First of all, I was so happy to see Phil Mickelson win The Open Championship this weekend. Phil comes across as the most genuine, humble and fan-centric player among the elite, and is a role model for how the younger guns should embrace the unbelievable opportunity they have to play this game for a living. And after his heart-breaking loss at the U.S. Open last month, he just deserved this, in my mind at least.

Muirfield was certainly a different kind of test than was presented by Merion. That fast track could not have been a starker contrast to the soft conditions last month. But what struck me as most interesting about these two events is how Phil chose to forego a driver in his bag, so that he could carry five wedges. Getting more accuracy in prime scoring range, at the cost of a very few yards off the tee paid off. And he was only a swing or two, a putt or two, away from having both Open trophies in his case right now.

So that begs the question – Could the driver be rendered obsolete on the PGA Tour? If other courses began to make the players choose accuracy over distance it sure could. At most routine tour events, the rough is not that punishing and the fairways are generous, so these guys can bomb it out there as far as they can, hitting not more than 55-65% of the fairways and still shoot lights out. But what if they took something more like the Merion or Muirfield route? What if fairways averaged something under 24 yards in width, rough was penalizing and bunkers were nasty places you do not want to be? What if something around par or a few under for 72 holes became the norm, and 15-25 under par became very, very rare?

Would television audiences fade? Do they just want to see these guys light it up? Or do they want to see them work hard for pars ... like most of us have to?

But back to the driver question. Phil is carrying a pretty hot 3-wood, about 13.5 loft and 43" or more in length. That's really close to driver specs of a few decades ago. But with the technology in the club, shaft and ball, and the bigger athlete now playing the game, is anything more really required? I would bet the average recreational golfer of 8 handicap or higher would hit a club like that further on average and much straighter than they do their current driver. And 5-irons from the fairway are much easier shots than 6- or 7-irons from the rough.

The other advantage of dropping the driver is that you can carry more scoring clubs, to give you more options and improved precision in scoring range.

So, why don't you guys all weigh in on these two questions?

1. What would happen to your scores if you dropped your driver?


2. Would television golf be just as exciting if these guys did the same?

Terry Koehler is "The Wedge Guy" and President of SCOR Golf- The Short Game Company.

Click here to learn more about Terry.