All eyes will be on Tiger Woods this week at the 2023 Masters at Augusta National. While Woods himself is focused on capturing his sixth green jacket and 16th major championship, he has one eye on the future of the game. Speaking to the recent proposed rule from the USGA and R&A that would limit the distance a golf ball can travel at the professional level starting in 2026, Woods expressed his support for the rollback.
“I have always been an advocate of rolling the — if you do anything to the equipment, I don’t think that you can change the size of the heads anymore, just because there’s so many out there,” said Woods. “But I still think that it’s very much like baseball with aluminum bats and wooden bats.
“You can have a difference in the golf ball, and tennis has the same thing. You go to different events, they have different balls; the public doesn’t really know that but the players do. I’ve been of the position: If you play in a pro event or you have a “P” next to your name, you should be playing a pro ball. Now, that was my opinion on it. If you have an “A” next to your name and you’re playing an amateur event, you should use an amateur ball.
“But you’re an amateur playing a pro event, now, that’s where the transition can be had, where you can start I wouldn’t say rolling the game back, but you can start slowing it down because we’re just not able to create enough property out there.”
Woods’ sentiment aligns with that of Rory McIlroy, but they are about the only two in agreement when it comes to current players. Notable peers such as Jon Rahm, Justin Thomas and Sam Burns have publicly been against the rule change. While other organizations such as the PGA Tour and the PGA of America have yet to comment, Augusta National and Masters chairman Fred Ridley will meet with the press on Wednesday where the topic will surely come up give the newly-lengthened 13th hole.
“The guys are going to become more athletic,” said Woods. “Everyone is going to get bigger, stronger, faster as the generations go on. With technology, you’re going to find — even if you roll the ball back and get a spinnier golf ball, guys will find you may go to a 4-degree driver and you may find a different shaft and you may have that one match up. But I just think that the — yes, I think this should have happened a long time ago.
“That’s what Jack [Nicklaus] was saying, the [Titleist] 384 was going too far. This is back in the ’80s. But still, that was my take on it; that the amateurs should be able to have fun and still hit the golf ball far but we can be regulated about how far we hit it … not every golf course can be like Augusta National and move property and moving holes back. There’s only so many golf courses you can do that on, and we still want to be able to play the old traditional great golf courses.”