The PGA Tour have announced a whole series of new changes to keep up with LIV Golf - but refused to alter one issue that has frustrated Tiger Woods for decades. Woods, 48, has remained loyal to the PGA, despite the mega millions on offer from LIV which has seen some of the game's top players switch over to the rival tour.
He has been one of the most important voices for the PGA, digging his heels in while the likes of Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka and Jon Rahm signed multi-million dollar deals to join the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund backed organisation. Despite his loyalty, the PGA has been reluctant to budge from their traditional rules on golfing attire.
Woods and many other players have repeatedly been campaigning for the freedom to wear golf shorts in competition. While there have been some alterations to PGA events, a change in the permitted golf clothing is not one of them.
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Among the key changes are the shrinking of field sizes, which has seen the number of players who are able to retain their tour cards with fully exempt status at year's end decrease from 125 to 100. Moreover, players graduating from the Korn Ferry Tour will only be able to compete for 20 tour cards, rather than 30.
There has also been a significant change in the field sizes for many events such as the Players Championship, which has been reduced to 120 players. Many of the proposed changes, which will be implemented for the 2026 season, were pitched by the Player Advisory Council.
PGA commisioner Jay Monahan commented on the changes in a statement which said: “This was a true collaborative effort, and I’m extremely proud of the PAC for the time and effort they put into evaluating how we build a stronger PGA Tour."
However, Woods would have been frustrated by the reluctance to allow shorts. He has repeatedly mentioned his desire to move away from trousers, citing the fact that they compete in countries such as South Africa, where the weather is, almost always, sweltering.
In a 2018 interview, when asked if he would like to be freed from being forced to wear trousers, Woods said: "I would love it. We play in some of the hottest climates on the planet.
"We usually travel with the sun, and a lot of our events are in the summer, and then on top of that when we have winter months here, a lot of the guys will go down to South Africa and Australia where it's summer down there.
“A lot of the tournaments are based right around the equator, so we play in some of the hottest places on the planet. It would be nice to wear shorts. Even with my little chicken legs, I still would like to wear shorts."
