The conversation began formally on Tuesday at Muirfield Village G.C. about how the PGA Tour should approach the now-looming anchoring ban announced by the USGA and R&A last week.
The PGA Tour's 16-member Player Advisory Council met ahead of this week's Memorial Tournament to bandy about the idea of adopting and implementing the anchoring ban, covered under new Rule 14-1b, that is set to begin on Jan. 1, 2016.
Multiple reports, including from Golfweek and Golf Channel, suggest a split among the membership about next steps, but that support leans toward adopting the ban. Only two PAC members, Webb Simpson and Brendan Steele, use an anchored stroke.
No decision was made on Tuesday night on behalf of the players. The next PAC meeting is in July at the Greenbrier Classic. Ultimately, a nine-person panel, including four player representatives and five independent members, will decide how the PGA Tour will act.
Meanwhile nine players, including Adam Scott, Tim Clark and Carl Pettersson, loom as they have lawyered up in anticipation of potentially suing the PGA Tour if it enacts the ban.
For his part, world No. 1 Tiger Woods sees no need for the PGA Tour to adopt its own version of the rules, particularly as it relates to the anchoring ban.
“I think we should all be playing by the same rules all around the world,” Woods said during a Wednesday news conference.
Woods seem to have a touch more backing than the prominent anchorers. In an informal Sports Illustrated poll, 59 percent of PGA Tour players support the ban.
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