How Has Golf Changed During The 21st Century

Perhaps it’s my age that causes me to wonder where time has gone. It only seems like yesterday that we were all worried about what was going to happen to our computer systems when the clock struck midnight to herald the start of the 21st century. And now here we are, almost 25 years later.

So what has changed in the sport of golf in that time?

Emergence of LIV Golf

A great deal, as it turns out. Even all those years ago, Greg Norman was talking about his desire to see a world golf tour. We saw the introduction of the World Golf Championships series but that was never going to be enough to satisfy Norman. Little did we know what lay in store for us with the launch of LIV Golf, which has ripped the professional game apart.

Tiger Woods

In the year 2000, Tiger Woods was dominating the game in the same way that Scottie Scheffler is now. He won the US Open, The Open and the US PGA, and the following April he would win The Masters to become the first man to hold all four major titles at the same time. Woods was regularly breaking the heart of Phil Mickelson.

New Major Winners

We also saw Graeme McDowell win the US Open at Pebble Beach, Justin Rose also claim the US Open at Merion and Luke Donald and Lee Westwood topping the world rankings without ever winning a major between them. 

Rory McIlroy

There was the emergence of Rory McIlroy. In no time at all he had won the US Open, the US PGA (twice) and The Open. It was widely predicted that he would easily win at least 10 majors but 10 years after his last success we are still waiting for number five.

Fall & Comeback of Woods

(Image Credit: Kevin Diss Photography)

Woods has spent much of the 21st century making headlines for the wrong reasons. There was his infidelity for starters, and then his body began to fail him and he was arrested after police found him behind the wheel of his car in no condition to drive. He was duly arrested. It seemed that he had hit an all-time low. 

He was stuck on 14 majors for 11 years after winning the US Open in 2008 while nursing a broken leg. There were endless surgeries and comebacks. 

And then came the miraculous back fusion. First of all we witnessed extraordinary scenes as he won The Tour Championship at East Lake in 2018 - earlier that same year he had briefly led The Open at Carnoustie. And then came The Masters at Augusta National in 2019. There was scarcely a dry eye in the house as Woods strode to victory and his 15th major.

Nothing is ever straightforward in the life of Tiger Woods though. He nearly lost his life in a horrific car crash in Los Angeles in 2021 and has spent the past three-and-a-half years trying to get back to fitness. Sadly, it looks like we now have to accept that his best days really are behind him.

Ryder Cup Drama

Was there ever a more thrilling Ryder Cup than the one that unfolded at Medinah in 2012. Trailing 10-5 with just Ian Poulter and Rory McIlroy out on the course in the Saturday foubralls, Poulter produced a finish for the ages to give Jose Maria Olazabal’s European team a faint hope of an unlikely victory. But could they really win the trophy from 10-6 down? You bet they could. There were heroes everywhere you looked but none more so than Justin Rose, who stunned Mickelson with an incredible comeback, and Martin Kaymer, who raced his birdie putt on the 18th around six feet beyond the hole but then displayed nerves of steel to drain the return. Against all the odds, and with emotions running high, a team of European golfers stunned the Americans in their own backyard. There wasn’t a dry eye in the house.

British & Irish Interest

A host of British golfers have made their mark on the PGA Tour - no Englishman has won more titles than Rose. But what of Tyrrell Hatton, Aaron Rai and Harry Hall, to name just three?

One of my favourite tournaments of the 21st century was Shane Lowry winning The Open at Royal Portrush in 2019, all the more so because I had a little flutter on Lowry. That was the tournament that McIlroy, with the eyes of the golfing world upon him, began his opening round with an eight and failed to make the cut.

Driver/Ball Technology & Big Hitters

Technology continues to march on. Cameron Champ led the PGA Tour in driving distance in 2024 with an average of 321 yards, closely followed by Rory McIlroy on 320.2 yards. Marco Penge is the biggest hitter on the DP World Tour, averaging 324.83 yards. Remember that these are average figures. On both tours we have seen players hitting the ball 400 yards on occasion. Bryson DeChambeau recorded a tee shot of 405 yards at The Open in 2024 at Royal Troon - he averages more than 325 yards on the LIV Golf Tour.

It is interesting to note that both Champ and Penge have struggled despite the distance they hit the ball.

Club golfers have gained little or no distance since the turn of the century but two things are beyond dispute: today’s driver technology makes it easier to hit the ball but also means that wild drives are even more wayward. It is a fact that it is more difficult to control ball flight with today’s drivers.

As the top professionals continue to hit the ball ever further, the people who run the game have decided that enough is enough. Golf ball technology is going to change in order to restrict the distance the pros hit the ball. It will also trickle down to the club game. 

It was obvious that something had to be done. PGA Tour courses now routinely measure around 7,600 yards, with players easily able to hit 600-yard par fives in two blows. It was obvious that something had to give.

World Handicap System

Further attempts have been made to make the handicap system more equitable. The jury is still out on whether the World Handicap System has worked, but we have all now had to get used to something called the slope system. The rule makers have finally accepted that handicaps cannot possibly be the same for every course we play. Hallelujah!

The Golf Boom

We also saw a boom in playing numbers. Bizarrely, it took a worldwide pandemic to achieve it. After being locked up in our own homes for months, unable to mix and socialise with friends and family, when we were told that we could come out and play again a very strange thing happened - golf participation numbers went through the roof. All of a sudden golf courses were reporting full memberships and we saw the return of joining fees and, horror of horror, waiting lists. While some courses have closed, club golf appears to be in a pretty healthy place. There are even signs that the average age profile has fallen, if only slightly. And this boom has happened not only in Britain but across the world.

The Rules

The R&A and USGA continue to tinker with the rules. I remember when you had to drop a ball over your shoulder - now, we may as well be told that we can place it. We can ALL repair spikemarks and we can leave the pin in when we putt. However, we still have to play the ball as it lies if it finishes in a divot hole, and we also have to play it as it lies when we find our golf balls sitting in a footmark in unraked bunkers. Much has changed, but some things remain the same.

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