The long and short of it is that the European Tour is changing its stance on practice-round fashion.
Euro Tour chief executive Keith Pelley appears ready to let his players wear shorts during practice rounds, in part, spurred on by the Malaysian heat last week at the EurAsia Cup.
Darren Clarke, captain of the European team in the event pitting the continent against Asian players, petitioned for his players to be able to wear shorts during practice rounds in Kuala Lumpur. After an initial denial from tournament officials, the sitting Ryder Cup captain appealed to Pelley, who gave the go-ahead.
According to Golfweek, that may have set a precedent. Clarke and Lee Westwood, who was on the European team last week, practiced on Tuesday at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship in shorts. Ian Poulter intends to do so in the Wednesday pro-am.
“So I’ll be baring my legs tomorrow," Poulter said. "In fact, I really don’t see a problem with wearing shorts during tournaments. I mean it is 2016.”
The issue will be discussed at a Tournament Committee meeting on Tuesday night. If the Tour goes forward with the measure, the inevitable question will be how to determine if players can wear shorts at a specific event or to allow them across the board.
