Why Cameron Young winning is bad news for fans of the planned golf ball rollback

Titleist's Pro V1x 'Double-Dot' prototype ball has made headlines for a number of reasons over the past year or so.

Aside from holding the exclusive allure of being one of Titleist's only prototype balls never to have a public release, the Double Dot also holds bragging rights as being one of the main reasons behind a resurgent Cameron Young's ascent to the world's top five players.

Young switched into the ball last year after asking his equipment sponsor to find him a solution that lowered his spin with the driver and long irons while also maintaining check with the shorter clubs. The Double Dot, which has also been tested by Bryson DeChambeau for the same reasons, seemed like a natural fit. 

"This makes golf easier for me," he told the brand in a video testing it.

Young has used the Double Dot ever since, and in addition to capturing his first PGA Tour win last year has already won twice on tour this season, including The Players Championship. What's even more interesting, however, is that Young's pairing with the ball may give us a glimpse into the type of player and swing that'll thrive when a potentially game-changing ball rollback comes into effect.

The rollback, planned by the USGA and R&A for the 2028 season onwards, will have a huge impact on the manufacturing of balls and has largely been planned to curb rising distances that have made previously hard courses far more playable for high-level players. Some balls in play on tour, however, seem to be already covered under the new rules – including the Double Dot, as cited sources told the Golf Channel earlier this week.

If this is indeed the case, it seems fairly clear that even for the world's fastest swingers, using a rollback-approved ball probably won't make a huge difference to distance under the right conditions. Young sits 27th on tour in Average Driving Distance so far this year, hitting his drives 312 yards on average and sitting 7th in overall driving. 

Per the Golf Channel's report, "...golf balls that would be deemed conforming under the new standard do not impact players uniformly. Players who spin the golf ball more, like Young, don’t see as much of a drop off in speed and distance as those who spin the ball less."

Adam Scott, who is quoted in the piece, said that switching to a conforming ball under the new standards only cost him two yards in driving distance, while Lucas Glover labeled the thinking behind the rollback as a tool to curb distance on tour as "laughable". "They think we optimize for distance, that’s ludicrous,” he said.