Gameplay is basically the same as it’s been for the past four or five years. The analog swing has been given the addition of a real time swing feedback monitor so you can get instant feedback on your swing plane. For those who play on the easier levels you can still affect the power and spin of the ball after it is struck with the control pad and you can get a read of the putting line and the swing stick is more forgiving; if you so desire you can even use the 3-click method from the late 90s.

If you play on Tour level difficulty none of those options are available and that is a blessing because the game is pretty easy. Those slick dynamic rating are going to be increasing most of the time for accuracy, power and short game. It’s just virtually impossible to miss a fairway unless you take too much club or try to hit a shot with a lot of movement on it—and the short game is as easy as ever. If my real life short game were this good I would be a low single digit handicap, it’s virtually impossible not to be good at the short game.

Ask any golfer for advice on putting and nine out of ten are going to tell you that when it comes down to it putting is more feel than anything else. Sure you read the putt, determine the distance and you need good putting technique, but how you strike the ball is about feel. For whatever reason, EA Sports is incapable or unwilling to improve on this part of the game.

Say you have a three foot putt—the game sets the putting distance to the appropriate length let’s say five feet. That means you need to take the club back almost all the way, and when you watch that animation on screen it seems like you’re going to hit that putt 80 feet; it’s even looks worse if you have a four to ten inch tap in. It doesn’t feel right, it looks absolutely horrible and it just doesn’t work. It’s time for EA to step up to the plate and deliver a putting system that reflects your characters animated stroke on the screen. Essentially EA has taken the most important part of the golf game and reduced it to the lowest rung on the development ladder.

The rest of the play on the course feels appropriate once you get your skills up and your clubs tuned. Wind, lie and slope play the appropriate factors and aren’t overdone. My only complaint is the shots from the rough seem a little overdone. When I can hit a real life shot out of the rough better than virtual me who has great attributes, I question the penalties being applied; of course I’ve never played a course tricked up for a PGA Tour event so I can suspend disbelief for that one nit pick.

There is no wasting time in Tiger anymore—if you want to play PGA Tour golf jump right in. Gone are the days of qualifying, now you can take your golfer into a PGA Tour career and compete in up to four seasons of FedEx Cup golf. All the events are there, with what appears to be appropriate cuts, just don’t expect to tee it up with Kevin Costner in the Pro Am events.