AUGUSTA, Ga. — Twenty-two days after the governing bodies sounded the bugle in a battle for the future of golf, the cavalry arrived on Wednesday at Augusta National.
It was March 14 when the USGA and R&A proposed a modified local rule that, if adopted, would introduce a limited-distance ball at the elite level. The timing wasn’t accidental. It accommodated three weeks of predictable histrionics, warnings, bluster and social media carping from every constituency: Tour players, architecture nerds, equipment manufacturers, invested observers, armchair analysts, media partners and influential shills. Which was just enough time for the smoke to begin clearing before what will likely prove the decisive contribution in a long-smoldering and sulfurous debate:
“We have been consistent in our support of the governing bodies, and we restate our desire to see distance addressed.”
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Thus spake Fred Ridley, chairman of Augusta National and the Masters. He added that while the club will respect the feedback period established by the governing bodies (it runs through August 14), he left no doubt as to what position his powerful entities will adopt.
“I’ve stated that we believe distance needs to be addressed,” Ridley said. “I think the natural conclusion is, yes, we will be supportive.”
So when theory becomes practice — on Jan. 1, 2026, when the proposed change would take effect — the 90th Masters will be the first major championship contested with a modified ball. It will be followed that same year by the Opens, U.S. and British, since the governing bodies who run those events have made clear they will exercise their own option. What odds the PGA Championship — ever mindful of being perceived as the runt of the major litter — will diminish itself by choosing to separate itself further on the ball issue? Your move, Mr. Waugh.
Having every major conducted with a modified ball will test the willingness of Tour players to switch equipment from their weekly money games for events that actually define legacies. When the whining is exhausted — admittedly, this might take until Dec. 31, 2025 — the professional proletariat will reconcile itself to the new reality. Without Wednesday’s unambiguous signal from Ridley, the future landscape would look a lot more uncertain. His words lend support to the governing bodies, clarity to the future, and no succor to the smash bros.
Masters 2023 leaderboard: Get the latest news from Augusta
Chairman’s press conferences at Augusta National are usually divided into two fields: housekeeping and legacy. For Ridley, the legacy aspect concerned an investment in municipal golf to create pathways into the game in the city of Augusta, of which his famed club is a part while being apart.
Housekeeping matters included announcing that the NCAA champion will receive an invitation to compete in the Masters and explaining why an invitation to attend was not extended to Greg Norman, the commissar of LIV Golf. It was akin to asking grandpa why his Thanksgiving guest list is missing a former friend who promised to break the furniture, insulted the decor and announced plans for his friends to hold a celebratory kegger on your lawn.
Ridley replied that he wanted the focus to be on the Masters, not on the Saudi-financed civil war roiling golf (which is considerably less deadly than the one they’re funding in Yemen). He added that Norman has only been here twice in the past decade, including once while working as an announcer. What of Norman’s recent grouse that he might never be invited back to Augusta National?
“It’s hard to answer that question because, you know, I don’t know where the world is going to be next year or two years from now,” Ridley said, the kind of equivocation that constitutes a drive-by in the parlance of Augusta National. “I would never say never. But I told you why he had not been invited this year.”
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Crude translation for the flaxen-haired finger puppet: faff around and find out.
Nor would the Chairman be drawn on whether changes will be made to Masters invitation criteria that would make it tougher for LIV players to qualify — unsurprising since LIV is dispensing subpoenas in a failing effort to prove golf’s bodies are conspiring against it.
“I’m sure there will be changes in the future, but none beyond what I announced this morning,” he finally offered.
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Augusta National’s reverence for past Masters champions makes exclusion of LIV golfers impossible. Six attended the Champions Dinner on Tuesday. The other twelve competing this week will find future access tougher as their world ranking slips, a trend likely to accelerate due to an imminent – and unappealable – decision by a sports arbitration panel in the UK that will effectively lock LIV players out of DP World Tour events. That means LIV guys who want to earn ranking points will need to familiarize themselves with the Asian Tour schedule, where even wins yield paltry ranking points given the shallow talent pool participating.
As clearly as Ridley endorsed the governing bodies’ authority to regulate distance, he was equally direct in defending the Official World Golf Ranking system, which has been under a sustained assault by Norman and his mealy-mouthed marionettes, who insist LIV tournaments must be awarded points despite meeting almost none of the established criteria to be recognized.
“It’s an objective criteria based on data-driven analytics, and it’s consistently applied,” Ridley said. “I think most would agree it’s a good system.”
Ridley is a traditionalist’s idea of a company man, the type of chap who, in the words of E.B. White, winds the clock daily in a contribution toward order and steadfastness. His fealty to golf’s established order and to the values of the game in which he has spent a lifetime are unshakeable. It’s accepted that he’s the unchallenged authority within the walls of Augusta National. The intent he signaled Wednesday will go some way to proving that the influence of his position extends over a much greater realm.
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