\t\t\t\tIt\u2019s one of the biggest changes to the Rules of Golf in decades, but the golf ball rollback has left the Grand Slam champion and his fellow tour pros feeling \u2018frustrated\u2019\u2026<\/p>\n
It is not that Rory McIlroy opposes the golf ball rollback.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In fact, the Masters champion has been such a strong advocate for the landmark change that he took to social media<\/a> when the R&A and the USGA first announced their plans in December 2023.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t understand the anger about the golf ball rollback,\u201d an impassioned McIlroy wrote. \u201cIt will make no difference whatsoever to the average golfer and puts golf back on a path of sustainability. It will also help bring back certain skills in the pro game that have been eradicated over the past 2 decades.\u201d<\/p>\n The PGA Tour\u2019s second longest hitter in 2025 \u2013 behind the burly South African Aldrich Potgeiter \u2013 wants to carry the ball a shorter distance and, for many, it is easy to see why.\u00a0<\/p>\n Those cathedrals of the game McIlroy often likes to talk about \u2013 the Old Course<\/a> at St Andrews and plenty others \u2013 are at risk of becoming obsolete as a challenge for the elite and the Northern Irishman wants to protect them by reining in the biggest hitters.\u00a0<\/p>\n And so, from January 2028, every existing golf ball currently in circulation will be rendered non-confirming<\/a> by the R&A and USGA, with the hope that hitting distances for the big guns will be curbed by at least 15 yards.\u00a0<\/p>\n McIlroy\u2019s big problem, however, is his belief that these proposed changes announced two years ago will be inconsequential by the time they are actually implemented.\u00a0<\/p>\n