re: Without bad weather conditions the Open is the John Deere

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The roll back and equipment thing bothers me the most, people wanna act like the players have nothing to do with the distance and speed also. I've seen videos where they challenge pros to hit old persimmons and titaniums and they are still hitting it 20-30 yards past their past counterparts were then.

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I don't think even the most stringent roll back advocate would say that today's players are exactly the same as players from the early 1900s. However, the problem with today's equipment is more than just the fact that balls go longer. The sweet spot is way too big now. Players can swing as hard as they can, and the ball will still be relatively online. Bryson had a press conference in the last couple of years where he talks about how he is mishitting balls long and straight. I don't think limiting the ball does enough. They need to shrink driver heads, at least for the pros. MLB has wooden bats. I would be fine with bifurcation in golf. I know the equipment companies are heavily against it, though.

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The NFL didn't make the fields longer because everyone is faster and the cleats are better and the uniforms are more aerodynamic

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The big difference is that there are defenses that have this same technology to counter. There is no defense in golf other than the course. A better analogy is tennis. They had a problem with serves being too difficult to return. So, they changed the ball.

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You still just have to score lower the the other 150 guys in the tournament and that's the whole point.

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There is also enjoyment from viewing players challenged by the course. Watching driver - wedge all day loses it's appeal over time.

This has been a problem for golf since the early 1900s. It is not new. The difference now is that we are running out of historic courses that can hold these events. I would hate to get to a point where the Old Course cannot be used for Opens because players just bomb past all of the challenges.