General / Ralph Ellis / 05 January 2010 /

Top golfers will be playing a different game this year after changes were made to the grooves they can use on high irons. Who will feel the effects the most? Ralph Ellis ponders that question

Like most amateur golfers, every blue moon I can hit a drive that goes straight and a decent distance. Sometimes I can float the ball beautifully out of a bunker while the sand flies in all directions. Every now and then I can even sink a putt from longer than two feet away from the hole.

But there's one thing I can never do, and that's spin the ball back after getting it to land on the green. It's the one skill I marvel at when watching the pros, an admiration I suspect the vast majority of Sunday morning hackers will share.

So I want to know just how big a difference it will make now both the PGA and European tours have brought in new rules to outlaw the clubs that make backspin easier. I don't begin to understand the physics behind it. Far greater technological brains than mine - which actually means not very great at all - have worked out the dynamics of changes to the type of grooves allowed on the club face of the higher irons. But I do know there are genuine concerns among the players about what the changes will mean.

The most obvious effect will be that landing the ball on a sixpence then spinning back towards the hole will become almost impossible, even for the top stars, when they are in deep rough. That in turn is designed to discourage some of the big hitters on tour who have been able to blaze away huge drives without the slightest concern about where the ball ended up because their recovery would always be good enough.

As the first major tournaments of the new decade begin on Thursday, it's an issue highlighted by the Daily Mail's Derek Lawrenson today. And as he says, it won't be good news for Padraig Harrington or Phil Mickelson. They have been among the leaders in the modern craze of swapping accuracy for distance.

But it will help some of those who drive decent distances but regularly hit fairways. Suddenly they are going to have an advantage around the greens that the equipment had until now been nullifying.

Lee Westwood, dramatic last day winner of the Race to Dubai last year, will be one of those to benefit, making him even better value at [5.4] favourite to repeat the achievement. And both Paul Casey and Ross Fisher will also be helped.

We'll see just how much difference the new rules make when the SBS Championship tees off in Hawaii this week, and Casey, just recovered from the side strain injury which spoiled the end of his season, could be worth following at [26.0].

Of course if anybody will suffer it will be Tiger Woods. Nobody has driven longer and then hit more recovery shots. Ah well, his return to the game at some time will be difficult enough anyway, given the publicity he'll have to handle He might conclude he's got enough spinning to do already!

Five things you might not know about Paul Casey

1. He was born in Cheltenham in July 1977, but moved to Surrey aged six where his dad got him into golf at the Foxhills club

2. A promising batsman with the cricket team at posh Hampton School, he turned down an offer to join Surrey County Cricket club.

3. He and wife Jocelyn celebrated their first wedding anniversary yesterday - they got married in Arizona - although it was cut short because Paul flew to Hawaii for the SBS tournament

4. He's nicknamed 'Popeye' because of his giant forearms - and has a dog called "Coolwhip"

5. A keen fan of indie music, he's also got U2's Where the Streets have no Name and New Order's Blue Monday at the top of his iTunes playlist

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