PGA Tour approves shorts for practice, pro-am rounds
MEXICO CITY: Tiger Woods, a 14time major winner, is paired with Mexico’s Abraham Ancer and
Woods, whose 80 career US PGA titles are two shy of Sam Snead’s career record, shared 15th in last week’s tour event at Riviera and remains a fan favorite at age 43 even though he last won a major crown at the 2008 US Open.
H i s group wa s among four featured threesomes announced early for the
Players will be allowed to wear shorts in PGA Tour practice and pro-am rounds under a change in player appearance guidelines unveiled on Monday ( Tuesday in Manila).
The change, effective immediately, applies only to tournaments on six tours operated under the PGA Tour umbrella.
Long pants will remain required attire for all official competition rounds.
This week’s World Golf Championships Mexico Championship and the US PGA Puerto
Woods 14
rounds of the WGC Mexico Championship, organizers announced on Monday (Tuesday in Manila).
of the match up at Club de Golf Chapultepec,
event played by Woods in Mexico.
Woods owns a record 18 WGC titles from nine different locations worldwide.
DeChambeau has won four of his past 10 worldwide starts, two of them in last year’s PGA Tour playoffs.
Ancer won last December’s Australian Open and ranks sixth on the list of Internationals
showdown later this year in Australia against an American squad to be guided by Woods.
Other attention getting trios for
McIlroy playing alongside Americans Bubba Watson and Brooks Koepka; an all-US group of Phil Mickelson, Justin Thomas and Dustin Johnson plus reigning Masters champion Patrick Reed alongside fellow American Rickie Fowler and Spain’s Jon Rahm.
Four-time major winner McIlroy of Northern Ireland, who shared Rico Open will be the first tournaments offering golfers the apparel option.
The move follows years of discussions about shorts being worn during non- competition days with positive feedback from players, fans, sponsors and tournaments for the change.
“It makes the guys a lot more comfortable,” four-time major winner Rory McIlroy said of wearing shorts. “I don’t think there’s anything wrong with professional golfers showing the lower half of their leg.” third career WGC title. Two-time Masters champion Bubba Watson also owns two WGC victories while three-time major winner Koepka
Fowler makes
his
first
start victory at the Phoenix Open while
Defending champion Mickelson makes his 600th career PGA Tour start after winning his 44th PGA title two weeks ago at Pebble Beach while Thomas, who lost a playoff to left-hander Mickelson last year in Mexico, boasts the course record at Club de Golf Chapultepec with a 62 and Johnson won WGC Mexico titles in 2015 and 2017.
James Hahn, co-chairman of the PGA Tour Advisory Council, informed PGA players of the rule change in a video posted on Twitter.
Shorts must be knee-length, tailored and neat in appearance. Compression leggings worn under shorts must be solid in color.
PGA Tour caddies were first allowed to wear shorts during competition days in 1999.
The European Tour began a policy for players wearing shorts in practice rounds in 2016.
The PGA of America has allowed players to wear shorts for practice rounds at the PGA Championship the past two years.
Tiger Woods, a 14-time major winner, said he would welcome the chance to wear shorts in practice rounds in a Facebook Live interview last year.
Woods will have his chance to don shorts for the first time in a practice round at the WGC event in Mexico on Tuesday.