Masters: Gary Player “quite concerned” for golf, calls for rollback

Add Gary Player to the list of those who support rolling back the golf ball.

Earlier this week, in his Masters “State of the Union” press conference, Augusta National Chairman Fred Ridley declared his support for the United States Golf Association (USGA) and the R&A—golf’s governing bodies—in their efforts to limit the superior distance gains that have impacted the sport.

Player, a 3-time Masters champion, shared this sentiment on Thursday.

“They have to cut that ball back,” Player said.

“They talk about making golf courses longer. The world is running out of water, seriously, and the costs of the machine, the mower, fertilizer, and labor, why do that? It’s so simple: cut the ball back. Very, very simple. And so I’m quite concerned about where the game of golf is going.”

This past December, the USGA and the R&A announced that they would proceed with their plans to rollback the golf ball. It will go into effect for professionals in 2028, while amateurs around the world will feel this impact in 2030.

Reactions among professionals have been mixed. Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods support it, while Bryson DeChambeau, Keegan Bradley, and others oppose it.

And yet, to defend the argument of rolling back the golf ball, look no further than how the course yardages have changed over the past 25 years at Augusta National.

In 1999, the yardage at Augusta totaled 6,985 yards.

This week, the scorecard reads 7,555 yards, the longest in history.

“I’ve said in the past that I hope we will not play the Masters at 8,000 yards,” Ridley said Wednesday.

“But that is likely to happen in the not-too-distant future under current standards.”

The PGA of America, meanwhile, which facilitates both the Ryder Cup and the PGA Championship, challenges this position.

“We fear that the proposed changes could seriously interrupt the current momentum in the game and be fundamentally damaging and detrimental in the long run,” PGA of America CEO Seth Waugh wrote in late July 2023.

“It is something that we feel could lead to division and cause us to lose a very precarious characteristic of golf: the fact that we all play on the same course with the same clubs and balls. In our view, this dynamic should be preserved as a fundamental tenet.”

Heinz Kluetmeier /Sports Illustrated via Getty Images

Despite that, Player feels all of golf’s key stakeholders need to come together and place restrictions on distance.

“We need the R&A, the USGA, and the PGA to get together wisely in making a decision about a golf ball because nothing about the game today, not one single thing, is the same as when we played. Not one single thing,” Player said.

“We’ve got to cut the ball back 60 yards, 50 yards. Otherwise, the whole concept of the game, the history of the game, the par 5, par 4, par 3, that’s gone. There are no more par 5s. These young guys are hitting 8-irons to par 5s.

“And this leads me to say, you listen to people today—the father talks about his son, or a coach: Well, you should see this young boy. He hits the ball 380 yards. You never hear him say how great his short game is or how great his mind is. Hitting the ball is an asset, but it’s not a necessity. But putting, if you have to hit it that long, it counts as much as a 400-yard drive. But where are we going, if you look at the Tour, in 30 years, plus or minus, they will all hit the ball 400 yards because there’s such great incentivization. They are going around the college and gyms now doing weight training. Rory McIlroy showed me yesterday he does a deadlift of 400 pounds.”

We are still four years from the rollback affecting the professional game if all involved come to a consensus on how to do so.

But clearly, many mixed opinions exist, none more potent than the game’s legends who helped pave the way we all play today.

Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough for more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well.