When to Regulate the Tools of the Trade

A refrain from Mike Whan since the introduction of the MLR proposal back in March has been, “Governance is hard.” And we’re seeing the challenge in force this summer with the pushback against any sort of equipment rollback continuing as various parties struggle to balance political will and capital. Monday brought the PGA of America’s expected stance against imposing any sort of equipment rollback, or at least on such a “sudden” timeline.

Governance is hard, but the problem has never been so simply articulated than it was this past weekend. Bryson DeChambeau, a strident opponent of rollback, opened his mouth and went off and running on his new driver, manufactured by long-drive specialist Krank. (It is in fact a USGA-conforming club.)

Prior to his Sunday 58 at the Greenbrier, DeChambeau said:

“This driver is definitely—I don’t want to say too much. It’s fantastic for anyone that’s over 175 ball speed—ever since I put this driver into play, it’s not been really my golf swing. It’s just hit on the toe, hit on the heel, everything comes back down the middle of the fairway, and I’m like, all right, let’s go. Pick up the tee and let’s go. The driver has been really nice. It’s allowed me to have some time to myself after rounds instead of going and working my butt off all the time.”

The prosecution rests. There should be nothing more to say. It’s as much of a screaming siren crying out for regulation as anything. It also speaks to the bifurcation that already exists—a piece of equipment in which the benefits are only realized at a certain speed, and those benefits appear to be a self-correcting driver that deemphasizes skill and hard work to maintain it. Bryson is too good to need this. His admission is an open-and-shut case. But governance is hard, and there are many competing interests muddying matters that should be quite simple.

This past weekend highlighted another glaring equipment issue, but this one is less cut and dry. Lucas Glover’s win at the Wyndham Championship brought the long putter into view again. It is not hyperbolic to say this style of putter has saved his summer and season. Maybe his career. The reversal in results and fortunes since putting it in his bag in June are staggering.

Lucas Glover's bounce-back

Glover has always struggled on the greens, especially from close range. On the Sunday broadcast, the announcers indicated that Glover believes that his new putter has taken away the perils of tap-ins for him.

Lucas Glover putting this season on PGA Tour

Before adding long putter
-0.78 SG Putting per round, 31% rounds with positive strokes gained putting

Since adding long putter
+0.66 SG Putting per round, 72% rounds with positive strokes gained putting

— Justin Ray (@JustinRayGolf) August 7, 2023

Should one equipment swap, as opposed to skill or technique, be so directly responsible for a change in fortune? Glover is not almost (or blatantly) anchoring in the way that some others with long putters do on various tours. As I’ve been told Jason Gore once said, the USGA made it “hard” on themselves as soon as they incorporated the concept of “intent” into the rules. This muddied the waters and gave anchorers plausible deniability.

There’s a delicate balance between skill and equipment in golf, one that other sports don’t have to confront as often. How much of a great performance do we attribute to skill, and how much to the wand? And what about the skill of using a particular wand with particular effectiveness? Glover seems to have found a way to use a long putter with great proficiency. The same can be said of every club in Bryson’s bag, from the armlock putter to the single-length irons to the Krank driver.

Still, we don’t let Steph Curry launch basketballs with rim-seeking technology or Patrick Mahomes throw footballs that adjust in the air to a pass-catcher’s speed on a given play. Golf is a complex mixture of elite skill and tools. Governance is hard. But things have clearly tilted out of balance when someone with Bryson DeChambeau’s talent says the club is doing most of the work.