PALM COAST, FL – Scott McCarron paused to ponder the question: what would he like to see the golf governing bodies finally decide to do about the golf ball?
“That’s a tough one,” McCarron said. “I’ll tell you this: I don’t want to hit it shorter.”
McCarron smiled and we moved on to another question. But other PGA Tour Champions players weren’t afraid to share their true feelings about a potential golf ball rollback.
As a group, they are an interesting segment of the pro golf population to ask because they are the last generation that played with a balata ball and they remember what it was like to grow up when a wood was actually made of wood and not some space-age metal designed by NASA scientists. Plus, they aren’t as beholden to equipment manufacturers
at this stage in their career anymore.
None were more outspoken than four-time major winner and World Golf Hall of Fame member Ernie Els.
“It’s out of control. It has to come back. If not the ball, it’s got to be something radical like I heard Nick Faldo suggested reducing the tee height,” Els said at Furyk & Friends last week. “I remember in the 1990s Jack (Nicklaus) and Gary (Player) were complaining about the ball going too far. I was like, these guys are full of shit. But it’s been another 30 years and another 30 yards. I’m hitting it exactly as long as I did in my prime. These kids are hitting 3-woods 300 yards.”
To Els, it has changed the nature of the way the game is played – and not for the better.
“When’s the last time you’ve seen pros hit a 6-iron into a par 4? That’s how golf courses were designed. For 4-irons and 2-irons. You remember those iconic shots of Ben Hogan at Merion. He hit a 2-iron. When was the last time you saw a player hit a 2-iron into a par 4? Jack Nicklaus a 1-iron at Pebble hitting the flag at the par-3 17th. To hit a long iron at a par 3 they have to make it 302 yards at No. 8 at Oakmont and everyone loses their mind at the length. But the hole was designed to run it in, not fly it in. It’s gone out the window now because the designs are out of date. We need to bring the game back and it’s going to take balls. The USGA and R&A, they need to do something.”
Els reiterated earlier comments that he is concerned that Pebble Beach Golf Links will be torched at the 2027 U.S. Open, not the feared test it was when he finished T-2, a whopping 15 strokes behind Tiger Woods in 2000, and the Old Course at St. Andrews could produce a record-low score if the wind doesn’t blow.
“I spoke to somebody at Pebble Beach. They're going to have to grow rough this high,” he said, holding his hand above his knees but below his waist, “and 20-yard wide fairways to make a guy think if the ball isn’t going to be rolled back. Something's gonna have to give. Seriously, we're going to have to have marshals down the fairways to find golf balls. Otherwise, guys are going to keep ripping it up.”
Fellow PGA Tour Champions pro Paul Goydos is less concerned about the winning score and said the governing bodies should be careful about a rollback when there may be another way to counter the distance revolution.
“Trying to herd cats is never a good idea,” he said. “Two holes that give us the most trouble are 10 at Riviera and 12 at Augusta. Maybe you have an architectural issue more than an equipment issue. And anyway, why do we care what the top one-one-thousandth of the game shoots? Why is it a crime if the winner shoots 12 under at Merion? I think 15 under is quite exciting; they don’t.”
World Golf Hall of Fame member Padraig Harrington is on the side that a rollback is needed and that it won’t have a big effect on golfers love of the game.
“There needs to be a very hard line in the sand that it’s not to get any easier,”Harrington said on the “Kickpoint” podcast recently. “It’s going to be hard to dial it back. Yes, we would love to dial it back, as I said, just so the golf courses wouldn’t be defunct. It will not change the enjoyment level of golf. Zero effect on the enjoyment level of golf because it’s all relative to your expectations.”
He added: “Happiness and our idea of playing well is 100 percent related to what we expect at that moment, so once the equipment is rolled back, within a couple of weeks or months, [it] won’t make a shred of difference to anybody’s enjoyment of the game.”
Adam Schupak is a Golfweek senior writer.
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: 'It's out of control': PGA Tour Champions players on golf ball rollback debate
