Golf ball rollback may not affect top pros like Cameron Young

NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa. – Will the proposed USGA/R&A golf ball rollback make any difference by the time it is implemented in 2030?

There is growing concern among some PGA Tour pros that the change may prove to be pointless. One Tour winner said on Tuesday that the Titleist Pro V1x Double Dot golf ball being used by Cameron Young, a two-time Tour winner this season and world No. 4, would conform under the rule change.

Young bashed a 375-yard long drive at the 18th hole in the final round at TPC Sawgrass in March with that golf ball en route to winning the Players Championship. While Young might be an outlier, the idea of his bomb with a rollback-approved ball has pros wondering if the rollback would be an epic fail if implemented. And Young isn't the only one using it. Golfweek has learned that Vince Whaley, Kris Ventura, and Neal Shipley (last week) have been using the Double Dot. Rico Hoey put it in play in New Orleans and Jhonattan Vegas has previously done so. [Bryson DeChambeau posted on social media that he tried it but didn't stay in it.]

Cameron Young's Titleist Pro V1x prototype has two left dots.

The proposed rule changes would not alter the Overall Distance Standard but would raise the test driver's clubhead speed from the current 120 mph to 125 mph. The USGA is proposing to change the parameters that ball makers must abide by beginning in 2030. The plan is to test the ball at a faster speed and a range of higher launch conditions.

But could it be all for naught, or have a reverse effect, giving some players an even bigger advantage? In 2024, Young visited Titleist’s Manchester Lane testing center looking for a ball that would spin less with his irons and driver. Titleist designers went to work and during the summer of 2025, he tested the Pro V1x Double Dot, a low-spinning, low-launching ball prototype. It did the job, reducing spin off the tee and with long irons, but maintaining it for Young on wedge shots and short irons. After working with Titleist PGA Tour reps and adding loft to his driver, Young had the ideal combination of low spin and high launch off the tee (to go with his great speed).

The Double Dot was added to the USGA’s conforming list the week of the 2025 Wyndham Championship and Young put it into play and won his first PGA Tour event that week. Young noted that he had wedges into his first few holes, and said in a Titleist video detailing the ball switch, "This makes golf easier for me."