A new breed of golfer is leading the way on the greens – tall, lean and incredibly in shaped. Dustin Johnson (6’4”, 190lbs), Gary Woodland (6’1”, 195) and of course legendary Tiger Woods (6’2”) are long hitters profiled in today’s New York Times sports section. Johnson and Woodland are just a few of golfers on the circuit who have embraced athletic conditioning to increase power, finesse and confidence on the greens.
Woods is credited with starting this movement of “elite-level conditioning” following his bought with knee problems several years ago. Appearing ripped and shirtless on the cover of Vanity Fair, many marveled at the new physique wondering how the previously soft-looking Tiger transformed himself to a perfect da Vinci David state (we won’t even get into Balco).
Basketball players are now taking to the greens and even Woods thinks the influx is a major change for the sport. “We are finally going to get athletes, guys who can dunk, guys who could have played baseball, or could have played football at the D-I level.” Woods playing challenges on a personal level aside, it will be interesting to see how he comes face to face with this new reality this weekend at the Palmer Invitational.
