The USGA’s golf ball rollback is on hold, but not completely shut down. The decision saw President Donald Trump offer his congratulations to various individuals and share his thoughts on what the next step should be for the USGA. His opinion stemmed from wanting to see the sport remain as it is.

“Congratulations to Commissioner Brian Rolapp, the PGA Tour, and the Governing Bodies, and also, the Great U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jay Clayton, for a BIG VICTORY where the USGA wanted to roll back the distance of a golf ball, for whatever reason, and now they are precluded from doing so, at least for a long number of years,” wrote Trump on Truth Social.

“It was a ridiculous idea that nobody wanted, especially PGA Tour players and people who don’t want to go to a course to be told that their drives will be going 20 yards shorter. What the USGA should do is agree that, far into the future, they will not allow the current ball to go further. In other words, they will keep the ball the same! The game of golf is “hot as a pistol.”

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01/10

On Which Hole Jordan Spieth’s Ball Got Stuck Under a Trashcan?

14th 15th16th 17th

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“The last thing we should do is tell people that, for no reason whatsoever, you will not be able to hit a ball as far as you used to. Has anyone ever heard of anything so ridiculous?”

Earlier, the rollback was set to be introduced in the professional game in 2028 and in the amateur game in 2030. But now, after the USGA’s and R&A’s latest announcement, two new developments have come forward.

• Any changes to ball testing under ODS will not take effect until January 2030.
• Unified changes will be applied across the game, rather than bifurcating it for professional and recreational golfers.

The discussion around golf rollback had been going on for years, but picked up around 2020. The USGA and R&A were worried about modern elite players hitting the ball too far on courses made for older championships. However, expanding venues was only a temporary solution. To curb that, the USGA and the R&A spent years gathering feedback from manufacturers, tours, and players.

Eventually, in 2023, the governing bodies formally announced that the test for ODS (Overall Distance Standards) would increase the speed used in testing from 120 mph to 125 mph while keeping the distance limit at 317 yards. For this, manufacturers would need to create a ball that wouldn’t travel as far when struck with force.

Justin Thomas had been vocal against the rollback

Thomas has been one of the most open critics of the rollback discussion, even calling the USGA “selfish” and saying that they were trying to solve a problem that did not exist. But on Wednesday, he seemed to be happy with the new discussion.

Thomas had said to Golfweek in May, “I feel a majority of guys out here are under the same opinion I am that there isn’t a problem with the golf ball. So, if that’s the case, I don’t know why we’d let a group of amateur golfers decide how we play the game.”

Now, after the announcement, he seemed happy with the decision and voiced the same to Golf Channel.

“It’s great. I was very excited when I heard. I think that all the players were. The players in the USGA have had their differences over the years, but I think they’d be crazy to think differently after coming into the meeting and talking to us and just realizing what was going on and just understanding that the thought of things potentially needing to be done isn’t incorrect, but just how they were going about it wasn’t fixing it. It wasn’t solving any problems.”

Meanwhile, Scottie Scheffler, who agreed with some aspects of the rollback, had reservations on how it could “disproportionately affect certain players.” The World No. 1 had claimed that it would affect some pros by almost 15 to 20 yards, but would not hurt others whatsoever. He has yet to comment on the delay of the rollback until 2030.

However, the opinions on the golf rollback remain divided. While Trump and Thomas have agreed, others have expressed their concern and continue to push for changes.

PGA Tour players remain divided on the golf rollback decision

Adam Scott remained one of those who believed that the debate is far more complicated and simply reducing distance and equipment regulations won’t solve the problem.

“This is a popular discussion at the moment. Multiple factors need to be addressed to have the desired outcome. Just blanketing it with the ball or a driver head or something else isn’t going to get the outcome we desire. It may have an effect, but it’s not necessarily how I believe the game should be played at the highest level.”

Other elite players like Rory McIlroy said in 2023 that it would make no difference whatsoever to an average golfer, but it would make the sport much more sustainable.

Also, Cameron Young claimed that he liked the flight of a random ball he hit at a Titleist facility. Later, he read that the ball had passed a test of which he wasn’t aware until recently.

That ball seemed to work best for him when he used it at last year’s Wyndham Championship to claim his first PGA Tour win.

Young seeing success is something that Scheffler indirectly highlighted in his statement.