PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. (AP) — Lucas Glover always had a strong voice. He's at a point now where the former U.S. Open champion would rather it be heard in the PGA Tour boardroom instead of on the radio.
Glover starts his 23rd season at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. Already different about this year is that when tour officials told him his peers had voted him — for the 11th time — to be on the Player Advisory Council, he accepted.
“They have to ask you
if you want to do it, and I turned it down 10,” Glover said. “I talked to some people and realized that at this stage in my career, it's about time to do it. So I am.”
More than serving on the PAC — the 16-player group that reports to the policy board — is the chance to run it. Glover and Adam Scott were selected to run for PAC chairman, and the winner joins the PGA Tour board in 2027 to serve a four-year term.
They would replace Scott, whose term expires this year.
Scott and Glover are examples of players taking more interest in how the tour is run, particularly amid so many sweeping changes in the last four years amid the threat of Saudi-funded LIV Golf.
It was only three years ago that Scott — much like Glover now — decided to join the PAC for the first time at age 42 as he began his 24th year as a pro. He was voted PAC chairman, joined the board in 2024 and immediately was part of conversations about private equity investing in the tour.
This is no longer about pace of play and the menu in player dining. The tour is a month away from pulling back the curtain on a radical new schedule that is still taking shape. The concern is whether the result will be a rich circuit for the haves and a lesser one for the have-nots.
Board meetings that once featured rubber stamps now have bathroom breaks. So why would Scott want to subject himself to four more years on the board? Part of his motivation is to see it through.
“There are some things I’ve been involved in that probably won’t be resolved this year,” Scott said. “I would be happy to have a say, and the only way to do that is to be involved.”
That's also how the 46-year-old Glover sees it.
He won a U.S. Open at Bethpage Black over Phil Mickelson and David Duval. He endured putting yips that nearly derailed his career. And then came a resurgence in 2023 when he became only the third player in the last 25 years to win back-to-back on the PGA Tour.
Through peaks and valleys, he has been a popular source of common sense.
“It's flattering that my peers think enough of me to keep voting me on,” Glover said. “At this stage of my career, I feel like it's time to represent them. Because I'm not getting any younger. And I actually feel because of my experience — good and bad — my voice can hold some weight."
For the last two years, that voice was heard mainly on his SiriusXM PGA Tour Radio show, with one entertaining segment he refers to as, “Get off my lawn.” Glover is not short of opinions, delivered with his South Carolina drawl that drips with straight talk.
The voice sounds more reasonable than when his words are in print. But there is no mistaking the point, such as the PGA Tour's move to smaller fields that he called “terrible.”
“And then hiding behind pace of play I think challenges our intelligence. They think we're stupid,” Glover said in November 2024.
He also made headlines last summer when he said of the potential of LIV players returning to the PGA Tour: “I don't think they should be back here. I don’t want them here.”
Lost in the context was him wrestling with feelings about players chasing Saudi riches and the reality that having the top stars back would help the financial growth of the tour. On the return of Brooks Koepka, he said, “I can give one answer from my heart and one answer from my wallet.”
But he is serious about this board business, enough that Glover has sought out Patrick Cantlay — as thorough as any player director — to understand the landscape. The idea of representing an entire membership amid so many changes can be daunting. Everyone has an opinion.
And this is not a radio show.
“I'm not as business savvy as some because I've never been there,” Glover said. “I also got to a point last summer where if I'm going to have these opinions, I need to be more informed. If I'm going to bring up all these issues — with people, in the press, on the radio — I need to help come up with a solution instead of just griping.
“The reality is I want what's best for this tour because I've dedicated almost half my life to it. I love it here,” he said. “I've swallowed my pride a lot for the last six or eight months with issues and things that are probably in the long run going to be better for the tour.”
He also has changed his tune on players having a majority on the board over independent directors. Glover said in a May 2024 episode on his radio show: "They don’t tell us how to hit 7-irons. We shouldn’t be telling them how to run a business.”
Glover listed some of the players on the board — Tiger Woods and Cantlay, Maverick McNealy and Scott — and found new appreciation for their time while trying to manage their games and families.
“It made me understand and respect that those guys are busting their butts for all of us,” Glover said. “And once I understood that, it was, ‘All right, this is something I can do.’”
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