[Hennybogan]

You've said quite a bit on ball flight already. What I'd like to know is:

1. As a good player, and as someone whose been around the tour, are there particular ballflights that work better in certain situations (besides the low wedges you mentioned earlier), and on tour setups in general?

2. Also, you always hear that the fade is "the preferred shot" for tour players and better players. Is that really the case? Is there much difference between a tour fade and a tour draw (ones that don't move a great deal), in yardage, spin and trajectory?

Bigwill,

2. Not much difference between the two. Most guys don,t curve it very much anyway. I'd say the tour mixture would be about even.

1. Absolutely. When the tour gets the course just how it wants it. When the greens go to a color I call purple (it's beyond brown), and the greens are so firm the first hop goes as high as a flagstick, The ability to hit the ball high with alot of spin rules the day. The guys that have that ability also tend to hit it really far.

When it is soft, the high launch--high spin guys can struggle to manage backspin. It is very difficult to get at back pins.

Then, you have the wind. You might think they all knock it down, or only the low hitters do well. Really it is the mixture of solid striking and great short game. They do tend to knock down the short irons, which are the hardest to control in a breeze.

So the ideal player is long with medium to high flight, with a great short game, and can't miss putting. You knew that already. The rest of the guys have to play that much better as a percentage of their abilities (get the most out of their games).