It may be stretching things to suggest March 2017 witnessed the onset of golf’s great revolution, but the sport is in the midst of fascinating times. Final preparations for the first World Golf Championship of the year, the biggest golf event to take place in Mexico, were partly overshadowed by proposals to overhaul the rules of the game to an extent not witnessed in 100 years.
The changes include less time allowed for ball searches, the banning of caddies lining players up, permission to use clubs damaged during a round and no sanction for accidentally moving a ball or a marker. The overriding motivations are to speed up play and make golf more simple, and the alterations are more radical than many had predicted.
“Our aim is to make the rules easier to understand and to apply for all golfers,” said the R&A’s David Rickman. “We have looked at every rule to try to find ways to make them more intuitive and straightforward.”
Tiger Woods was among those to approve. “Great work to benefit the game,” said the 14-times major champion. As if to prove golf is not yet a fully 21st-century commodity, none of the proposals will be implemented before 2019. Given no equipment alterations will be needed, this seems an unnecessary delay.
Competitive intrigue at the Club de Golf Chapultepec is straightforward. Forty-nine of the world’s top 50 will compete from Thursday morning, with Jason Day the only absentee, through illness. Rory McIlroy will make his first start in seven weeks in the company of Dustin Johnson and Hideki Matsuyama. Johnson revealed on Wednesday how Mexico’s altitude means a 15% increase on his shot distances, with pitching wedges flying as far as 180 yards.
McIlroy wants to keep the Masters at the back of his mind but the feeling prevails that this event also marks the starting point to his latest run at a career grand slam.
“Honestly, I haven’t thought much about Augusta,” said McIlroy, who is still wearing strapping to protect a damaged rib. “My biggest concern has just been getting healthy and being able to get back here. That’s what I was thinking about.
“The routine was get up early in the morning, do my rehab stuff, try to get out and see what I could do on the golf course, get back, have some treatment, do a few more exercises. It was just basically that on repeat for the last three or four weeks so that’s all I’ve really been concentrating on.
“I would say my focus was on just trying to get ready for this event and play here. I think it’s nice I get to play four rounds, see where my game is, take the week off next week, reassess, how does my body feel, how does my game feel. From there I can start to think about the Masters and what I really need to do to get ready for Augusta.”
The Mexican venue is a break from the norm and a complete contrast to Doral, where the first WGC of the year was previously held. Tight, tree-lined fairways lead into small greens. Strategy is key. As one caddie remarked on Wednesday morning: “It is nice to have a few things to think about for once.”
On face value, this type of test plays perfectly into the hands of Jordan Spieth. The Texan has slipped to No6 in the world but has a recent victory on his CV, at Pebble Beach in early February. Like McIlroy, Spieth is hardly lacking in early-season motivation; his collapse at the 2016 Masters remains a wounding reference point.
“I think this is a good golf course for me,” said Spieth. “Who has best control from really 100 to about 150 yards is really, really important out here.
“Ultimately I’m looking to gain some momentum as we lead into the Masters. I couldn’t have asked for a better start to the year thus far. My putter has heated up for two days out of all the rounds I’ve played this year, so if we get that going [for four]? My greens in regulation are as good as they’ve ever been so I feel pretty good about things.
“Do I think about Augusta more and more? I think so as we get closer. If the US Open was the first major of the year, then I would think about that.”
Rule changes
The rule change proposals means there will no longer a penalty for:
Accidentally moving your ball while searching for it.
Accidentally moving your ball or ball-marker when it is on the green.
Your ball hitting you, your equipment, your caddie, someone attending the flagstick or a removed or attended flagstick.
Touching your line of putt or touching the putting green in pointing out target. The same applies to your caddie.
Your caddie marking and lifting your ball on the green.
Touching or moving loose impediments in a bunker.
There will also be relaxed restrictions to apply on:
Touching the sand with your hand or club when your ball is in a bunker. You are now prohibited only from touching the sand (1) with your hand or club to test the condition of the bunker or (2) with your club in the area right behind or in front of the ball, in making a practice swing or in making the back-swing for your stroke.
Dropping a ball in a defined relief area. The only requirement is that you hold the ball above the ground without it touching any growing thing or other natural or artificial object. It is recommended that the ball be dropped from at least one inch above the ground.
Proposals for things a golfer can do:
Repair almost all damage (including spike marks and animal damage) on the green.
Keep using any club that is damaged during the round, no matter how it happens.
Use distance-measuring devices, except when prohibited by local rules.
Play out of turn in stroke play (‘ready golf’). This has always been allowed without penalty and now you are affirmatively encouraged to do so in a safe and responsible way.
Proposals for things a golfer cannot do:
Your caddie is not allowed to stand on a line behind you from the time you begin taking your stance until you have made your stroke.
