Tiger Woods has demanded one specific thing from the PGA Tour for years (Image: @TODAYshow)
The PGA Tour announced a wide series of changes to its rules and competitions this week but the one change Tiger Woods has been demanding for years has been ignored.
The PGA Tour has rolled out a raft of changes, yet they’ve sidestepped the one Tiger Woods has been championing for years. Since the emergence of LIV Golf in 2021, backed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, the PGA has been vying with the new tour.
While stars like Brooks Koepka and Dustin Johnson have jumped ship for lucrative deals with the breakaway faction, Woods, at 48, has stayed true to the PGA. In an effort to compete with LIV, the PGA has introduced several alterations, including smaller tournament fields.
However, the change most golfers, including Tiger Woods, are clamoring for – the option to wear shorts during play – remains unaddressed. Currently, PGA players must wear trousers, regardless of sweltering conditions in places like Florida and South Africa.
Despite the push from Woods and others, the PGA is sticking to its trousers-only policy.
In a 2018 interview, when asked about his preference for playing in shorts, Woods said: “I would love it. We play in some of the hottest climates on the planet.”
He added, “We usually travel with the sun, and a lot of our events are in the summer, and then on top of that when we have winter months here, a lot of the guys will go down to South Africa and Australia where it’s summer down there.”
“A lot of the tournaments are based right around the equator, so we play in some of the hottest places on the planet. It would be nice to wear shorts. Even with my little chicken legs, I still would like to wear shorts.”
LIV Golf allows players to wear shorts during competition. Koepka has previously expressed his preference for playing in shorts, stating: “It’s so much nicer”.
Tiger Woods and other PGA stars would have been pleased with many of the recent changes to PGA rules and competitions. In October, the PGA Tour Players Advisory Council suggested a variety of modifications to the tour’s competitive structure.
Before announcing these changes, a statement from the PGA Tour Policy Board read: “The PGA Tour Policy Board today approved competitive changes supported by the Player Advisory Council (PAC) that will deliver a stronger and more competitive and entertaining PGA Tour to fans, players, tournaments and partner.”
Among the changes were a reduction in the number of players who can maintain their tour cards with fully exempt status from 125 to 100, and a decrease in the number of tour cards for players graduating from the Korn Ferry Tour from 30 to 20. The number of participants in many events, such as the Players’ Championship, has also been reduced.
PGA Tour chief competitions officer Tyler Dennis remarked on the recent changes, stating: “These field size adjustments, which also promote a better flow of play, improve the chances of rounds being completed each day with a greater ability to make the 36-hole cut on schedule under normal weather conditions.”
He added that this would be more appealing for fans, saying, “For our fans, this certainty sets up weekend storylines much more effectively and will make the PGA Tour easier and more enjoyable to follow.”
