Cameron Young reportedly plays a golf ball that would match the return

One of the PGA Tour’s top players over the past eight months has apparently been playing with a ball that would be legal under the USGA and R&A’s proposed reinstatement.

Like the first reported by The Golf Channel tuesday night Headline Pro V1x Double Dot Prototype ball Cameron Young it began to be used last summer would comply with the USGA and R&A’s new ODS test conditions.

Both Titleist and the USGA declined to comment for this story.

To curb extreme driving distances at the highest levels of the game, The USGA and R&A announced in 2023 a change to the overall distance standard used to test golf balls. return, which is scheduled to be implemented in the professional game in 2028 and the recreational game by 2030, would see the testing conditions for balls changed to a speed of 125 mph (from 120) and the launch angle increased to 11 degrees (from 10). Balls will still have to fly no farther than 317 yards with a 3-yard tolerance.

“Obviously, there’s no conforming list,” Young said at the PGA Championship on Wednesday. “I think I read something that said it passed that test, but I wasn’t aware of it until recently. So at no point was it a consideration. It was really me trying to optimize my golf swing and it’s the ball that seems to work best for me.”

Young put the ball into play for the first time at the Wyndham Championship in August and won by six strokes. On Wednesday he said he only learned a few weeks ago that the ball would be in compliance with the new rule.

Now a three-time PGA Tour winner, Young first tested the ball — which is one of Titleist’s Custom Performance Option (CPO) balls designed to fine-tune performance and flight characteristics — about two years ago. Titleist’s Director of Tour Research and Validation Fordie Pitts delivered the finished prototypes to Young at Wyndham, and he’s been playing the ball ever since.

interesting, Data golf looked at Young’s 50-round driving distance average since he made the switch last August and noticed he’s lost about 3 feet off the tee. But his accuracy has increased dramatically this season; it ranks 46th in the category, finding more than 61 percent of fairways, an increase of 121 points from last year. He ranks 6th in SG: Off the Tee, up from 31st.

The reason this has drawn attention during one of the biggest weeks of the year is because of Young’s marginal losses in the drive. If he loses just a few yards per drive on a punt return, some might argue that the punt return may not accomplish what it’s intended to do.

Titleist identified Young as having unique distribution characteristics that could be optimized by the Double Dot prototype. From what Titleist has revealed of the prototype, the ball has a lower spin and flatter flight than the standard Pro V1x. Young has a strong natural ball flight with his irons and the ball helped optimize his launch conditions.

“For me, the biggest thing, like I said, is the bars,” Young said Wednesday. “This ball is easier to control with the irons. It doesn’t spin as much and it just allows me to be better with my distance control just because it’s more consistent.”

Since he added the ball, he has been working on optimizing the top of his bag for his lower-spinning flight, adding an 11-degree GT3 driver, high-release GT1 3-wood and a new GTS3 7-wood, his first time using the club type.

“The driver is the easiest thing to deal with, I think,” he said. “To get it where it needed to be, I just had to add some spin and it would come out in a perfectly playable range.”

In March, Young launched a 375-yard bomb with that new GT3 setup and the Double Dot ball on the 72nd hole of The Players Championship that was the longest drive recorded on TPC Sawgrass’ 18th hole in the ShotLink era. But while the ball wasn’t developed with Young in mind, it’s been a perfect fit for him and has come during the prime of his career thus far.

“I don’t think any of us are here playing the ball that goes farther,” Young said. “I think you’d be hard-pressed to find a single person who’s doing that. We’re all sacrificing a certain amount of things that we think are worth it, iron control, wedge control. For me, that’s the biggest thing is being able to control spin.”

Compliant or not in 2028 — or 2030, as governing bodies are floating the idea of ​​delaying implementation — Young is convinced the Double Dot is the best ball for him.

“I was kind of surprised, but at the same time, it didn’t change that I had played well with it and was comfortable with it,” Young said of learning about the ball’s suitability under the proposed rule. “I feel like I’m playing a golf ball that’s best for the way I’m playing the game at the moment. If this works out it will come into play and I’m still playing the ball, however many years from now it makes it a slight change.”

The author welcomes your comments at Jack.Hirsh@golf.com.

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