Nick Faldo believes professional golf could become more entertaining if players were asked to leave five clubs out of their bags. José María Olazábal proposed limiting clubs in a golf bag to address the golf ball distance issue. The Englishman quickly backed that up. Speaking exclusively with EssentiallySports at the DP World India Championship 2026, Faldo revisited the idea. But this time, he doesn’t want golfers to implement it as a rule, just to have fun on the course.

He argues that fewer options could encourage creativity and give fans another reason to watch.

“If it was my day, I’d love that because you’d arrive at 20 clubs, you’d play a couple of practice rounds, rounds you’ve traveled now, and you go, ‘Right, I’m, I’m gonna strategize my round. I’m playing to there ’cause I’ve, I’m, I wanna play with whatever, six, seven, and eights. I’m gonna try and get every shot in a window, so I keep it in the same club.’ You know, it makes sense, wouldn’t it? So that would be a great start… I just want them to do it for fun,” he told EssentiallySports when asked about the nine-club bag idea.

He acknowledged that it was Olazábal’s idea, not his. While implementing the idea in one go could be challenging, Nick Faldo says there could be trial and error. But no matter how many clubs, tours, or golfers they decide on, it will be a lot of fun to see players strategize.

“Just saying to the guys, ‘Right, this week’s 10 clubs. Get it.’ And they go, ‘If you don’t like it, go home.’ You know, ‘Don’t play. That’s it. You don’t want to do it? Yeah.’ But I think the guys would, and the ladies would. You know, why not? It doesn’t have to be just the guys.”

“Let’s give it a go for fun. And I don’t think it’s gonna cause any real harm, and I think it’d be a great talking point. What have you got in the bag, and da-di-da-di-da. Maybe he’s going to go, ‘Well, I should have done that. I should have had a whatever, seven wood in the bag.’ Yeah, let’s just do it for fun. What the heck.”

He made the comments after appearing on The Locker Room Delivered by DP World, the official studio show of the DP World India Championship.

The proposal isn’t new, but Faldo’s latest endorsement focuses on a simpler question of could taking away a few clubs make professional golf more enjoyable?

The nine-time PGA Tour winner previously discussed the idea during a conversation with Golf Monthly’s Kick Point.

“Olazabal said well nine clubs, well yeah, and again, bring back skill,” he said.

The idea of limiting golf clubs in the bag centers on adaptability. With fewer clubs available, players would need to adjust their swings, control trajectories, and manufacture shots rather than automatically reaching for a club suited to a particular yardage.

Sir Nick Faldo has experienced that challenge himself. Recalling a PGA Championship, he explained that he had left his 9-iron out of the bag. When faced with a shot that might have called for it, he was prepared to adapt.

“Well, I’ll hit a little eight, you know,” he said.

A player might need to take something off an 8-iron, flight a shot differently, or find another solution to a distance that would usually call for a different club. Those adjustments could reward touch and imagination while creating situations that viewers would enjoy watching.

Nick Faldo also suggested that he believes this proposed rule change wouldn’t be fun for golfers alone. It would also bring more entertainment to golf coverage.

According to him, it would become a great talking point among golfers and broadcasters. Golfers could even be mic’d up to understand their strategy for choosing or leaving a particular club.

A player might prioritize a particular wedge combination on one course but favor different long clubs at another venue. Every selection would involve a trade-off, and an omitted club could become significant when an awkward yardage appeared during the round.

The current Rules of Golf allow players to carry up to 14 clubs, though golfers can choose to carry fewer. Faldo’s suggestion would turn that existing freedom into a shared competitive challenge.

Delhi Golf Club offers an interesting backdrop, according to the 69-year-old. He said “it’d be perfect here,” or on any short course.

The venue’s tight, tree-lined fairways and doglegs can make accuracy more valuable than maximum driving distance. Rory McIlroy, for instance, said he would play without his driver because he’d rather win than hit long.

“It’s very different and it’s a fun test in that regard,” Ryan Fox said of the course after removing his driver from his bag.

Those decisions illustrate how professional golfers sometimes leave familiar weapons behind when conditions demand a different approach.

Thus, equipment choices at Delhi Golf Club can influence strategy before players even begin a round.

But even if that doesn’t work, golfers could always return to carrying more clubs, as Nick Faldo suggested.

The veteran golfer’s proposal also ties into a broader debate about the skills professional golf should reward. He has previously discussed other equipment-related ideas, including one-inch tees, as possible ways to encourage greater emphasis on ball-striking and shot control.

PGA Tour player Michael Kim has independently advocated a 10-club limit, while instructor Butch Harmon has expressed interest in seeing professionals try a reduced-club format in a tournament. Their suggestions differ, but they share an interest in testing whether fewer equipment options would make players rely more heavily on their skill.

For Nick Faldo, though, the appeal seems to go beyond settling golf’s equipment debates. His latest comments frame it as an experiment worth trying for enjoyment, rather than an immediate demand for a permanent rule change.