Sign up for our daily newsletter

Want latest news, reviews, analysis, deals, and events, and offers from our commercial partners? We’ve got you.

Greg Norman has said that the iron and wedge play of some of the world’s best players is ‘quite amazingly poor’.

Speaking in an interview with CNN, the two-time major champion bemoaned players’ quality from 150 yards and in, especially considering that they’re hitting the ball further than they used to.

“If you look at today’s top players, their distance control inside 150 yards with a wedge is quite amazingly poor,” said Norman, who spent a total of 331 weeks at world No.1 in the 80s and 90s.

“These guys are 20ft short, 30ft left, 20ft long – their distance control is not consistent. It could just be the way they play – when it works, it works and when it doesn’t, it doesn’t.

“In our era, every time you’d put a pitching wedge in your hand, if you didn’t think you’d get the ball inside 10ft every time, or seven out of ten times, you weren’t having any control over your golf game.”

Patrick Reed1

Norman also criticised five-time PGA Tour winner Patrick Reed for his inability to recognise that he’d been playing the wrong club set-up for weeks.

Reed’s approach-play statistics and general form had dipped significantly throughout 2017 before he realised his irons had been off by up to two-and-a-half degrees.

“You read about stuff like Patrick Reed,” Norman continued. “How the hell can you take a brand new set of golf clubs out on to the course without even knowing that the lie angle was bad, the divots, the ball flight or anything?

“That blows my mind and he’s a top player. We knew our games so well, we knew our equipment so well.”

More Reads

Image Turnberry green

The bunkered Golf Course Guide - Scotland

Now, with bunkered, you can discover the golf courses Scotland has to offer. Trust us, you will not be disappointed.

Find Courses

Latest podcast

The PLAYERS Championship