PGA Tour Testing Golf Ball Rollback, Open Champion Shares Results

It may not be talked about much, but the controversy over the golf ball rollback continues to rage. The issue resurfaced this week when the PGA Tour briefed its Players Advisory Council (PAC) on the partial results of a study being conducted on the matter.

It is no secret that the PGA Tour is not thrilled with the governing bodies’ decision, which is set to begin in 2028. Apparently, the players are largely on the same page.

“It was as united as I’ve ever seen the PAC,” Maverick McNealy, one of the candidates for PAC chairman, told Golfweek.

Another PAC member, Brian Harman, was much more vocal on the issue. The 2023 Open champion reiterated his complete opposition to the rule, saying it will cause players to lose some of their golfing skills as they focus on making up lost distance.

“I think it’s a bad idea. I can’t get on board,” Harman told Golfweek “There are so many more steps we can take to mitigate distance with golf course setup, driver set up before you force companies to R&D [Research and Development] a bunch of things.”

“I’m afraid this golf ball rollback will have the opposite effect of what they want,” he added. “I think you will have even less skill in the game because it will be even more important to hit the ball far. Guys will train harder to hit it far. When you take distance out, it becomes more important to hit it far.”

Another major champion who spoke out firmly against the new rule was Lucas Glover, who went so far as to say that he expected a strong response from the PGA Tour to defend its players.

“It’s not a way to grow the game to have people hit it shorter. It’s stupid and reactive like everything else. The [USGA and R&A] never get ahead of anything and then they need to do something drastic on the back end to make up for it,” Glover said.

“This might be the time that the Tour and PGA of America say, ‘We’re out,’ ” he added. “It would be nice if somebody took a stand for us for a change. Maybe this could be the opportunity for the Tour to do that.”

The ball rollback issue made headlines in December 2023 when the United States Golf Association (USGA) and the R&A announced its adoption. Essentially, the rule seeks to reduce the distance that players are sending the ball with their long shots, arguing that this distance is making golf courses too short.

When the rule was announced, the governing bodies assured that its application will mean a reduction of approximately 15 yards for the world’s top bombers, 11 yards for average pros and only about five yards for amateur players. This is exactly what the PGA Tour is testing with its own study.

The new balls will be put into play in January 2028 for professional circuits and in 2030 for amateur players.

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