Bjerregaard, Beem and Balls

There were fears before the start of the UBS Hong Kong Open that the Composite Course at Fanling might not be up to scratch after its recent typhoon battering. Those fears proved to be totally unfounded as another brilliant championship reached its denouement with a gripping head-to-head battle. We were joined in the commentary box all week by former US PGA Champion Rich Beem who'd generously surrendered his place in the field to allow Ian Poulter to achieve his required minimum of 13 tournaments on the European Tour and thus still be qualified for Ryder Cup selection next year. He'd unexpectedly dropped out of the world's top 50 at the crucial moment and was therefore no longer eligible to play in the HSBC Champions. European fans will certainly be hoping that the team's talisman will be worthy of selection when the time comes next year. Beem meanwhile demonstrated why he has become a firm favourite on Sky Sports' golf coverage this year. He does not come out of a mould, in the way most modern golfers do. His life has been rich with eccentricity. He has a charming, self-deprecating wit and a delightful turn of phrase as exemplified by: "If I had Justin Rose's swing and he had a feather duster, we'd both be tickled."

We saw many great shots during the week, but perhaps the most extraordinary belonged to the runner-up Lucas Bjerregaard in the final round. Having just three-putted the par 3 eighth to drop back into a tie with Rose at 16-under, he mishit his tee shot on the composite ninth, a par-5 for the members but a par-4 for the pros. He was short and left off the tee and totally blocked out by the tall paper-bark trees. With 236 yards to the flag he hit an enormous high hook with a 5-iron, swerving thirty yards in the air, to land softly 15 feet from the pin. He promptly made the birdie putt on the hardest hole on the course, while Rose made bogey. Taking a two-shot lead into the back nine he looked the favourite at that point. It wasn't to be, but a man who is greatly respected by his peers as a golfer and as a thoroughly good bloke can't be far away from his debut win.

It was shots like that, that reminded me of a conversation with the R&A's David Rickman during the recent Presidents Cup. Rickman is the Chairman of the R&A Rules Committee and a decent man. We were talking about the marker that the R&A had put down in 2002, stating that the distance the ball travelled at that point was as far as they wanted to see it go. He assured me that there is no agenda to bodge that, but in the R&A's view statistics show that there is no significant change between now and then. Lies, damned lies and statistics. He feels that if the pros are hitting the ball further now it is down to their increased strength and fitness. Justin Rose is a fit young man, but fitter and stronger than Arnold Palmer or Jack Nicklaus or Gary Player? Rose recently put the latest TaylorMade driver in his bag and immediately recorded an extra 10 or 15 yards on his drives. At Fanling he was flying the ball 310 to 320 yards and even managed 290 yards into a stiff breeze. That's "carry". On firm fairways they were running out to 350 yards or more. The trouble is he's not a one-off. This is now commonplace amongst a significant number of players. As someone who has been out on the fairways on a regular basis for the last 25 years I can assure the R&A that the ball just keeps on going further and further. If the authorities don't act soon courses like the wonderful set-up at Fanling will simply become obsolete.

It's time for the game's governing bodies to remove their hands from beneath their bottoms and take meaningful action; get out of the "boffinery" and come and see what's happening on the course. They've tinkered with the grooves which has made negligible difference. The new 2016 edition of the Rules confirms their decision to ban "anchoring", which affects a small minority of players. Nicklaus and Palmer and many other former greats have, for years, implored the USGA and R&A to take action on the ball. Now is the time. The zeitgeist demands it.