its position within the head influences launch
angle, spin rate and the efficient transfer of energy from
clubhead to ball… in other words, distance. The
attention engineers give to perfecting this location in all
three drivers on test is a neat illustration of how the
modern war on short drives is being waged.
To this we can add the optimising of trajectory, often
likened to being able to increase the reach of a hosepipe

EQUIPMENT
ADJUSTABLE DRIVERS
driver launches from TaylorMade, Callaway and Cobra. But how will they compare?
CALLAWAY
GREAT BIG
BERTHA
£369
COBRA
KING LTD
£349
PHOTOGRAPHY BY BOB ATKINS
not by turning the tap, but by adjusting the hose’s angle.
Launch and spin control ball flight, and the ability to
customise and fine-tune these distance-gaining launch
parameters through adjustability is in evidence in all
three drivers on test.
We can also consider what we call forgiveness,
technicians call MOI and marketeers are now terming
‘speed protection’ – in other words, new technology
designed to add power to our mishits by spreading the
legal maximum for spring-like effect into the various
dark corners of the clubface.
Together, these features paint a picture of the
modern big dog that has added brains to its bridled
brawn – a precision-engineered tool that packs a punch
not just with its big, bony forehead but also with the
grey matter behind it. The three latest driver launches
– TaylorMade’s M1, Callaway’s Great Big Bertha and
Cobra’s King Ltd – are excellent examples of this more
cerebral approach to bombing it. But how would they
compare on the range, course and launch monitor?

INSTRUCTION
TOUR INSTRUCTION
My 5 Best
Lessons
Alejandro Canizares
The two-time European Tour winner shares his
favourite tips and drills that he uses every week.
ALEJANDRO
CANIZARES
World ranking: 158
Scoring: 70.59 (25th)
Driving accuracy:
67.8% (24th)
GIR: 68.8% (66th)
Putts per GIR: 1.74 (23rd)

INSTRUCTION
1
If
Get a shallow attack for more distance
you can hit the ball a long way, you
can gain a significant advantage. I’ve
never been a ‘big hitter’ because my
natural swing has tended to involve
hitting down on the ball, which is great
for the irons but not so good for
launching the driver with the high
launch and little spin that you want.
Bubba Watson’s attack angle is +4°,
while I’m nearer -3°. Sergio Garcia is
about the only great driver who hits
down on the ball.
I’ve been working with Mike Walker
for four years and he’s helped me to
understand my swing much better. He
gets me to do this drill a lot with the
driver to help me shallow my swing
and get closer to the level or ascending
attack angle that will improve my
launch conditions and help me improve
my driving distance.
Place an alignment stick
in the ground about three
feet behind you and a
foot ahead of your ball
position. Make sure
you’re not going to hit it.
The stick works as a visual
aid to swing under in the
downswing, which
encourages you to attack
the ball with a level or
ascending angle.
December 2015 Golf World 59

A STEP
TOO FAR
FOR THE
US OPEN?
The USGA’s Mike Davis has made it his personal mission to
transform the image of the US Open by taking the championship to a
wider variety of golf courses. But was the decision to go to Chambers
Bay in June just a little too ambitious, asks Jock Howard?

72 HOURS IN…
Barcelona
Combined with its culture, cuisine, football and nightlife, the capital of Catalunya
and its environs is one of Europe’s finest city breaks, as Chris Bertram discovers.
There aren’t many things
Barcelona cannot offer the
visitor, and a terrific long
weekend’s golf break is certainly not
one. There are enough pleasant
courses to occupy your time within
the city itself but we broaden the
catchment area in order to highlight
golf of an especially high calibre – on
only one day here does it stretch your
travelling to the hour mark though.
On each day we highlight at least
36 holes – and we know there are
plenty of you who will relish such a
heavy schedule. But our feeling is that
perhaps 27 holes on day one (at a
course helpfully boasting five loops
of nine) followed by a choice of one
of the two courses we suggest on day
two and then finishing with 36 on
the further-flung courses on the final
day will not leave many wanting for
more quality or quantity.
In addition, of course, the city has
myriad non-golfing attractions,
whether it be the beach and port, its
two football teams or the history and
beguiling architecture. Or you might
just like to hang out on Las Ramblas,
the wide, bustling avenue in the heart
of the city where whole afternoons
are so easily and enjoyably lost.
With regular and cheap flights
into El Prat, on the southern edge
of the centre, it is a very convenient
trip as well as an enticing one.
El Prat’s Open layout is used for
the Open de Espana on the
European Tour, won by
Englishman James Morrison.

COURSES
DAY ONE
El Prat (Open & Rosa)
This historic club, the home of Pablo
and Alejandro Larrazabal, was initially
located right next to the city’s airport but
had to move when runways were added.
The members discovered a huge plot
of gently undulating, forested land due
north of Barcelona near Terrassa.
Greg Norman was invited to lay out
the new course and the members must
be delighted with how what must have
been a difficult transition has developed.
Indeed, you could actually spend all
72 hours of your trip here, play golf
almost all day and not encounter the
same hole twice. There are 45 holes at
El Prat and although the Valles nine is
generally used for practice, the holes are
full length and perfectly good stuff.
We are suggesting just one day here
though, which allows you to play the
other 36 holes. If that seems an arduous
start, you can play 27 and still experience
both the Open combination – the two
loops played for the Open de Espana –
and the Rosa that features at No.36 in
our Continental European Top 100.
Adding to the slightly bewildering
amount of golf that El Prat offers is the
fact the loops have two names; one in
Spanish, one in Catalan. We’ll use the
Spanish with their Catalan in brackets.
Our favourite combination is the Rosa,
which sees the Bosque (Bosc) team up
with the Arriba (Dalt). It is, as all the
loops are, tough. But it also has real
charm, with the Bosque nine in our view
the best balanced of all the sections here.
Set down on relatively flat land, it
weaves in and out of a mature pine forest.
During the tree-lined phases it appears
seriously tight but there are plenty of
sets of tees to select so you need not be
hitting driver off every tee.
The Arriba is on more open but
undulating terrain, with plenty of
cleverly-designed holes where bunkering
adds definition and strategic questions.
Notable moments include the awesome
Montserrat mountain view from the 8th
tee, the tough short 2nd with a terrific
view of the city, the sporty par-4 6th and
the long par-4 7th with the sole water
hazard hard to the right of the green.
The Arriba is also the ‘second’ loop
played during the Open de Espana, with
the front nine of the Abajo starting with
a stiff two-shotter that sets the tone.
The longest of the loops at 3,800
yards is further stiffened by large clovershaped
bunkers. It is not a dour test
though, with a cute short hole at the 3rd
and another nice par 3 at the 8th, where
Señor Jimenez had his jig of delight at
his hole-in-one there earlier this year.
If you want 36 holes, the Piscina loop is
solid too, laid out between the sprawling,
modern clubhouse and Abajo.

WORLD RANKINGS
FORMULA FOR SUCCESS
The top of the world rankings have been more volatile than ever before in recent
weeks. Denis Hurley investigates how the system decides the world’s best player.
McILROY
1 1 1
1
McIlroy reigns
By August 9th, he’s
been number one
for 52 consecutive
weeks, but he hasn’t
played since the US
Open due to an
ankle injury.
Spieth overtakes
The American moves
to the top of the world
rankings for the first
time with his runnersup
finish at the US PGA
Championship.
SPIETH
2 2 2 2
Day’s first major
The Aussie holds off Spieth in
the US PGA Championship to
go from 5 to 3 in the world.
A topsy-turvy fortnight
McIlroy regains the top spot even though he
isn’t playing, when Spieth misses the cut at The
Barclays. Spieth retakes the summit the next
week despite another MC to McIlroy’s T29.
Another big win
Day wins the The Barclays in
the FedEx Cup Play-offs to
close the gap to McIlroy to
just 0.9 of a point.
3
3
3
3
9 AUG
DAY
16 AUG 23 AUG 30 AUG 6 SEP

Resting to the top
McIlroy again replaces
Spieth at the top the
following week even
though neither of them
play due to the FedEx Cup
Play-offs rest week.
1 1
2 2
3 3
Third number one
in three weeks
Day wins the BMW
Championship to climb to the
top of the world rankings for
the first time in his career.
FedEx champion
Spieth’s Tour Championship victory earns him a $10 million
bonus and thrusts him back to the top of the world.
13 SEP 20 SEP 27 SEP
When the idea of this
article was first
discussed back in mid-
August, Jordan Spieth
was on the verge of
taking over from Rory McIlroy at the top
of the Official World Golf Ranking
(OWGR). The young Texan achieved that
by finishing runner-up to Jason Day at the
US PGA Championship, while McIlroy
finished down the field in 17th place. But
no one could have predicted the
rollercoaster ride that was to come as the
title of World No.1 changed hands six
times in just seven weeks.
Spieth’s initial reign was short-lived,
lasting just two weeks before a missed cut
at The Barclays enabled McIlroy to regain
the lead without even playing in the
tournament. The pair continued to
exchange the top spot in unusual
circumstances for the next three weeks.
Then Jason Day joined the party.
While McIlroy and Spieth were
swapping turns at the top of the ranking
without actually setting the world on fire
with their golf, the Australian was tearing
it up. Three victories in a five-week period
from mid-August to the third week in
September saw him reach number one for
the first time. Day’s position at the peak of
world golf only lasted one week, however,
as Spieth rediscovered his game and his
putting to dominate the Tour
Championship, win the FedEx Cup and
finish the PGA Tour season as
World No.1.
As entertaining as this all has
been to watch, it does beg the
question: How and why did so
many changes result and what,
in particular, causes the
anomalies of changes
without the participants
playing? The answer is, as
you would probably imagine, rather
complicated. In layman’s terms, however,
the OWGR is calculated on a two-year
rolling system, which awards and deducts
points from a player’s tally each week. This
means that during any given week, a player
will receive points for their performance,
while the points from two years ago are
deducted. Despite missing the cut at the
Deutsche Bank, Spieth lost fewer points
than McIlroy, who would have needed a
top-10 finish to stay number one. The
following week, McIlroy’s loss was less
severe than Spieth’s and so he was able to
pass him again.
The OWGR is the brainchild of
Mark McCormack, the founder of
IGM, and was introduced at the 1986
Masters at Augusta. Bernhard Langer
December 2015 Golf World
55