Equipment
‘I’m not going to be very popular for this’ – Jim Furyk calls for bold equipment rule change
Jim Furyk is a part of Golf Channel’s broadcasting team at this week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational, and ahead of the event at Bay Hill, the 55-year-old proposed a change to the rules that would be a huge reform for equipment in the professional game.
Speaking on the Straight Facts Homie podcast this week, the 2003 U.S. Open Champion suggested that the governing bodies should look at reducing the driver head size for professionals, saying:
“I’ll tell you what I would do. I’m not going to be very popular for this, but I would reduce the size of the driver head. Maybe not necessarily for the average golfer, but I would do that for the golf professional. Because you can hit it all over the face right now and it’s pretty forgiving. You don’t lose a lot of distance.”
Furyk continued, using his own mini driver as an example of how things would look with a law restricting driver head size:
“I play a mini driver in my bag for my three wood. And when I hit that mini good, it goes darn near just as far as my driver. It’s less than 10 yards difference. But if I mishit it, if I hit it a little thin, a little on the toe, a little on the heel, I lose a bunch of yardage.”
The Pennsylvania native added:
“I think you’ve gotten these young guys that are rearing back and swinging 110 per cent at it, and you can kind of cover areas on the face and get a lot of forgiveness and a lot of distance. I just think it would show an extra skill set. They’re extremely talented, don’t get me wrong, but I think it would also limit guys swinging 110 per cent at it all the time. They’d have to pick and choose their spots and maybe golf courses wouldn’t have to be quite as long.”
The distance rollback in the professional game has been a big talking point in recent years, with new regulations expected to be enforced in 2028.
Neal Shipley was the first to admit that he enjoyed his food while in college. But since his days at Ohio State, he’s slimmed down and earned a PGA Tour Card.
That hasn’t stopped him from having fun with his wedge stampings, though it’s led to some misunderstandings.
On the 54 (degree), we have ‘Big Fudge,'” Shipley told GolfWRX. “It was supposed to be ‘Big Fridge,’ so this happened a little while ago. ‘Big Fridge’ was a nickname between my college teammates and I, with ‘fridge’ meaning stomach, a big stomach.
“We told the Ping guys to put … ‘Big Fridge’ on it, and I think maybe some bad cell service or something, and they thought I said ‘fudge,’ so they put fudge on it.”
On Shipley’s 50-degree he also continues the food theme, this time with his go-to order at the “Golden Arches,” and his stamping “DONS 7.”
“The number 7 meal, the two cheeseburger meal, that was my McDonald’s order, back when I would have McDonald’s frequently,” Shipley shared.
At GolfWRX, we are a community of like-minded individuals who all experience and express our enjoyment of the game in many ways.
It’s that sense of community that drives day-to-day interactions in the forums on topics that range from best driver to what marker you use to mark your ball. It even allows us to share another thing we all love – buying and selling equipment.
Currently, in our GolfWRX buy/sell/trade (BST) forum, @raw10628 has a L.A.B. DF3 putter and Masters putter cover up for grabs.
From the listing: “Some great items here today, time to thin out and make room for next set of gear. All prices include shipping.
LAB DF3 Purple 33.5” 68° lie with TPT – $725. LAB Masters release DF3 cover – $150.”
To check out the full listing in our BST forum, head through the link. If you are curious about the rules to participate in the BST Forum, you can learn more here: GolfWRX BST Rules
Driver: Ping G440 LST (9 degrees)
Shaft: Accra TourZ Green 5-M4
3-wood: Ping G440 Max (15 degrees)
Shaft: Accra TourZ Green 6-M4
5-wood: Ping G440 Max (19 degrees @18)
Shaft: Accra TourZ Green 6-M4
Hybrid: Ping G440 (23 degrees)
Shaft: Oban Isawa Red Hybrid Shaft 04 Flex 70 Gms
Irons: Srixon ZXi7 (5-P)
Shafts: Aerotech SteelFiber Private Reserve i80
Wedges: Cleveland RTZ (50-MID, 54-FULL, 58-MID)
Shafts: Aerotech SteelFiber Private Reserve i105
Putter: L.A.B. Golf OZ.1i
Shaft: ACCRA Putter Shaft
Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet
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Maria Torres WITB 2026 (June)
Driver: Ping G440 LST (9 degrees) Shaft: Accra TourZ Green 5-M4 3-wood: Ping G440 Max (15 degrees) Shaft: Accra TourZ Green 6-M4 5-wood: Ping G440...
Eric Cole WITB 2026 (June)
Driver: PXG Lightning Tour Max (9 degrees) Shaft: Project X Titan Yellow 70 TX 3-wood: TaylorMade Qi4D (15 degrees) Shaft:...
Si Woo Kim WITB 2026 (May)
Driver: Callaway Quantum Triple Diamond (8.5 degrees) Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X Mini driver: Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Mini...
Wyndham Clark’s winning WITB: 2026 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
Driver: TaylorMade Qi4D (10.5 degrees) Shaft: Project X Titan Yellow 60 TX 3-wood: TaylorMade Qi4D Tour (15 degrees) Shaft: Project...
Joey5Picks
Mar 9, 2026 at 1:33 am
When par 5s are routinely driver-mid iron, the ball goes too far. When PGA National has to build peninsulas into lakes for new tee boxes, the ball goes too far. When The Old Course has to put tee boxes out of bounds, the ball goes too far. A simple solution would be to limit driver size. For those who complain about “bifurcation”, the game is already bifurcated. Pros play courses 1,000 yards longer, can’t use range finders, have caddies, can’t ride carts…
AJ
Mar 10, 2026 at 6:11 pm
good points- a rational take.
Rich
Mar 8, 2026 at 7:07 pm
It is possible to scale back the clubs and golfballs without affecting the recreational player. For example, the ball could be scaled back in a way that affects the professionals but not you since you don’t activate its features anyway.
As for the driver, most players would benefit from shorter shafts, whether thats in a mini-driver or regular one.
Rich
Mar 8, 2026 at 7:01 pm
I’ve been playing a mini-driver ever since TM introduced the SLDR. That’s 12 years. They’ve really improved over the years, and at 66 I’m about to switch to my R7 Quad full-time.
I’m not in favor of bifurcation, though. One set of rules, please. (Well, two, with both the USGA and R&A.
Kevin Llewellyn
Mar 8, 2026 at 6:28 am
I love the mini driver. I bought the taylor r7 last august and took my driver out of my bag. I hit the mini just as long and a lot straighter
Tutone
Mar 7, 2026 at 4:31 pm
I’m advocate for going back to wooden head drivers for the professionals. Just like baseball and wooden bats.
Matthew
Mar 7, 2026 at 8:51 am
I have to agree. Courses are designed specifically expecting certain limitations. Redesigning all of the courses is not an option, so the only way to keep that risk/reward aspect strong in the game is to limit distance. Honestly, they should have raised the hoops in basketball decades ago.
Michael
Mar 7, 2026 at 9:55 am
I agree. I have mini driver also. Not as long but pretty accurate. Not sure of cc I think about 300. Nice looking club gotta tee it lower. Also I say cut down shaft length. 43 max . Make these guys hit middle irons once in a while
BurkyGolf
Mar 7, 2026 at 8:05 am
As someone who grew up with smaller headed drivers and fairway metals, I’m fully in favor of this in combination with changing the testing protocol for ball speed. First, take the size threshold down to 400cc with drivers. Second just focus on ball speed. Test at 130 mph and make it so the face of a driver can’t exceed 170 mph ball speed in testing. For fairway metals, use 125 mph and make it so the ball speed can’t exceed 160 mph.
The ball is not nor will it ever be the problem, the problem is how efficiently the clubhead is allowed to transfer energy. Make the heads smaller and less efficient, problem solved.
Curtis
Mar 7, 2026 at 6:51 am
Who cares about this? Just go play and have fun even the pros isnt it better they hit it so far than short?
The ball has been going far for decades Arnold and Jack both hit it 300 back in the day
Brian
Mar 7, 2026 at 7:16 am
Literally anyone that follows the sport cares. The drivers are too easy to hit and go to far making courses pitch and putts for these guys.
Rich
Mar 8, 2026 at 7:04 pm
More like 275. IBM measured Jack in 1967 and that’s what they came up with.
Drkviol801
Mar 7, 2026 at 2:31 am
Make the Driver smaller, roll back the golf ball. You can try taking these measures but these guys are so good at the end of the day they will adjust and continue to amaze us.
The players are better today regardless of equipment.
Bagger Vince
Mar 6, 2026 at 6:15 pm
Lou Stagner looked at the USGAs own stats and concluded distance an issue
The USGA Says Distance is “Ruining” the Game. Their Own Data Says Something Else.
https://x.com/LouStagner/status/2020584799904166156
BD57
Mar 6, 2026 at 5:03 pm
If increasing the spin of golf balls could be done, I think that’d have an effect on distance.
okie
Mar 6, 2026 at 2:41 pm
Absolutely. When Sheffler says ” I just line up down the left edge of the fairway and hit it as hard as I can’ that says the forgiveness across the face is out of control.
Dan
Mar 8, 2026 at 10:50 am
And talent
Bruce Helbig
Mar 6, 2026 at 10:23 am
I’ve been an advocate of restricting the clubhead size since the Big Bertha phenomenon in the early 2000’s. I wrote a letter to the USGA and RCGA and asked why the hadn’t learned the lesson tennis taught about oversized heads. Never got an answer as they were terrified of another PING type legal battle.