Tuesday, August 06, 2002
321.4-yard drives take golfer only so far
By Harry Blauvelt
USA TODAY
Victor Schwamkrug is pro golf's Arnold Schwarzenegger. The Buy.com Tour player muscles his drives to mind-boggling distances.
He's been called “The Blond Bomber” and “Rocket Man.” At 6-0, 190, he's not huge, but he loves to play long ball.
Schwamkrug leads the Buy.com Tour in driving distance at 321.4 yards a shot. John Daly tops the PGA Tour at 305.3.
“It comes real natural to me,” says Schwamkrug, 25. “It's partly God-given ability. I understand what makes a golf ball go far.”
He drilled 32 consecutive drives 300 or more yards earlier this year. Of his 88 measured drives, 70 have traveled at least 300 yards.
His longest is a 390-yarder. He's hit so many out of sight, he can't remember where. He thinks it was at a tournament in Dayton, Ohio, or Knoxville, Tenn.
“If I swing as hard as I can, I can carry about 330 in the air,” he says. “That particular shot was a little bit downwind, and it hit a hard spot in the fairway. It probably carried 345 to 350 in the air and rolled.”
Schwamkrug impresses his peers, even those who don't take a back seat to anyone when it comes to drilling tape-measure drives.
“Victor is extremely long,” Buy.com Tour player Tom Carter says. “As far as Victor is concerned, everybody is infatuated with length. Everybody loves the long ball.”
Carter should know. He set the Buy.com record last year at 312.0. He's ninth this year at 302.4.
“I'm trying to hit more fairways,” Carter says. “Hit fairways. And when you have a chance to take advantage of length, let one fly.”
Stiles Mitchell, 6-2, 280, says when he first came on tour, he was probably a little longer off the tee than Schwamkrug. Mitchell is second this year at 311.3.
“Victor is very athletic and strong, and he's a good player,” says Mitchell, who led the tour in 1998 and '99. He might swing a little too hard to make a living at it.”
Schwamkrug is learning that big hitters don't always win big bucks.
“You still have to shoot a number to win,” he says. “You don't have to hit the ball that long to do it. If that was the case, I'd win every event.”
He's 101st on the money list with $18,588. He tied for 10th at the Fort Smith Classic earlier this month, his only top-10 finish.
He started slowly, missing eight consecutive cuts early in 2002. He's made five of his last seven.
“The long drive will always be there for me,” Schwamkrug says. “I'm just trying to improve in all aspects. I need experience. I'm trying to get some good finishes.”
But the long ball is his trademark. He says hitting it prodigious distances depends on the perfect confluence of strength, clubhead speed, launch angle, swing plane and other technical skills.
“It's all tied together,” he says.
Driving distances on the Buy.com Tour might be somewhat longer than the PGA Tour for several reasons, including a younger player demographic, which translates to a more aggressive style.
Freewheeling golf is not so penalizing on many Buy.com courses. PGA Tour courses generally put more of a premium on precision.
And the PGA Tour is Schwamkrug's goal. His name sounds like a good German wine, but he's a Texan through and through.
He's a native of Baytown, which is east of Houston. He took up the game at 12 and played at the University of Houston, graduating in 1999.
He played the Buy.com Tour in 2000 and the Tight Lies Tour in Texas in '01. He's played four PGA Tour events, two as an amateur, two as a pro. Best finish: tie for 43rd at the 1999 Reno-Tahoe Open.
Schwamkrug was a skinny kid, but he could always launch the ball. He says he could add another 30 yards, using the proper swing and getting stronger. But he knows straighter is more important now.
Nevertheless, his ability to hit a ball out of sight makes him a lightning rod for attention.
Schwamkrug draws a crowd, even if he isn't in contention. The big hitters are big box office.
Word gets around when he's on the tee and ready to crank one.
“All of a sudden, I'll get 30 or 60 fans following me,” he says. “I enjoy being able to entertain a crowd. I like people to have fun.”
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321.4-yard drives take golfer only so far