Brooke Henderson (Canada), who won the opening match of the 2023 season of the LPGA Tour, said that she suffered a lot of “long hit stress” last year. Henderson, who used to use a 48-inch driver, had to change to a 46-inch driver as golf rules restricting club length to 46 inches. It must have been very difficult for him to adapt to the sudden 메이저놀이터 change, as he used to hold a long club and hit it short. In fact, Henderson, who ranked 9th in slugging with 274.28 yards in 2021, also dropped his slugging ranking to 25th as his drive shot average distance decreased to 267.08 yards last year.

However, Henderson jumped from 14th in 2021 to 4th last year in the money rankings. It may be because his slugging ranking has deteriorated, but his putting ranking has improved in reverse. He went from 113th in average putts in 2021 (30.60) to 71st in 2022 (29.95). In fact, Henderson was a player who received a lot of ‘putting stress’ rather than shot distance.

Whether pros or amateurs, long hitting and putting are forever homework to solve. While there are golfers who have a lot of worries about long hits, there are also golfers who complain that if they follow their putting skills, they will be able to score good scores every day. So, is the long hitting stress greater? Or is the putting stress greater? Most golfers will have a lot to say about this question.

In general, it is said that weekend golfers get a lot of stress because of long hits, and professional golfers because of putting. Among weekend golfers, Ha-su is more stressed on putting with long hits, and the more skilled he is.

Among LPGA players, there is a player who suffers from ‘putting stress’ as much as Henderson. It is ‘Power Woman’ Lexi Thompson (USA). Thompson, who makes a stronger impact than anyone else when swinging, is a representative player with a high iron shot hit rate as well as long hitting power. Last year alone, it ranked 8th in long hits (272.84 yards) and 2nd in green hit rate (77.22%), and in 2021, it also ranked 4th in long hits (278.35 yards) and 1st in green hits (78.81%), showing off its overwhelming ability in both areas. However, putting is 131st in 2021 (average of 30.83 per round) and 107th in 2022 (30.35), which seldom enters the top 100. Perhaps the reason she hasn’t won since the Shoprite LPGA Classic in June 2019 is because of her poor putting ability. Putting is extremely stressful for him and a conundrum that seems impossible to solve forever.

Bernhard Langer (Germany), the ‘Golf Emperor of the Senior Tour’, said that he was extremely stressed out a long time ago because of his putting yips. This putting grip, there is nothing I haven’t changed that putting grip. Fortunately, he got out of the putting mouth by using a long putter and from a certain moment became the best player on the senior tour.

Of course, there are players who show the best ability in putting but have long hitting stress. Representative players are New Zealand compatriots Lydia Ko and Kim Hyo-Joo.

Last season, Lydia Ko and Kim Hyo-joo ranked 90th and 91st, respectively, in the drive shot distance category. Lydia Ko sent 255.34 yards and Kim Hyo-joo 255.32 yards. However, in the putting ranking, the two form an ‘ovoid problem’ in a good way. In both 2021 and 2022, Lydia Ko was second in putting, and Kim Hyo-joo was third in putting, right behind. Both of them will definitely stress more on long hits than on putts. But seeing as both players won last year, they seem less stressed than either Henderson or Thompson.

Bryson Dishambeau (USA), who once took on a bold challenge to hit 400 yards, recently announced that he would no longer pursue long hits. After being reborn as a long hitter by extremely increasing his weight and speeding up his swing speed, DeChambo, who rose to the PGA Long Hitting King in 2021, was ruined by excessive experimentation, and eventually decided to give up the challenge, saying, “I realized the limitations of my body and equipment.” In fact, he could also be said to have been a ‘long hit innovator’ who DeChambeau was, but a severely ‘long hit stressed’ player. Now he has declared that he will be free from that stress.

Unlike professional golfers, weekend golfers tend to take more stress on long hits than on putting. If you can hit it far, 3 putts is no problem at all. Besides, there’s probably no shot that gives you as many excuses as putting. If that doesn’t work, it’s enough to say that your hands are shaking after drinking last night, that you’re not used to your hands after you changed to a new putter, that you twisted the green too much, etc. However, there is not much reason to find out other than the ‘ancestor’s fault’ that he was born short and weak.

If you ask weekend golfers what the best sport in the world is, nine out of ten will say golf. Also, if you ask which sport gives the most stress, nine times out of ten they will answer golf. And if you ask what’s the most stressful part of a round of golf, nine times out of ten they’ll say it’s the distance of the driver. If a professional golfer gets more stress from putting than a long hit, weekend golfers have nothing more or less than ‘long hit stress’.