Andy Sullivan’s recent DP World Tour challenge got us thinking: Would you watch a pro tournament where players only use a few clubs?
Andy Sullivan has provided more evidence that tour professionals can’t be human.
The Englishman shot a 78 at The Belfry using only a 5-iron in the DP World Tour’s latest social media masterpiece.
The majority of us couldn’t break 80 at this former Ryder Cup venue carrying 14 clubs.
Many golf club members up and down the country will have played in reduced bag competitions in between the serious stablefords and medals.
Would you like to see this format adopted permanently on the DP World Tour, or any professional tour?
It seems a peculiar idea to watch Rory McIlroy carrying around a 3-wood, 5-iron, wedge and a putter, but could it be entertaining?
The NCG team have brainstormed this idea and put forward their arguments as follows:
Let’s see it! The scores and strategy would be fascinating
A 5-club event would be great fun to watch.
We know what the pros can do with 14 clubs in their bags. Why would you not want to watch them hit shots they would never dream of hitting if they only had five clubs available, says Matt Coles.
Each player knows exactly how far they hit their irons, but what if they could only bring one or two of those to the course for a PGA Tour event?
It would lead to an exciting and intriguing tournament, that’s for sure! It would also be interesting to see how good the scoring would be.
And also, what would their strategies be? Would there be more laying up to distances, or would you still see the pros going for it in two on par-5s?
Obviously, they would choose a putter and a driver or 3-wood, but what else would go in their bags for the week? Maybe a 5-iron, 9-iron and wedge for bunker shots and around the greens?
I would absolutely love to see this, and I would watch every single shot. It would be great fun, and maybe we could take some tips from the pros as well for when our own clubs do 3, 4 and 5-club challenges.
Can Andy Sullivan break 80 with just ONE club?@andysulligolf | #TheOneClubRound pic.twitter.com/06i8oXdK8N
— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) November 3, 2023
A nice idea, but let’s think about this…
I’m not saying I wouldn’t watch a 5-club professional event because it would be fun, writes Matt Chivers, but for how long?
Let’s just imagine Jon Rahm takes out a driver, a 6-iron, a 9-iron, a lob wedge and a putter.
What difference would this actually make to his round? If he smashes a driver down each par 4, a 9-iron would probably cover him with any approach up to about 160 yards.
If he’s on a par 5, he could knock his tee shot to perhaps 190-200 yards out. A 6-iron/5-iron could be easily worked into the green.
One long iron and one short iron should cover him on the par-5s too.
Perhaps the current form of this idea is flawed. We might need to ban putters, or bring it down to three clubs to properly test the players.
I’m not saying no but I’m saying let’s think about this. There’s something there for sure.
NOW READ: NCG talk about Andy Sullivan on The Slam Podcast!
Do you think a 5 club golf competition could make it on tour? Tell us on X!
