NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa. -- The United States Golf Association and R&A hope future changes to golf ball testing will make them travel shorter distances in professional tournaments starting in 2030.
If PGA Tour star Cameron Young's current Titleist golf ball is an example, the proposed testing changes might not matter.
Young revealed Wednesday at the PGA Championship at Aronimink Golf Club that he has been unknowingly playing a ball that would conform under the proposed testing changes.
Young, who is ranked No. 3 in the world, began using the ball after it was approved for play in last season's Wyndham Championship, which is where he picked up his first PGA Tour victory after seven runner-up finishes.
This season, Young has already won The Players and the Cadillac Championship. He's among the favorites to lift a Wanamaker Trophy on Sunday, which would be his first victory in a major championship.
"I think I put it in play [for] the same reason that everybody else plays the ball that they play," Young said. "I hit it during a ball test, one of the Titleist facilities probably close to two years ago and didn't know anything about it. I just kind of [said], 'Hey, what's that one?' because I liked the flight.
"Then as things progressed, I was able to test it last year at Wyndham, able to put that in play, and it's been there since."
Until a few weeks ago, Young didn't know the ball, a Titleist Pro V1x Double Dot, would conform to the proposed overall distance standard, which is expected to reduce elite driving distances by 15 yards.
The USGA announced in March that it might not implement the new testing changes until 2030; the USGA and R&A previously stated the changes would apply to elite players in 2028 and all golfers in 2030.
"Obviously, there is no conforming list," Young said. "I wasn't aware that it would have [conformed]. I suppose I read something that said it passed that test, but I wasn't aware of that until very recently. So, at no point was that a consideration. It was just really me trying to optimize my golf, and it's the ball that seems to work the best for me."
The Titleist ball hasn't affected Young's distance off the tee. This season, he is sixth on tour in strokes gained: off the tee (.644) and 16th in average driving distance (302.7).
When Young captured the biggest win of his career in The Players at TPC Sawgrass on March 12, he smashed a 375-yard drive on the 18th hole.
"I don't think any of us are out really here playing the ball that goes the farthest," Young said. "I think you'd struggle to find a single person that's doing that. We're all sacrificing a certain amount of things that we feel are worth it--control with irons, control with wedges. For me, that's the biggest thing, being able to control spin, and this is the ball that does the best for me."
Some golfers, including world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, have suggested that the governing bodies should focus on golf course design, instead of equipment. Some restorations that were intended to address length removed hundreds of trees, leaving wide landing areas off the tee.
Aronimink Golf Club underwent a tree removal program over two decades, as designers worked to restore it to the course Donald Ross designed in 1928.
"When I hear certain designers saying, 'I'm going to restore this course to 1915,' I'm like, 'Well, it probably takes a good hundred years for a nice tree to grow,'" former PGA Championship winner Xander Schauffele said.
"I think people keep talking about distance and how the game is played but just put a bunch of trees on a course. I think Hilton Head is a good example. Do I like Hilton Head? Not really, but it's hard. It's kind of crazy. If you look at the winning score at Hilton Head and the winning score at Doral, one's called Hilton Head, and one's called the Blue Monster. I think the winning score at Miami is lower."
Augusta National Golf Club chairman Fred Ridley and former Masters champions Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player and Tom Watson said in April that they support the governing bodies' efforts to reduce elite driving distance, which they say are needed to protect golf's integrity.