Golf doesn’t need another public spat, but it’s got one.
As the LIV Golf-PGA Tour antitrust lawsuit weaves through the U.S. legal system, another showdown has spilled into the public arena. The USGA and R&A are seeking to clamp down on increased driving distance and its effect on the game. To that end, golf’s governing bodies proposed a “model local rule†that would mandate a shorter-flying ball for “elite†male amateurs and professionals. Recreational golfers would not be affected. Neither would the women’s game.
If adopted, the shorter-flying ball would not come into play before 2026.
Through August 14, the USGA and R&A are soliciting feedback on the proposal, which came out of the Distance Insights project that was released in 2020. Based on much of the immediate reaction, they’re in for an earful. The governing bodies would adopt the proposal for its top events: the USGA’s U.S. Open and U.S. Amateur and the R&A’s Open Championship and British Amateur.
Among the touring professionals who would be directly affected, the proposal appears to need much more support among the ranks. Here is a sampling of comments from the organizations and the players:
Justin Thomas, a 15-time winner on the PGA Tour: “It’s so bad for the game. … For an everyday amateur golfer, it’s very unique that we are able to play the exact same equipment. … You can go to the pro shop and buy the same golf ball that I play. … But the USGA wants to bring it to a point where that's not the case. They want it to be, OK, well, the pros play this way and the amateurs play this way, and that just doesn't – I don't understand how that's better for the game of golf. … People are running faster. So, what, are they just going to make the length of a mile longer so that the fastest mile time doesn’t change, or are they going to put the NBA hoop at 13 feet because people can jump higher now? Like, no. It’s evolution. We’re athletes now. Like, we’re training to hit the ball further and faster and if you can do it, so good for you. So yeah, as you can tell, I’m clearly against it.â€
Sam Burns, a four-time winner on the PGA Tour who ranks among the game’s longest drivers: “It’s pretty silly. If you look at the last few years of golf, I think the game has grown tremendously. We’re an entertainment sport, and I don’t think people necessarily want to come out here and watch guys hit it shorter. They enjoy watching guys go out there and hit it 350 yards. I don’t see what the problem is with that. I think that’s a skill, and I don’t really agree with trying to take that away.â€
PGA Tour: “The tour remains committed to ensuring any future solutions identified benefit the game as a whole, without negatively impacting the tour, its players or our fans’ enjoyment of our sport.†READ MORE
PGA of America: “We are strongly opposed to any rules changes that will make the game less fun for recreational golfers. Regarding this specific area of interest, we are pleased that there is no longer a focus on changing or modifying the ball or clubs that recreational players may use.†READ MORE
Keegan Bradley, whose 298.2-yard average drive ranks near the 297.2-yard average in driving distance on the PGA Tour: “It’s an overreaction. … I don’t see a world where the PGA Tour would go for this.†READ MORE
Pádraig Harrington, who led the Champions Tour in driving distance last year, at 308.7 yards: “There’s so many benefits to rolling it back. Old golf courses come back into play, great golf courses come back into play. Environmentally, reducing the footprint. So many reasons to roll it back. … Golf balls go so far.†READ MORE
Bryson DeChambeau, a former PGA Tour driving champion who left last year for LIV Golf: “It’s the most unimaginative, uninspiring, game-cutting thing you could do. Everybody wants to see people hit it farther.†READ MORE
USGA CEO Mike Whan: “This is not really about today. It’s about understanding the historical trends over the last 10, 20, 40 years and being able to be very predictive in terms of those trends over the next 20 or 40 years going forward and questioning whether or not the game can sustain 20 or 40 years from now the kind of increases that are so incredibly easy to predict. If we simply do nothing, we pass that to the next generation and to all the golf course venues around the world for them to just simply figure out.†READ MORE
David Maher, president and CEO of Acushnet Company (parent company of Titleist): “Golf’s health and vibrancy are at historically high levels. ... The proposal of golf ball bifurcation is in many respects a solution in search of a problem.†READ MORE
Matt Fitzpatrick, the reigning U.S. Open champion: “If they’re going to do it, everyone should play that style of ball, amateurs as well. You either do it fully or it just becomes too confusing. … Juniors growing up, they want to play the same ball as Tiger Woods or Rory McIlroy.â€
R&A chief Martin Slumbers: “At the core of our proposal is a desire to minimize the impact on a flourishing recreational game.†READ MORE
Cameron Champ, who led the PGA Tour in driving distance last season (321.4 yards) and in 2018-19 (317.9): “If anything, if there’s any rollback in clubs, balls, whatever it is, generally speaking, the majority of guys on the tour, or even average hitters, it’s just going to disadvantage them even more. … I get that they’re trying to make sure it doesn’t go too far (with) technology, but as far as advances go, golf courses are longer than they were back in the ’60s and ’70s, and scores haven’t changed much.â€
Maverick McNealy, a fourth-year PGA Tour player who holds a management science and engineering degree from Stanford, in an interview with Golfweek: “The players that have fundamentally changed the game of golf and made it popular have all been generationally long and straight drivers of the ball. Think about Arnold Palmer, Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus, Rory McIlroy, these guys all hit it far. If we want to expand our fan base as a game, non-golfers they resonate with birdies, hole-outs, backspin and ball speed.â€
Peter Uihlein, a LIV Golf player and the son of retired Acushnet boss Wally Uihlein: “If the USGA and R&A want guys to use a different ball, then they should pay for it. … There’s nothing that brings the tours together like everyone’s hatred for the USGA.†READ MORE
Mike Clayton, former European Tour pro and now golf course architect, in GolfAustralia column: “No one is suggesting we go back to how the course played with hickory shafts and rudimentary golf balls but how Severiano Ballesteros, Greg Norman, Hale Irwin, Sam Torrance, and Graham Marsh played the course in the late 1970s and early 1980s was a fair contest between man, architect and golf course.†READ MORE
Compiled by Steve Harmon
