Jon Rahm said that he hoped to keep playing on both the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour after he signed with LIV Golf. He talked about the Spanish Open and DP World Tour games that took place in Spain. Besides that, he has won two of the first three PGA Tour events (The Sentry and the American Express).
But it looks like the PGA Tour choice is off the table. A player must agree to the rules of membership; if he can’t, he can’t play in the 2024 season. That doesn’t come as a surprise, though it was unclear if Rahm would be able to play before his first game with LIV in February.
Not All Pros Are Against the Rollback
People are very upset about the USGA and the R&A’s long-awaited decision to roll back the golf ball. Some of the anger is misplaced, while some of it is understandable. However, no one seems to be aware that this has been talked about endlessly for two decades with the idea that the professional game has outgrown some of the world’s oldest courses.
“This should have been done 20 years ago,” Colin Montgomerie said. He fully supports the rollback and wishes it had happened sooner.
Our team wouldn’t have had to spend so much on repairs and water, Montgomerie said. He played in the World Champions Cup this week in Florida. “Forget about golf, we need to feed everyone first.” Twenty years ago, it should have been done. Gary Player and Jack Nicklaus both said it 20 years ago. I’m glad that things are moving quickly now. It will take me a few years to reach my goal, but I think it will be 20 to 25 years too late.
He talked about the Old Course at St. Andrews and the 14th hole, which is a par-5. In 2022, Els played golf with Adri Arnaus, who is from Spain.
“His ball speed is 190 mph,” said Els, 54, who has won the Open twice. “That’s my little popper out there.” My 168 (ball speed) is not the average. He hit it from the new back tee at the 14th hole, where I used to hit it from the front tee. Those little squirrel-shaped bunkers on the left side of the course were something I never saw. I always get it past them. I ended up in those bunkers.
They need to move that tee back 40 yards again to get those bunkers into play for the next wave of speed. There is no room. Where is it going in 10 years?”The young men are hitting it very far. See Min Woo Lee. He can hit the ball 191 miles per hour. A great deal more than my 168. It’s just not possible for me to hit that fast anymore. As a whole, though, I hit it pretty far.
I used to be 295 yards off the tee. I’m still 295 today. The ball is still going the same distance. This new wave is going to end. Soon, it will reach 200. Or 205. If a 12-year-old wants to be like Min Woo Lee, he will be 200 years old in 10 years. It’s going that way. I get that point of view, but it’s coming. We don’t want to look back 20 years and see that nothing has changed.
A lot of guesses have been made about how the rollback will affect the game, since it won’t happen for top players until 2028 and for everyone else in 2030. However, Montgomerie said that the average golfer shouldn’t worry.
“Not at all,” he replied. “The normal person finds the ball in a bush and hits it.” That’s the average guy. It wouldn’t matter to me if it was a Srixon or a Callaway if I were a beginner. There’s no difference.
Most people don’t care that much about it. It doesn’t matter much because most beginners don’t know how far they hit the ball anyway.
A Few Other Things …
The Grant Thornton: It had been a long time since the PGA Tour and LPGA Tour had a mixed team game like the Grant Thornton one. But both sides could do better. Keep the event; there’s nothing wrong with it. But what about another one that counts for both tours? Even though it couldn’t be a team event, there’s nothing wrong with having events for both tours at the same time at the same location. And if adding scores is another way to help it happen, a team part could still be worked out that way.
It will be 24 days before the 2024 PGA Tour season starts at the Sentry. It will be 122 days before the first round of the Masters.
