Could More Equipment Testing Be Coming To The PGA TOUR?

When you hear about rules violations on the PGA TOUR this year, it’s usually related to something that has taken place on the course, especially since a ton of rule changes were enacted this year. But after The Open Championship, there is a lot of talk about equipment violations.

There isn’t as much equipment testing on the PGA TOUR as you would probably think but the PGA TOUR conducted characteristic time tests on drivers that were set to be used by pros ahead of The Open Championship a few weeks ago. And out of the 30 drivers that were tested, four of them failed the test, most notably Xander Schauffele’s Callaway Driver. And the number of drivers that failed is illuminating how lax the PGA TOUR is with these tests.

Callaway, Schauffele, and other players affected have been pleading their case after their equipment failed the test, but most people are wondering how something like this wasn’t being done already. In a world of golf where people are worried about how far players are hitting balls now, one would think that equipment tests would be a major part of the PGA TOUR’s testing but it is not.

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This oversight has resulted in many people attempting to craft a solution that would allow for players taking advantage of their equipment to be punished but not many have come up with strong solutions. Bryson DeChambeau, the “scientist” that he is, thinks he might have a solution that he’s stealing from NASCAR: test the top five finishers equipment for failed tests like CT. And if any of those players’ equipment fails, they lose half of their FedExCup points.

He wouldn’t go as far as vacating championship wins, however. “You putted well, you chipped well,” DeChambeau said. “But I think there needs to be some repercussions from using something that’s not under the conformance rules. If they want to challenge the ruling, they can go do some tests to see if it was truly over.” DeChambeau makes a good point that driving is only one part of the game but it is a major part of the equation that could warrant deeper punishment than he describes.

The whole issue seems like a Pandora’s Box, where if you’re going to start testing drivers consistently why not do so with every club in a bag? There seem to be a lot of kinks to work out but this does seem like a legitimate problem that could get worse as more test results are revealed. And if pressure keeps mounting, the PGA TOUR will have to do something to respond.

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