José Manuel Lara: "Modern golf is a lot more boring"

José Manuel Lara and Sergio Garcia joke at the prize-giving for the HSBC Abu Dhabi Golf Championship in 2012 Photo Eoin Clarke/www.golffile.ie

Spain's José Manuel Lara is battling to get fit again after recent back surgery. But he took time off from his rehab to speak to Spanish golf portal Ten-golf.es about a range of subjects. The modern game? Well, he thinks it's pretty boring in general. 

Asked what he thought of the plethora of coaches on the range at tournaments, he said: "Uff, well it's the new school of golf — hard hitting by players who are very well prepared physically. But it's much more monotonous, much more boring, more direct. 

"It's a game of golf where you don't shape the ball, you hit it straight and the further it goes, the better... Today's fans are watching a different type of golf to when Seve played or the greats played the game. New technology has a lot to do with it, but it's not the same. 

"[Is it more boring?] Definitely. It's a lot more boring. Maybe I'm cutting the branch I am sitting on but it really is much more boring. The only player I see really having fun playing the game these days is Miguel [Angel Jiménez]; Pablo [Larrazabal] too because he has a lot of different shots in his locker.

"Sergio has fun simply because he hits it so well; Tiger and Rory too. There are maybe five or six players who really connect with the fans in that way, shaping the ball at the flag.

"Miguel loves shaping the ball. But players don't do that now. They go for the heart of the green or if they do go at the pin it's because they are only hitting pitching wedge because they hit the ball so far.

"Henrik Stenson? He's a great great guy, really funny and someone I've known since my amateur days. But he's more of a caveman because he plays a very physical game, He hits three wood, he putts well but he just hits it as hard as he can to take advantage because the courses are getting longer and longer. 

"They should design courses that are more intricate, more complex, with more trees. I have an idea for a course in my head — I can see the undulations and the vegetation — but it would have to be 6,700 metres long (7327 yards) with the distance guys hit the ball these days.

'They have lots of great course like that in America – Akron is a good course, for instance. But the problem is that the same guy wins all the time — it's designed for the number one."