In 2002, professional golfers at Augusta National Golf Club will tee off from the usual championship tees, except for Tiger Woods and other black players, who will tee off from boxes several yards behind everyone else's.
At least that's what Charles Barkley would have you believe from his statement that Augusta's decision to lengthen a number of holes was blatantly racist. In an interview in Sports Illustrated last week, Barkley stated that the measures were meant only to prevent Woods from winning the Masters, as he has done twice before.
In his wholly inaccurate statement, Barkley claimed that the changes unfairly hurt Woods, because they took away one of his advantages: length. He also claimed that the alterations were clearly a racist move, as Jack Nicklaus won the Masters six times in a row, and no changes were made.
Barkley also criticized Woods for not speaking out about the changes, simply because he was afraid of being ridiculed. "I'm not afraid of being ridiculed," Barkley said.
It's true that the PGA and Augusta have not been free from racism. Far from it, in fact. Just ask Fuzzy Zoeller what he thinks about Woods, and you're likely to get a perfect example. The recent rule changes, however, are not reflective of past racist sentiments in the PGA.
Augusta did not decide to change the length of the holes for only Woods and other black players. Every golfer who steps to the tee at the next Masters will have to deal with the added length. Phil Mickelson, Ernie Els, Segio Garcia, and every other player will all have the burden of having to advance the ball an extra ten or 20 yards. How this will somehow affect Woods more than everybody else is beyond me.
But let's just say, for the sake of argument, that the changes are meant to take away the advantage of length. This would mean that the new changes are unfair to all players who rely heavily on their length off the tee. John Daly is known for little else besides a large gut and the ability to absolutely obliterate a golf ball. He averages about 18 and a half more yards per drive than Woods does. Would Barkley claim that the new changes discriminate against overweight people?
Davis Love III is another player renowned for a powerful driver. Maybe Augusta decided that it didn't want people with a III in their name to have an advantage at the course.
Woods himself readily admits that the changes were not directed specifically towards him. He also readily admits that his length off the tee is no longer as spectacular as it once was. True, he still leads or is among the leaders in average length off of the tee, but as younger players continue to develop their games and new technology becomes available his drive will become more and more average.
And how is it that adding length to an already lengthy course doesn't hurt the players who aren't known for their drives? Call me crazy, but I would think that if you already had trouble reaching a hole in two, the last thing you would want is an extra ten or 15 yards, even if it would lessen Woods' advantage.
If Augusta really wanted to hurt Tiger's game, they would have made the fairways more narrow and the greens smaller. Adding a few more yards to a hole that he could already easily reach is not going to significantly hinder his abilities to score well.
Unfortunately for Barkley, all his comments were successful in doing is showing a lack of knowledge of the sport. First, changes were made to the course while Jack Nicklaus was dominating the sport. Changes have been made to the course throughout its history. Every hole on the course has been changed since 1934. Additionally, one of the most significant changes came following Nicklaus' second Masters victory - a large double bunker in the landing area down the left side of the 18th fairway.
Adding length is nothing out of the ordinary, nor is it even remotely uncalled for. All players are hitting the ball longer than they ever have before.
To quote Tiger himself, "There are a lot of kids out there now in college golf and high school golf that hit the ball farther than I do. They're getting bigger and stronger, and the new technology is helping out."
Finally, if nothing else, Barkley's statement shows a lack of respect for possibly the greatest golfer of all time. To suggest that Tiger Woods' game is so one-dimensional as to be significantly hampered by increased length is almost insulting. Woods is not Daly, and he is not Love III. He is unlike any other golfer in history. He is the winner of four consecutive major tournaments, and adding yards to a course is not going to stop him from dominating the competition. He won in the nasty rough and blustery conditions of the British Open, where a powerful drive certainly does not guarantee a victory. The changes were not meant solely for Tiger Woods, and they will not solely affect Tiger Woods.
In the future, Barkley should considering thinking before making such public allegations.
