“Big hitters like Dustin Johnson use a strong grip, and if you went to a Tour practice range, eight out of 10 holds would be strong ones. It's a sea change. Those Vs that used to point at the right side of the chest?

“So clearly there is a Goldilocks zone here to be found, a balance where your golfing performance matters to you, but it doesn't matter too much. But how do you find it? Back in 1981, Timothy Gallwey wrote one of the best ever books on golfing psychology – the Inner Game of Golf.

“I love watching Anthony Kim play, but I'm not a fan of the way he grips down a good two inches on his full-swing shots. Choking down lightens the club's swingweight and effectively makes the shaft stiffer.

“Slowly but surely, Michael Campbell is falling back in love with golf after quitting the game less than 10 years after becoming a major champion,” and more surprisingly I had to learn this through the Scottish media in the shape of Martin Dempster at the The Scotsman.

“The price is $25,000 if you sign up before June 30 of the year preceding the January event ($29,000 for latecomers).” This news and information comes from Joe Passov’s, ‘The ultimate bucket list: 6 things every golf fanatic must do’ And by the way the $25,000 is tax

‘Ignoring the ball made me a better putter almost immediately—by 20 percent, according to my friend Tony,’ so writes David Owen in his article, ‘Why Jordan Spieth and I Look at the Hole on Putts’

Putting problems personified

‘Sergio Garcia, noted killjoy, has taken all the fun out of the Best Player Never To Win a Major debate.

“This topic is the definition of dead horse,” writes Sin Palabras commenting at Geoff Shackelford’s blog, ‘Rory Ready For Quail Hollow? Averages 328.7 At Firestone’.

The dead horse issue

There was kind of slow moving devastation to the last few years of The System that caught many of us by surprise.

The final blows came in the last half of 2017, when winter was upon us and the fields were covered with snow.

‘Jordan Spieth's secret weapon at Birkdale? Gum-chewing. Can it help your game, too? Writes Josh Sens who also asks, “But do positive claims about gum-chewing stand up to closer scrutiny?’

Time for a new piece perhaps?