[PHOTO: Andrew Redington]
In three years, the best golfers on the planet will descend upon San Francisco and trek to Olympic Club for the 2028 PGA Championship with a newly rolled-back golf ball in the bag. At least that’s how the R&A and USGA see things playing out in the coming years.
Of course, not everyone is complying willingly.
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Along with several major equipment manufacturers, both the PGA of America and PGA Tour have voiced concerns regarding the staggered rollback that would go in place for elite competitions in 2028 and everyone else in 2030.
For the PGA of America, the issue has always been a lack of collaboration with golf’s governing bodies, a point of contention PGA of America chief executive Derek Sprague made clear in January during an interview at the PGA Merchandise Show in Florida.
“The USGA and R&A have said they want to protect the game for the next 20, 30, 50 years,” he said. “The PGA of America wants to do the same thing, but we’re not part of that process.”
Yesterday’s PGA of America press conference provided an opportunity to see if things had moved forward in a positive direction since the comments.
While Sprague confirmed several “constructive and collaborative” meetings had taken place in recent months, including one during the Masters that included Augusta National chairman Fred Ridley, USGA chief executive Mike Whan, PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan and DP World Tour chief executive Guy Kinnings, he reiterated they had not swayed the organisation’s anti-rollback stance. In other words, only part of their issue had been rectified.
“There’s no change in our stance,” Sprague said. “We’re certainly vehemently against the ball rollback. We’ve had great conversations with the governing bodies since that point. We’ve had several constructive and collaborative meetings, probably several times, three, four times.”
It’s important to point out that the word “collaborative” was used multiple times by Sprague and PGA of America president, Don Rea Jnr, during the interview session. The messaging from the two leaders, however, was decidedly mixed.
Sprague doubled down on his rollback stance, but Rea was far more positive, albeit vague, about where things could be heading with key stakeholders.
“Whatever happens to this collaborative approach, it’s going to happen over the next six to eight months to a year,” Rea said. “I don’t know what’s going to happen, but I assure you, when this is all done, we’re going to stand arm-in-arm and say this is what is the decision and this is where we’re moving forward. It might change from what it is now. I don’t know yet. I don’t want to damage future discussions.”
Kerry Haigh, the PGA of America’s chief championships officer, was also asked what a future PGA Championship setup could look like with a golf ball that went roughly nine to 11 yards shorter – distance numbers that were provided by the R&A and USGA – for the fastest golfers. Haigh paused before offering a response.
“What’s it going to be? We don’t know,” he said. “We will adapt to whatever the rules are.”
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Haigh isn’t the only one with more questions than answers about a key piece of equipment.
No one is quite sure what the golf ball will look like in three years; all they know is it could look and perform differently than the spheres that players are pummelling down Quail Hollow’s fairways this week.
What is certain is that the PGA of America believes a constructive dialogue is now being had with the R&A and USGA. How much that impacts what the pros are playing at the PGA Championship versus the golfers watching at home remains to be seen.
“The relationships now are stronger than they’ve ever been,” Rea said. “Let’s see what happens when we get down here. What I like is the spirit of the conversation now. No one’s telling us. We’re talking together.”
