USGA Stands Firm on Driver Testing, Despite Criticism
Oakmont, Pa. – The USGA, the governing body of golf in the United States, has confirmed that it has no plans to modify the way drivers are tested, despite recent requests from some prominent golfers. The decision comes after several players, including Xander Schauffele, expressed concern about the need to examine all drivers before tournaments. The driver testing issue gained relevance at last month’s PGA Championship, after Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy’s drivers were deemed non-conforming.Whan also revealed that the USGA conducted driver tests at Oakmont this week, although he did not specify how many were deemed non-conforming. The results of these tests remain confidential. The USGA tests evaluate the characteristic time of drivers, which essentially measures how long a ball remains on the clubface. If a ball remains on the driver’s face for more than 257 microseconds, the club is considered too flexible and non-conforming.“If we saw an alarming trend in terms of how many or how far they are moving beyond the permitted limits, we would change the way we approach it,” stated Mike Whan, CEO of the USGA, at a press conference at Oakmont Country Club, host of this week’s US Open. “But with what we are seeing today, it would be a major disruption. The effort wouldn’t be worth it.”
Mike Whan, CEO of the USGA
The faces of drivers become more elastic with use. Scheffler, who earned his third major victory at the PGA Championship, was aware that his driver was close to being non-conforming because he had used it for more than a year. According to Whan, PGA Tour golfers’ drivers are tested two or three times per season, and the USGA tests around 30 drivers at each tournament.“Think of a child jumping on a trampoline, the longer he’s on the trampoline, the further he’ll bounce,” Whan explained. “We set a limit with the manufacturers as to how long the ball can stay. There’s a test, there’s a tolerance, but at the end of the day, if it’s there for more than 257 microseconds, we consider that club to be out of tolerance.”
Mike Whan, CEO of the USGA
In last month’s Memorial Tournament, Schauffele suggested that, if he were in charge of driver testing, he would “test everyone and make sure to get the serial number of each driver.” Lucas Glover suggested on his SiriusXM PGA Tour radio show that some golfers do not submit to the USGA the actual drivers they are going to use in the competition. When she declared at the U.S. Women’s Open that “90% of the drivers they give us at those practice facilities when we do the tests are used on the first tee.” «As a regulatory body, if we had concerns about this incredible advantage, we would change the degree to which we conduct testing,» Whan concluded. «But we believe that the tests we are doing now are proportional to the size of both the problem and the reality of the problem.»“We believe the tests we are conducting are proportional to the degree of failure we see, which is quite minimal,” Whan stated. “Frankly, when we see failures, at least currently, we are seeing sticks that are just approaching the line. We are not seeing drivers that say, ‘Oh, my God, look where that went.'”
Mike Whan, CEO of the USGA
