PGA of America: Players are ‘thanking us’ for our stance on the golf ball rollback

The golf ball rollback is once again in the news after it came up at the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow.

The governing body used their platform at the PGA Championship to speak about one of golf’s most divisive subjects.

When the R&A and USGA announced their plans for a golf ball rollback in December 2023, they were met with opposition from all corners of the game.

Including, it turned out, fellow governing bodies.

PGA of America chiefs used their press conference ahead of the 107th PGA Championship to reiterate their stance on what has been one of the most divisive topics in the sport’s history.

The plans, which will see every existing golf ball currently in circulation rendered non-conforming from January 2028, will see distances reined in by as much as 15 percent for the biggest hitters in the game.

Earlier this year, and just days into his job as PGA CEO, Derek Sprague made it clear that he and the organization do not support the rollback. “It’s time to just hit the pause button,” he said at the time.

Addressing the media at Quail Hollow on Tuesday, Sprague confirmed that “there is no change” on that front. “We’re vehemently against the ball rollback,” he added.

Sprague also confirmed that he and his PGA colleagues have had “several constructive and collaborative meetings a number of times” with other bodies involved in the process.  

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He added: “I feel really good about where we are with them, and we’re going to continue to collaborate on the proposed rollbacks.

“They’re clear where we stand, for sure. I talk almost monthly now with the governing bodies, and we’re working to really take a deep dive on the rollback and make sure it’s the right thing.

“We’re really concerned about the 28 million golfers in this country. Since I took that stance back in January, a number of amateur golfers [and] recreational golfers have reached out and have the same concerns that we do. They’re thanking us for pushing this issue to make sure it’s well thought out, and if we can hit the pause button or change it altogether, that’s our goal.”

PGA of America president Don Rea added: “The thing I’m most excited about is this collaborative approach.

“The recreational game is closer now than ever before. The owners, the superintendents, the club managers, the architects, the builders. We’re all meeting now and talking about what’s the impact on recreational golf for this?

“We have an obligation to talk to everybody who’s involved in golf – the Tour, USGA, R&A, all of them – and this is what we’re hearing. We’re hearing people are a little worried. And this game is booming. Families are playing together like never before. We are leading the most collaborative approach on this discussion that’s ever started before that I can ever remember.

“The meetings are happening all the time. At Augusta, that’s all we talked about. It’s just a global matter on this.

“It’s really cool. I’ve been on the board for four years, and I’ve been an officer for four, and this collaborative approach is amazing. It fills my heart to know that we are rallying around recreational golf, which is really what drives the engine of everything that we’re sitting in right now.”

As for how it might affect the PGA of America’s tournaments, including the PGA Championship and KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, chief championship officer Kerry Haigh said his job will remain the same.

“We will adapt to whatever the rules are,” he said. “We would set the golf course up as fairly and to test the best players in the world just as we always do.”