Cameron Young revealed Wednesday at the PGA Championship at Aronimink Golf Club that he has been unknowingly playing a ball that would conform under the proposed rollback testing changes.
The ball: a Titleist Pro V1x Double Dot, a tour-only prototype that Young has been playing since last August.
Young put the ball in play ahead of the Wyndham Championship at the back end of the 2025 season. He won that week at Sedgefield Country Club, a long-awaited maiden PGA Tour title. He’s since added The Players and the Cadillac Championship to his resume, and teed up at the 108th PGA Championship as the third favorite behind Rory McIlroy and defending champion Scottie Scheffler.
The kicker: Young knew nothing about the ball being conforming under the new rules. “I put it in play for the same reason that everybody else plays the ball that they play,” he said. “I hit it during a ball test at one of the Titleist facilities probably close to two years ago and didn’t know anything about it. I said, ‘Hey, what’s that one?’ Because I liked the flight.”
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The USGA and R&A announced in December 2023 a plan to change the Overall Distance Standard, which would roll back the ball for elite players by 13 to 15 yards in driver distance. The testing conditions would increase to 125-mph clubhead speed and an 11-degree launch angle, up from the current 120-mph clubhead speed and 10-degree launch angle. The testing limit of 317 yards with 3 yards of tolerance remains unchanged.
The new standards are set to take effect in 2028, though that timeline is rumored to be pushed to 2030.
Young’s driving average before putting the new ball in play was 302.7 yards. This season, his driving average remains unchanged at 302.7 yards. He also hit the longest drive in the ShotLink era on the 72nd hole at The Players Championship, measuring 375 yards.
The Pro V1x Double Dot was not designed to be conforming to the new standard. Instead, it was a lower-spinning option that allowed Young to better control his iron and wedge shots.
Young explained it himself: “I don’t think any of us are out here really playing the ball that goes the farthest. I think you’d struggle to find a single person that’s doing that. We’re all sacrificing a certain amount of things that we feel are worth it. For me, the biggest thing is being able to control spin, and this is the ball that does the best for me.”
Golf balls deemed conforming under the new standard do not impact players uniformly. Players who spin the ball more, like Young, don’t see as much of a drop off in speed and distance as those who spin the ball less.
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Other Tour players have noticed. Lucas Glover was direct: “It’s laughable that they think we use the longest golf balls that are available to us. They think we optimize for distance, that’s ludicrous. Nobody hits the ball we can hit the furthest, we use a ball that’s the best all around. A lot of guys use a ball that doesn’t go as far for more feel.”
Young wasn’t rattled by the news. “The manufacturers are so good. They’re going to find their way to make a good golf ball no matter what the restrictions are. So it doesn’t really concern me that much, frankly.”
The USGA had no comment.
