LOS ANGELES — Ludwig Oberg and caddy Joe Skovron are the primary gamers to make the most of a 2026 guidelines replace that enables gamers to interchange broken golf equipment on the spot, making them simply a part of the principles’ historical past.
On this case, it was the 18th tee of the third spherical at Pebble Seashore.
Oberg hit his drive out of bounds to the proper on the ninth gap, the par-5 18th, and seen the face of his driver was cracked.
Mannequin Native Rule G-9 was up to date in early 2025 to incorporate seen cracks within the face after Matt Fitzpatrick was denied the chance to alter drivers on the BMW Championship at Fortress Pines the earlier yr. Nonetheless, golfers nonetheless needed to hold spare drivers or components within the locker room.
This yr, the PGA Tour referred to as for an replace that might enable gamers to maintain a spare driver head of their bag and swap it out on the course if a membership is deemed broken.
“They notified us of the rule modifications firstly of the yr, and certainly one of them was that (substitutes) not needed to be stored in lockers,” Skovron mentioned. “Earlier than, somebody needed to get it. Now you possibly can carry it in your bag, and in the event you suppose the driving force is broken, you possibly can put it in. I had a backup within the stomach of my bag.”
Skovron mentioned it is smart for energy gamers with excessive pace and faces which might be getting thinner and thinner.
Oberg referred to as authorities, the crack was discovered, and Skovron put in a alternative. In any other case, Oberg must use a 3-wood on his subsequent tee shot and couldn’t change drivers till he turned close to the clubhouse. Oberg virtually salvaged par and hit the inexperienced in two, however simply missed the 18-foot putt.
Steve Rintoul, the PGA Tour’s guidelines official, mentioned what occurred at Oberg was “an excellent instance of why we pushed for native rule modifications.”
“If a participant finds a crack on the tenth tee, the caddy can go to the locker room. If it is the 14th tee, it would take two holes to seek out it,” Rintoul mentioned. “I like that if a membership cracks or breaks, I can substitute it on the spot. The outdated alternative strategies have been very antiquated.”
