Tiger Woods Says Golf Ball Needs to Be Changed, Pros Hitting It Too Far

Tiger Woods believes golf officials need to make changes to the ball because players on the PGA Tour are able to hit it too far.

Speaking to Connecticut women's basketball head coach Geno Auriemma on the Holding Court with Geno Auriemma podcast (via ESPN.com), Woods explained hitting the ball as far as golfers do is causing courses to get longer:

"We need to do something about the golf ball. I just think it's going too far, because we're having to build golf courses, if they want to have a championship venue, they've got to be 7,400 to 7,800 yards long.

"And if the game keeps progressing the way it is with technology, I think the 8,000-yard golf course is not too far away. And that's pretty scary because we don't have enough property to start designing these type of golf courses and it just makes it so much more complicated."

Woods helped usher in the current long-distance style that he's talking about. Neil Greenberg of the Washington Post wrote five years ago that up until Woods' knee surgery in April 2008 he never finished lower than 12th in driving distance on the PGA Tour. 

As the 41-year-old continues to work toward his return from back surgery last April, Woods told Auriemma he's seeing a lot more distance on his shots. 

"I can't believe how far I'm hitting the golf ball," he said. "I'm back to hitting it my full numbers [yardages] and not really trying to do that."

Woods hasn't played in a tournament since back spasms forced him to withdraw from the Dubai Desert Classic in February. He announced his return to competitive golf would come at the Hero World Challenge starting on Nov. 30.