If you managed to catch the Driving Relief skins game this weekend then you got to see 4 very different golf swings, starting with the more conventional swing of Rory Mcilroy to the very unconventional swing of the young PGA tour winner Matt Wolff. From the get go many said that Matt and Rickie were up against it facing off against a pair that have a combined 38 PGA tour wins to Wolff and Fowler's slim 6. Despite the numbers the match was set to be a good one, Wolff's stellar college career puts him up there with the likes of Tiger Woods, a guy that's been known to have a few wins over the years. Whilst Rickie, the guy that has arguably one of the biggest followings on tour has been known to rise to the occasion.
It was quite refreshing to see the pro's go back to their amateur roots, stand bags, carrying and range finders. No caddy's, no spectators, just raw golf like the weekend warrior. At first it took a little getting used to even for me, the match seemed to have no atmosphere but I had to watch it. The attraction for most people seemed to be the power game, with 3 of the PGA tour's longest hitters we wanted to see who was best when they faced off. Rory Mcilroy finished 2nd in driving distance last season with an average drive of 313 yards, Dustin Johnson finished 4th and only 1 yard shy of Rory with 312 yards. Matt Wolff on the other hand clocked in at an average of 310 yards off the tee so far this season so there really isn't much in it at all. Let's not forget that Rickie Fowler is no short hitter, last season his average drive was 303 yards but compared to his playing partners this seems short. It looked as though Rory was showing his dominance from the tee at Seminole, he was the last player to hit on most occasions as many of us expected. However on the 6th hole after Rory had just bombed one center fairway we saw a young Matt Wolff step up and carry his ball by possibly 20 yards. This being one example of the power that Wolff has in his locker, to outdrive Rory Mcilroy by 20 yards is impressive to say the least.
It's not just the long game that's impressive with Matt Wolff, his putting is something that is rarely talked about. Last season he made 91% of putts inside 10 feet, that's a pretty impressive stat! Like I have said before, the game has been trending to a long hitters game for years now, every year we see the average driving distance go up and the age of PGA tour winners go down. Kids are coming straight out of college with a game that can hold up against the world's best on the PGA tour and Matthew Wolff has already shown that with his win at the 3M Open last year. So it's fair to say the future is bright for the Oklahoma State graduate. Overall though, it's fair to say that Rory showed his dominance from the tee and in his overall game, nobody could have noticed that he had 40 days off prior to the event, so that shows his class. With that being said Mcilroy and DJ won the match like many had anticipated and the foursome raised an impressive $5.5 million to support the current crisis. All in all it was great to have golf back on the TV - stay healthy, stay safe.
Mick
