Lucas Glover illustrates key differences in golf balls that have been dialled back

Lucas Glover kicked off his career as a radio host this Wednesday, when he aired the inaugural broadcast of his show on SiriusXM PGA Tour Radio.

Glover used the occasion to talk about one of the topics of the moment: the ball rollback rule. He offered details of his own experience with the balls that have already been developed following the new parameters established by the United States Golf Association (USGA) and the R&A.

According to Lucas Glover, the ball he tested traveled a much shorter distance than is customary for him.

This was part of what Glover had to say on his show (via SiriusXM PGA TOUR Radio):

"For me... 2028... I don't even know if I'll be playing anymore, so, I'm not really all that worried about it. I haven't done a whole lot of research on it, but I have tested some golf balls... One of the balls, Srixon, I really, really hit a nice stroke, 242 yards.

"That was with my driver, and I promiss I'll would tell you if I misshited, I don't misshited this one. It was 45 to 50 yards shorter. That was one of the balls, who knows how those parameters are gonna look like when it actually comes out in five years."

The USGA and the R&A made the ball rollback rule official in a joint statement issued last Wednesday, December 6.

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Have other players tried modified balls like Lucas Glover?

The governing bodies assured everyone that the ball rollback rule would reduce the drives of the most powerful players among the professional elite by no more than 15 yards. Average players in terms of driving distance should see a reduction of no more than 11 yards.

LPGA Tour and LET players should see their long shots reduced by approximately nine yards, while recreational players will lose no more than five yards. This is according to the USGA and R&A's joint statement on the ball rollback rule.

However, at least one other player tested balls already modified. Golf analyst Ron Mintz reported Thursday (on X, formerly Twitter) that Keegan Bradley performed such a test, and that his drives were reduced by 40 to 50 yards.

The reports from Lucas Glover and Bradley are a far cry from the claims made by the governing bodies. It is evident that there is a long way to go to develop balls that meet the requirements of the new rule.

The PGA Tour's average driving distance for the 2022-2023 season was 299.9 yards. A reduction as seen by Keegan and Glover would bring this variable to around 250 yards. This represents more than 60 yards less than the Overall Distance Standard sought by governing bodies, which is 317 yards.