Rickie Fowler and Keegan Bradley have become the latest PGA Tour stars to offer their opinion on the expected golf ball announcement.
Keegan Bradley and Rickie Fowler are in the camp that opposes the anticipated announcement to roll back the golf ball.
Golf’s regulatory bodies have been debating the difficult subject of distance for years, and it looks like a decision about how to handle it is almost certain.
The R&A and USGA are expected to declare a complete reversal of golf ball technology, according to a detailed report published in Golf Digest.
The initial plan was to rein in the most proficient players in elite competitions from 2026 with a Model Local Rule.
“The game was not happy with the Model Local Rule,” Martin Slumbers, the chief executive of the R&A, told GD.
He was referring to the pushback by the PGA Tour, the PGA of America, equipment manufacturers and even the game’s biggest stars.
It left the governing bodies with three options, he said.
Either change the ball for the whole game, bifurcate and create model local rules or do nothing. “Doing nothing is not an option,” he said.
Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy have already had their say on the issue.
After playing his first 72 holes of golf since withdrawing from the 2023 Masters, 47-year-old Woods offered his evaluation.
McIlroy made the decision to use social media in his argument. “Money talks in this game once more,” he angrily declared.
After competing in the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas, Fowler and Bradley tore into the plans.
According to Fowler, making this change at this time would be a “monumental” step back because the game is currently in the “best place” it has ever been.
Bradley described the plans as monstrous.
Keegan Bradley
“I think that the USGA … everything that they do is reactionary.
“They don’t think of a solution.
“They just think we’re going to affect a hundred percent of the population that plays golf.
“For the amateur world to hit the ball shorter is monstrous.
“I can’t think of anything more stupid than that.
“I don’t think it’s very smart at all, especially when golf’s growing in popularity literally coming out of COVID.”
Rickie Fowler:
“To take the game and knock it back when it’s in the best position it’s ever been in, I don’t want to see it as the golf ball being necessarily the right move.
“I don’t see how when we’re at the best place the game has ever been ‘Oh, you love the game? Yeah. Hey, thanks for joining us over COVID.
“Now we’re going to make you hit it 20 yards shorter. ‘Have fun.’
“I understand both sides. But looking at it as far as the game and everyone talks about growing the game, I think it’s going to be a huge step back.”
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