Australian PGA Royal Pines: Cameron Champ, Ryan Fox battle for longest drive
Two of the biggest hitters in golf went toe-to-toe in a longest drive shootout at Royal Pines as playing partners Ryan Fox and Cameron Champ jostled for bragging rights.
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Kiwi Ryan Fox turned Beast-mode to crunch his golf ball well past 300m to briefly dethrone American power-hitter Cameron Champ as the long-drive king at Royal Pines.
Even the burly New Zealander appreciated it was a brief reign because he gave a fascinating insight into the coiled, easy power of the athletic American.
Playing partner Champ was back in command on the par five ninth with a wind-assisted 340m drive that left him with just a wedge to the green. Crazy length.
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The obliging Champ is a regulation 1.83m tall yet he indulged all those inquisitive about his driving power by teeing it up for the TrackMan golf radar technology on the first tee at Wednesday’s pro-am.
It recorded his club speed at an eye-popping 205km per hour when he ripped a 308m drive for fun with his strong gluts providing a power move.
Fox is like a magnet to a fridge when he spots a TrackMan on course and he recorded a 319m drive, with superior efficiency, when under the radar.
For Fox, there is something more impressive than Champ’s pure distance that has helped generate two PGA Tour wins already.
“It was actually impressive how straight he hit it, just the lack of shape. It’s a really penetrating ball flight and you can see why he’s become a world class player,” Fox said.
“I got him on 11 and 12 (with longer drives), so I’ll take that (because) it’s two more than I expected to get for the week.
“I kind of want to egg him on and see what he’s really got but I don’t know him well enough yet so maybe Friday we might.”
Golf fans have always been besotted by driving power from those days when John Daly coined his “grip it and rip it” mantra to Bubba Watson and modern monster ballers like Dustin Johnson.
Young Western Australian Min Woo Lee, just 21, is another who smokes his drives enormous distances and he even outdid Champ on the ninth.
Champ said the mapping of his swing DNA through the TrackMan software was a highly effective tool.
With hard data, it showed him that a lower ball flight best served him.
“I don’t really try to hit it high anymore. I figured out I hit a lot less fairways when I do that and it goes just as far with a lower shot launch with extra roll,’ Champ said.
Champ (71) is handily placed, despite some errant approach shots, but will likely have to deal with Friday’s unpredictable afternoon breezes to stay that way for a weekend assault.
* Watch Cameron Champ and Ryan Fox here with a full TrackMan report on two of golf’s longest drivers.
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