When watching golf professionals play either in-person or on the television, one thing that always seems to stand out is the amount of spin they are able to generate on the golf ball. Most amateur golfers would be lucky to see their high iron fairway golf shot stay on the green, whereas golf professionals are able to land the ball right next to the pin and have the golf ball stop on a dime with a three iron. Most golf professionals these days prefer to have more spin on their golf balls as opposed to more distance, and there are three main reasons for it.
Golf hole proximity
One of the more important statistics the golf professionals track is their average proximity to a golf hole. The reason golf hole proximity matters is that the closer they are to the hole, the better chance they have of making more birdies and climbing the leaderboards. It is understandable to think that hitting the golf ball further would be prioritized as it leads to less distance when it comes to fairway golf approach shots, but this is only one facet of the game. Birdies are important, but so are saving pars when fairway golf shots go errant. Golf professionals need the spin for shots around the green as the ball will check up closer to the hole, thus leading to increased chances to save golf strokes.
Golf ball technology
Ever since the Titleist ProV1 was introduced in 2000 and we witnessed Tiger Woods hitting drives over 350 yards long, golf ball technology has seemingly stagnated when it comes to distance. There is only so much that golf ball manufacturers can to do make a golf ball go farther, and they have pretty much exhausted all of their options at this point. Technology has gotten to the point where the average golf professional can hit the ball over 300 yards off the tee, and thus one way for golf professionals to separate themselves from the pack is to find a golf ball that can give them more spin for fairway golf shots and approach shots as well.
Shot Shaping
Lastly, another reason why golf professionals prefer more spin on their balls these days is due to the golf courses they are playing on. Most golf courses the professionals play on have been around for decades and some over a century or longer, and as cities have developed around them golf course architects are no longer able to keep moving tees back to keep up with the distances players hit. The main way to counteract this is to force golf professionals to shape their shots more, and they can do this in a variety of ways including adding bunkers and hazards, planting trees, and even moving greens altogether. Golf professionals need more side spin as a result, thus leading to them searching for golf balls that can provide it while maintaining some semblance of distance and allow them to hit more fairway golf regularly.