This week, the bombers don't have the biggest advantage
By Mike McAllister, PGATOUR.COM Managing Editor
FORT WORTH, Texas -- On the eve of his title defense, Zach Johnson was talking about Colonial, one of his favorite courses on the PGA TOUR, when he noted that "you can't cheat your way around this."
Then he caught himself. Last year's champion of the Crowne Plaza Invitational knew that was the wrong description, that "cheat" wasn't the appropriate word. He didn't meant to say it that way. So he rephrased.
"You can't get away with errant shots," he said. "It rewards quality shots. It rewards quality putting. That's what you want out of a golf course."
Of course, that's what you want out of any golf course, but like snowflakes and self-taught swings, no two are exactly alike. Each course generally has its own set of quirks, or favors certain kinds of players, or is built to produce certain kind of results.
Colonial is no exception, but what makes this unique is that the course is a throwback to another era, when shot-making ruled and bombing off the tee was not rewarded unless you were passing the hat at some long-drive exhibition.
No venue has hosted a TOUR event for a longer continuous time than Colonial, which celebrates its 65th anniversary this week (the country club itself turns 75). Although changes to the course have been made via the natural process of evolution through the years, has any TOUR course changed so little over such a long period of time?
Consider this: when Colonial hosted its first tournament in 1946, it played to 7,035 yards; this week, it will play to 7,204 yards. That's 169 yards in 65 years. Compare that to Augusta National, which was a 6,700-yard layout for its first Masters in 1934 and played to 7,445 yards last month, a difference of 745 yards in 75 years.
Not saying either approach is better. Just completely different.
Winning at Colonial 65 years ago (Ben Hogan was your champ back then, his first of five wins) required precision shots and solid play with the putter. Winning at Colonial on Sunday will require the same thing.
"It's such a great old golf course," said Tom Lehman, who won here in 1995 and is making his 16th start in this event. "I don't feel like it benefits anybody other than those that could hit the right shots and can have a great putter."
A year ago, Colonial ranked first among all TOUR courses in shortest fairway proximity and second in closest proximity to the hole. Translation: You better stick those iron shots close to the pin because everybody else is doing so, too.
No doubt this tournament belongs to the precision artists, guys such as Johnson and Lehman and Corey Pavin and Kenny Perry and Nick Price, all past winners. There's a reason why 11 of the top 15 guys in driving accuracy are in this week's field -- it would've been 12 had Scott Verplank not withdrawn due to injury -- while just five of the top 15 in driving distance are here.
The great ball-strikers on TOUR simply don't want to miss playing in this event. Take David Toms, who lost in last week's playoff to K.J. Choi at THE PLAYERS Championship.
Toms might have used this week to recuperate and rest. Instead, he's here, playing for the fourth consecutive week on TOUR. Colonial fits his game and gives him a better chance to win than some other courses outside his wheelhouse.
"It's one of those weeks where you want to capitalize on it when you have a golf course that's meant for your game, or built for your game where you don't have to overpower it," Toms said.
Paul Goydos was joking -- or maybe he wasn't -- that there are just three courses that suit his game. One was last week at TPC Sawgrass, where he finished third; another is this week at Colonial. (No word on the other one.)
He knows if he plays well at either TPC Sawgrass or Colonial, he will get the maximum reward. He can't say that about every course, simply because those courses reward other, bigger-hitting players.
"A big part of success is timing," Goydos said. "If my game is where it was last week at Houston, which is a lot longer golf course, I probably wouldn't finish third. I would finish seventh, eighth, 10th or 12th. I had a good game (last week) on a course that fit me well. That's part of the deal ...
"This is another golf course where I feel if my game is in good shape, and I'm making putts, I can have some success at it."
Other courses through the years have gotten bigger. Colonial, with its tight fairways and small, well-bunkered greens, remains challenging without significant changes.
Yes, it can be beaten, especially when there is no wind. Johnson won last year with a record 21-under 259 last year in unusually benign conditions.
But since 1990, the winner's average number of strokes per round is 3.29 under par. By that measure, Colonial ranks as the eighth hardest stop among FedExCup regular season events.
"It's a classic golf course," said Australian Adam Scott, "and we don't play too many of them in this style on TOUR anymore."
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