"Lucas Glover Accuses PGA Tour Policy Board of Underestimating Our Intelligence"
Experienced champion Lucas Glover publicly criticized the proposed changes to field sizes starting in 2026, labeling them as "cool kid meetings."
The PGA Tour Policy Board was scheduled to meet on Monday to discuss various changes, including the reduction of some field sizes. Glover, the 2009 U.S. Open winner and current 50th ranked player in the world, believes that a small group of individuals are pushing for these changes under the guise of addressing pace of play concerns.
In the proposed changes, full-field events played on a single golf course would decrease from 156 players to 144, and full-field events before daylight savings time would decrease from 132 players to 120. Tournaments played on multiple courses would continue to have 156-player fields.
The number of exempt players on the PGA Tour would also be reduced from 125 to 100, with the 25 eliminated spots maintaining conditional status.
The main argument for these changes is that tournaments played during fall and winter months often struggle to complete the first and second rounds on schedule, resulting in the 36-hole cut being moved to Saturday. However, Glover believes that enforcing the current rules rather than eliminating players' jobs is the solution.
Glover also believes that the board's job is to prioritize the best interests of all members, not just a select few. He argues that there are 200 players whose livelihoods depend on these tournaments, and their jobs should not be taken away because of a few slow players.
Gary Young, the tour's senior vice president of rules and competition, claims that reducing field sizes will improve pace of play. He states that discussions with the Player Advisory Council have led to the conclusion that 144 players is the ideal field size, as having two waves of 78 players each creates a "parking lot" situation.
Young also mentions that the schedule has been adjusted to accommodate for the reduced field sizes, with some events having even smaller fields due to time constraints.
The current pace of play rules involve warning a group that falls out of position, followed by putting them on the clock. Only after a second bad time is a stroke penalty given. Glover suggests doing away with the warning and immediately issuing penalties to improve pace of play.
Glover, a six-time PGA Tour winner, is a member of the TGL's Atlanta Drive Golf Club along with Patrick Cantlay, Justin Thomas, and Billy Horschel. Cantlay and Thomas are both on the Player Advisory Council, with Thomas also serving as a board member.
