Lucas Glover continues to voice his frustrations about driver testing, arguing that there still isn’t a level playing field at majors, or anywhere else on the PGA Tour.
The issue has been in the spotlight ever since Rory McIlroy had to swap out his driver just before the PGA Championship when it was ruled non-conforming. Since then, questions about how testing is conducted – and who gets tested – haven’t gone away.
Glover, a six-time PGA Tour winner, has long criticised golf’s governing bodies – including The Masters committee, PGA of America, USGA, and R&A – over inconsistent driver testing.
He claims not all players are held to the same standards, as testing isn’t conducted for every competitor. Now, the South Carolina native has doubled down on those views.
Lucas Glover claims golfers are not playing with same rules
At 45, Glover is well-established as one of the more vocal players on tour when it comes to the way the game is governed.
Slow play has long been one of his main complaints, but his focus now appears to have shifted to inconsistencies in how equipment rules are applied, especially driver testing.
He explained to SiriusXM: “I myself have never seen them get in there with a microscope and write down the serial number, but that’s what they say they do, and if that’s the case, great. Still, that’s not my overwhelming concern and point here.
“It’s the fact that we have other tours and other people coming in and playing in the four biggest events. We have the overwhelming majority of the field as PGA Tour members, so let’s all play under the same guidelines.
“I know our tour has gone to the four major bodies holding these majors and said, ‘alright, we’ve got to start testing everybody now if possible’. Kudos to the tour for trying to protect us, but the fact is they’re not capable of doing it even on our tour accurately in my opinion, because of the ways around it.
“That being said, I’m not here to attack anybody, I just want the level playing field for everybody. That goes from drivers to drug-testing to the rules, everything.”
It’s hard to find fault with what Glover says. There are clear differences in how testing is applied, and there are few in the golf world who would argue against a more consistent approach.
Glover further explains rule problems
PGA Tour pro J.T. Poston recently spoke about why swapping drivers isn’t as simple as it might appear, even if the new club is supposed to be an exact match.
He explained, “A lot of us can tell the difference, I mean we hit thousands of golf balls every single day. So when you’re looking at the same club over and over again, you’re going to notice when it looks a little off.
“I notice it with my putter when I get it out of my bag and sometimes it doesn’t look right. We’ll get it checked and the loft or lie might be off by half a degree, it sounds so small, but when you’re used to looking at a club over and over again, you’re going to notice. The same goes with the drivers.
“For me, I’m very particular visually, so like, if I do get a new one, a lot of times we will go through two or three that are the exact same head, the same specs, same weight, same everything, but some of them look a touch more shut or a touch more open to my eye compared to what my gamer is.
“I’m trying to find the closest thing to that game that I can, because that’s what’s going to give me the confidence on the course.”
Nathan Hassett
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