Trump takes different stance to golf icons on rule | Golf News

Donald Trump has launched a fierce assault on proposals to roll back the golf ball, and his stance will doubtless disappoint Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player.

President Trump, a passionate golfer who owns a number of programs, praised Wednesday’s announcement from the governing our bodies, the USGA and R&A, that plans to introduce rollback laws in 2028 had been paused.

The rollback goals to handle the space will increase achieved by gamers due to technological developments and enhancements in sports activities science, which have made some shorter programs outdated. However, the rollback has been delayed following opposition from gamers and producers, and Trump has called for it to be deserted completely.

The President labeled the proposal “ridiculous” in a post on his Truth Social platform, stating: “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.

“It was a ridiculous concept, that no one wished, particularly PGA Tour gamers, and people that don’t desire to go to a Course to be told that their drives might be going 20 yards shorter. What the USGA ought to do is agree that, far into the future, they won’t enable the current ball to go additional. In other phrases, they are going to keep the ball the same!”

“The recreation of golf is ‘scorching as a pistol.’ The last factor we must always do is inform people that, for no cause in anyway, you will be unable to hit a ball as far as you used to. Has anybody ever heard of something so ridiculous? President DONALD J. TRUMP.”

While Trump’s stance may resonate with certain players, golfing legends Nicklaus and Player take a starkly different position on the issue.

Speaking at Augusta National following their ceremonial tee shots at the Masters in April, nine-time major champion Player characterized the inability to limit distance in professional golf as a “tragedy.”

He reiterated his support for bifurcation, advocating for separate regulations governing competitive and recreational play.

“I imagine the ball must be cut back 60 yards, only for skilled golf,” he said. “Leave everybody to golf as it’s. They’re the center of the sport, but skilled golf isn’t. With regard to skilled golf, cut the ball back 60 yards.

“It’s a tragedy. We got away from the concept of golf when it started originally, a par-5, a par-4, and a par-3. There is no such thing as a par-5 in the world today. We saw Rory with a 7-iron last year when he won the Masters, they’re hitting 8-irons and 7-irons to par-5s.”

Eighteen-time major winner Nicklaus bolstered his former competitor’s perspective. He remarked: “The golf ball needs to be reined in. What they’re doing right now is throwing a deck chair off the Titanic, and it’s not getting enough done. It needs to really come back.

“I do know a lot of people do not like that, but I believe Gary is totally proper. It’s land prices, water, fertilization, the fee to play the sport of golf, the time it takes to play – all those issues are components in why the golf ball wants to come back. My feeling is that they’re never going to deliver it back to the extent they need to deliver it back to.”