Tiger Woods, AimPoint And A Way To 'Sort The Wheat From The Chaff' - Our Unpopular Tour Golf Opinions
Nearly all of us have a thought about tour golf which we know most people won't agree with - we've listed a handful of them below and explained our reasoning
'Inside The Ropes' is the chance for Golf Monthly's expert team to share its honest thoughts on the biggest subjects in the game. This week, it's all about our unpopular tour golf opinions.
There are many subjects in the game that most people agree on. Then there are topics which offer a completely different thought depending on who you ask. In addition, there are the areas of golf which divide us all down the middle.
However, the beauty of humans - at least in principle - is that we can all enjoy a healthy debate about whatever we think and hopefully learn a thing or two along the way.
But what about those opinions which you know do not fit into the majority of golfer's thinking? Do you ever bring it up or just quietly imagine speaking to an imaginary crowd who all cheer and clap when you illustrate your point?
If you're in the latter camp, you've come to the right place. Feel free to take that weight off your shoulders by dropping your unpopular opinion on golf in the comments box below.
Perhaps you'll gain some unexpected support or even take on a new point of view from a fellow reader. In the meantime, some of the Golf Monthly team have shared their unpopular golf opinion - specifically on the tour game.
THE DP WORLD TOUR IS THE BEST CIRCUIT
There. I said it. The DP World Tour is the best pro golf circuit on the planet. Better than the PGA Tour, better than the LPGA Tour, better than the LIV Golf League and so on.
There are several reasons for this. Firstly, the stories that are told each week are often of players looking for their breakthrough moment - their first win on tour or even their first big pay check after struggling to make ends meet for so many years.
I know there aren't as many top-50 golfers as other circuits, but these guys are still world class, only with a sense of fallibility which leads to higher levels of entertainment. I like the "thrill" - for want of a better term - that comes with surfing the emotional rollercoaster these players and stories offer up.
For me, more so than the PGA Tour and LIV at least, the DP World Tour gives a platform to "real" people who might not even be recognized if they walked into a local grocery store, for example. There's a level of humility to the competitors, and I like that.
On a similar note, the prize money isn't absolutely ridiculous like it is on the other two big tours. Players are changing their lives through manageable chunks instead of earning $4 million and acting like it's nothing. Plus, DP World Tour players mostly celebrate their wins with real emotion, too, something that seems to happen less and less elsewhere.
I'd also like to give a shout out to the DP World Tour's social media team and support staff as well, while I'm here. The content they put out to engage fans is so good time after time. It's imaginative, funny, entertaining - everything you'd want - and they include all levels of players, not just the big names.
Another reason it's the best tour in the world is that the circuit travels all over the globe, giving fans and players an opportunity to learn about other cultures and take the game to those who often watch on from afar. I know LIV does this to a certain extent, but there are only 13 events whereas the DP World Tour is almost year-round.
You might say that there are tours which do individual things better than the DP World Tour, but nowhere does it better as a collective.
THE PGA TOUR IS NOT GOOD FOR THE GLOBAL GAME
I'm not sure the PGA Tour is good for the global game. The DP World Tour is a shadow of its former self and the fields it attracts between February and July are generally poor and devoid of top-50 players in the world.
The riches and world ranking points on offer in America from the start of the year until the FedExCup have effectively rendered the DP World Tour a feeder circuit in that time, which is such a shame, because the 'European' circuit visits some fantastic golf courses and stages events with real history and prestige.
The other issue is there's even less motivation for American players – hardly the most intrepid bunch to begin with – to travel the world and be ambassadors for the game globally.
Scheffler is among the majority of male American players who rarely venture outside the US to play
Frankly, it's ludicrous how many world ranking points the PGA Tour awards and tying this almost exclusively to the strength of the field is negligent. Sadly, golf has become all about paying the players top dollars and keeping sponsors on side.
Is the circuit better that it was ten years ago? Absolutely not. The Signature Event model is awful and schemes like the Player Equity Programme and now-defunct PIP show the tour is more focused on placating its players than improving the fan experience.
Is the solution a much-touted World Tour? I'm not sure, but I do know I enjoy watching the PGA Tour much less than I used to.
TIGER ISN'T DONE YET
My unpopular tour golf opinion is that I still believe Tiger Woods has more left from his playing career. I can’t confidently say he’ll win another Major or finally secure an 83rd PGA Tour title, but I also can’t say he won’t.
I know the vast majority of golf fans believe he is done and even some of his biggest supporters would be more than happy to see him call it a day, but I am ready and very excited for the prospect of his latest return this year.
In my eyes he is the greatest golfer to ever live and if Phil Mickelson can win a Major in his 50s and Davis Love III can win on the PGA Tour at 51 then Tiger Woods can do the same.
The car crash in 2021 did an awful lot of damage and it has clearly been very difficult to get over, but if he can just have two or three years without any further major setbacks then I believe he still has some special weeks left in him.
Feel free to call me delusional in the comments, but we’ve seen time and time again that you should never, ever doubt Tiger Woods.
He has the mentality of no other golfer and would surely love to show his growing son Charlie what a world class Woods senior looks like again.
BAN IT. BAN IT ALL.
I could write a book on my takes surrounding tour equipment and how pampered the pros are, but you won't want to read all of that so I'll focus on putters. Any putter longer than 35" should be banned.
Sorry Akshay, no more broom putter for you. Sorry Adam Scott, learn how to putt with a proper putter.
AimPoint? Yeah, ban that too - what a load of nonsense it is to watch professionals do the cha cha slide on the green before hitting each putt.
Part of the skill of golf is reading putts with your eyes, so lets enforce it at a time in which equipment has made the game deskilled from what it once was.
Hell, why don't we ban mallet putters whilst we're here? Get the blades out again, ladies and gentlemen.
CREATIVITY HAS GONE FROM THE PRO GAME
For me, creativity in professional golf has disappeared and, nowadays, the majority of pros play the same shot shape and bomb it as far as possible before sorting out their problems.
I've spoken about it previously, but using a half set of clubs would sort the wheat from the chaff as it would require players to use creativity and feel instead of brute strength.
14 clubs is too many and, today, there's a club for every problem. Personally, I'd much rather see a player have to produce something with a 7-iron than hit a normal shot with an 8-iron.
We love when professionals get creative and, by reducing the amount of clubs they can use, that would certainly bring out the best in them...
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