U.S. Open 2025: USGA remains 'full-speed ahead' on impending golf ball rollback

OAKMONT, Pa. — For the last few weeks, USGA CEO Mike Whan has been in "a cave," with little contact with the outside world. Prepping for a major championship can cause you to put day-to-day tasks on hold, such as regularly checking emails.

"I'm a few weeks behind [on] my emails right now," Whan said.

When he does come up for air on Monday, he'll inevitably be greeted with an inbox loaded with opinions on the impending golf ball rollback. Golf's governing bodies have already announced official start dates for a rollback at the elite (January 2028) and recreational levels (2030), but that doesn't mean everyone is on the same team when it comes to changing a key piece of equipment in their bag.

On Wednesday, ahead of this week's U.S. Open, Whan admitted his anxiety level increases every time he checks his email and sifts through the rollback responses.

"What the anxiety comes from is every time I open my computer and read 100 emails, 50 people say 'I can't believe you're changing the ball,' and 50 people say 'is that all you're doing on the ball?'" said Whan. "Nobody says, 'I think it's exactly right.'"

Herein lies the biggest conundrum for the USGA as it prepares to host the 125th edition of the U.S. Open. As the USGA and R&A remain steadfast in their belief that the ball needs to be rolled back for the long-term future of the sport, other partners have questioned the timing and reasoning along the way, including the PGA of America, PGA Tour and numerous equipment manufacturers.

"There's no change in our stance," said PGA of America CEO Derek Sprague during last month's PGA Championship. "We're certainly vehemently against the ball rollback. We've had great conversations with the governing bodies since that point. We've had several constructive and collaborative meetings, probably several times, three, four times."

Asked if pushback from within the sport could cause the USGA to reconsider its plan and make adjustments before 2028, Whan reiterated they were "full-speed ahead on what we've announced."

"Those decisions have been made," he said. "I'm really excited that the different stakeholders are in the room talking about the how-to and what further things we need to know to do that better."

Under the USGA and R&A's revised ball testing conditions, equipment manufacturers will have new offerings tested at 125 mph clubhead speed (equivalent to 183 mph ball speed) with a spin rate of 2,200 RPMs and launch angle of 11 degrees. The current conditions, implemented 20 years ago, are set at 120 mph (176 mph ball speed), 2,520 RPMs with a launch angle of 10 degrees.

The increase in clubhead speed is designed to keep up with a sport that continues to get faster, particularly at the highest level of professional golf where the average ball speed of the fastest 25 players was 183.4 mph in 2023. And with a new crop of golfers with elite speed waiting in the wings, the USGA believes the updated testing conditions reflect where the game is headed in the pro ranks.

"I don't want balls flying out of the sky at a certain number," Whan said. "People say keep it the same, and then you say, how do you want me to do that? One of the ways we'll do that is to make small adjustments so that distance over the long-term, 40 and 50 years, is similar.

"We know that distance will continue to increase. We know people will chase it, and quite frankly, it's a game advantage that you should chase if you can accomplish it."

With the clock ticking on manufacturers to make ball adjustments and partners to get on board, the obvious question is whether anything could change in the coming years to sway the USGA's existing path to a rollback for all.

Whan left the door ajar for possible changes, but in his eyes, nothing has made them believe their path isn't the best one moving forward.

"We've given manufacturers dates that we know they're working on," he said. "They're submitting prototypes and have R&D efforts. I guess would you say set in stone? Could we come across something that would make us feel like our decision needs to be altered? Could. We're definitely going to stay open-minded to that. But we have yet to see anything that would suggest that."