USGA commissioner on golf ball rollback: ‘We're full speed ahead'

Hindustan Times

2 days ago

Despite opposition from professional players, USGA commissioner Mike Whan said Wednesday that the governing body is "full speed ahead" on its plan to "roll back" the golf ball.
Whan spoke with reporters at Oakmont Country Club outside Pittsburgh ahead of the first round of the U.S. Open on Thursday. Forthcoming equipment regulations were one of the chief topics he addressed.
In December 2023, the USGA and R&A announced they will change the speed standard they use to test golf balls beginning in January 2028. The changes will "only minimally" affect the recreational golfer starting in 2030, they said at the time.
The PGA Tour and PGA of America opposed the move, but Whan said Wednesday that recent "stakeholder meetings" at The Players Championship and the Masters left him feeling encouraged.
"Listen, I get this isn't easy and everybody has got their own constituents," Whan said. "I'll just say what I said yesterday again, is as an industry we have to be able to make small adjustments that are in the best interest of the game long-term, that we all know would be better 40 years from now if we were smart enough to make them today.
"We'll make those. Not everybody will like it. It'll be high anxiety until we get there. But nobody is going to die. The game is going to be great. ... Yeah, if I'm being honest with you, we're full speed ahead on what we've announced. Those decisions have been made."
Asked if the USGA and R&A have a Plan B, Whan countered, "We've announced our plan."
Ultimately, the goal is to decrease a player's driving distance, which leaders have agreed is necessary for the long-health of the game.
For now, golf ball manufacturers are in the research and development phase and submitting prototypes to the governing bodies. Whan said the USGA will "stay open-minded" to new data that could change its position in short, that the current chase for distance off the tee is not sustainable for the future of golf but it has yet to encounter such data.
"When I first told Jack about it," Whan shared, "his comment was, 'Well, that's a nice start, Mike, but you and I both know that's not enough.' He's been pretty consistent with that from the beginning.
"... But what we have to do is stop the pace, the slope of that curve that it's been on the last 20 to 40 years for the next 20 to 40. And that's what this does. Anybody who thinks this is more than that, including Jack, who's smart enough because we've had numerous conversations about this, he knows that this change is moderate and it won't have a significant impact, but maybe in 10 or 15 years will feel like the growth of that curve is pretty slow as opposed to the pace we're dealing with today."
Whan and USGA chief championships officer John Bodenhamer covered a number of other issues, including:
The rough this week at Oakmont will be a bit longer than five inches, and dense. Players practicing on the course have had trouble simply punching the ball out of the rough at all.
"We have plenty of spotters, but no guarantees we won't lose a golf ball or two, but we're going to do everything we possibly can not to do so," Bodenhamer said. "But we feel good about that. As I said, I think the rough, players that drive the ball in the fairway will have an advantage, no question about it."
Players in the field know what they're in for, of course. Oakmont long has been considered the toughest test of championship golf in the U.S., and Whan said of the 1,385 golfers who've played a major championship at Oakmont, 27 finished under par after four days less than 2 percent.
"Frankly, we give the players all of we're pretty transparent," Whan said. "We show them what our plans are for green speeds, rough height, everything, our cutting document. We think that's the right thing to do."
Phil Mickelson has been transparent about the likelihood that this week could mark his final U.S. Open.
He was granted a special exemption into the 2021 U.S. Open, but rendered that moot when he won the PGA Championship at 50 years old, assuring himself of invitations into the next five U.S. Opens. That runs out this week in Pennsylvania.
Bodenhamer did not rule out the idea that the USGA would grant Mickelson a special exemption again next year.
"It's like anything; we would review things for Shinnecock ahead of next year and look at all of those possibilities and evaluate it from there.
"I think the way that we would also think of Phil is we hope he earns his way in, and I think he'd tell you the same thing."
Mickelson has won six major tournaments, with only the U.S. Open eluding him. He has finished second or tied for second six times at the event.
The USGA's media rights will be up for negotiation in 2027. NBC's exclusive negotiating window has expired, and its current deal lasts through 2026.
"I guess all I'd say is the level of interest, including our current partners, which are phenomenal, has been great," Whan said. "We're not to the point yet where we're close. We're months away, not weeks away from figuring out what the future is, but I would say that the breadth of interest, which is really a great statement for the game, not just a great statement for USGA championships, but the breadth of statements and the amount of people that have come to the table is really the exciting part."
Fox struck a deal to carry the USGA's numerous championships starting in 2015, but exited the pact after five years. NBC, which already carries PGA Tour golf, picked up the rights it previously owned before 2015.
Whan did not comment on the idea that the rights package could be split between the U.S. Open and U.S. Women's Open by themselves separate from the amateur championships.
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