Sergio 200 yard 9 iron?!

[4ringslvr]

Is this insane to anyone else? How is this guy hitting a 9 iron 200 yards? Hit a 322 yard drive then had 201 to the hole and pulled a 9 iron. made it on the green but left it well short of the hole, maybe he shouldve stepped up to the 8...

[JaY_B]

It all depends on the conditions really, don't believe that he hits his 9 Iron 200 yards on average.

Also if it was 200 to the pin and he left it well short it probably would of travelled a yardage closer to 170

[Dent]

Also would be good to consider the wind. could have been a tremendous wind.

[Left Is Right]

There would have to be a few favorable conditions for me to hit a 200 yard 9i

1) Severely down hill- I'm talking like a couple hundred feet, like hitting off a 5 story building

2) Downwind like a category 2 hurricane going with me

If those were the conditions id pull out a 9i

[michaeljames92]

it probably wasnt a 9 iron. half of the time the commentators just guess anyway. i saw that shot and thought it was a little strange.

[Guest]

Well he left it like 30 yards short, recevied some roll out. It was a safe decision because he had water long and it was his second shot into the par 5 green. Takes the water out of the equation, plus he drawed it away from water on right aswell adding some distance to the 9 iron. So this was nothing amazing.

[nevets88]

I remember in a Golf Channel Academy, John Cook smirked that the announcers way overdo the club selections. I'm sure Garcia can get the ball out there, but I bet the announcers/producers do it with ratings in mind.

[GOLFSALOT00]

no way hit hit a nine iron the announcers mess up somtimes

[Shindig]

Well, he left it short: so let's say he was within 10 yards (I didn't see the shot offhand), so that's 190.

The winds today were high, IIRC. Let's say 25 mph? That's 2.5 clubs right there.

Was it downhill? That might be a club or club and a half.

So, although I didn't see the shot, and I'm going just by the descriptions I've read, I think it's feasible. That 9-iron had as much as +3 to +4 clubs to it from other factors, making it go the distance of a 6- or 5-iron. Sergio, 5-iron, 200 yards? Sure, no problem.

[907golfer12]

No the announcers said that he was hitting a 6 iron, not a 9 iron

[iacas]

No the announcers said that he was hitting a 6 iron, not a 9 iron

No, they said 9-iron. They expressed dis-belief and the guy said "it's not got a lot of loft" (and later corrected himself to say he meant to say it's got a lot of loft).

[hawkeye]

I can believe it. Playing downwind I've taken out a pitching wedge from 185 yards. And hit it 190. And i'm just a club amateur. I don't work out!

Oh and the commentators are usually seasoned (ex) pros - they know what a 9iron looks like by looking at it at address.

[OHS1Golfer]

yea he left it short of the hole 10 yards so 190..minus the 45 mph gusting wind is about 170, downhill is about 160. so its normal. ive seen adam scott hit a 230 yard 7 iron. under the same conditions tho.

[DavidFehertysBike]

I could see a guy like Garcia being able to hit a strong 9 170 in the air if he really wacked it, but to think he was trying to hit a 200 yd pin with a 9 is just ridiculous....

[mellojoe]

I'm a golf newbie, and a bit ignorant although still learning.

However, wouldn't he use a shorter iron if he was trying to avoid over hitting it and landing in the water on that hole? From 200 yards out, I'm still comfortable grabbing old-faithful, my 5-iron, and just trying to hit a solid shot not really caring about the distance. But a top-tier pro would probably grab a small iron, and therefore take that small worry out of the back of his head about that water trap, and just be able to swing smoothly and confidently. One less hazard is one less worry.

So, if you can hit your 9-iron 170 yards fairly comfortably, then why not? If you've got green to play with, swing away and let it roll. You know its not going into the water.

[kafka01]

I think the wind was the biggest influence in this shot, maybe he had a little downhills stance (cant remember the shot exactly) too - so yeah i guess its possible to hit it that far.

At the Masters when Tiger pushed his drive right into the trees on 18 and had like 180 left, the commentators said, he would take a 8iron and take over the trees - he got there, but i´m pretty sure thats not his "normal 8iron" - more like 110% just to get it high enough to get it out.

P.S. I looked it up and Tigers 8iron is around 158 so he really had to step on it...

[mn723]

I once knocked it on the green from over 200 out with an 8 iron (Tommy Armour 855 that had 40 degrees loft). A good full shot with that club would go 155 under normal conditions. It was downwind from a very nice flyer lie in the rough. It wasn't downhill either, so I don't doubt that Sergio could do it with a 9 iron.

[meeks7]

He most likely hit a stinger...he probably actually flew the ball closer to 180 and it rolled out