A NEW RULE change to reduce the distance balls travel will “bring back some skills into the pro game that have maybe been lost,” according to Rory McIlroy.  

The R&A and USGA announced changes to ball specifications yesterday which will result in tee shots being reduced by around 15 yards. 

“It will bring back some skills into the pro game that have maybe been lost,” McIlroy told Sky Sports.

The Northern Irishman added: “I actually think it will make the pro game more entertaining to watch – you will see a different variety of games.”

Padraig Harrington, meanwhile, has said the changes will make the game safer.

“I think everybody who plays golf would know of a golf course where there has been a hole closed or re-designed because it has become dangerous because people hit it too far,” Harrington told the BBC.

“When (people who hit it far) miss, they miss big. It is causing play to slow down, it’s dangerous, it’s expensive for golf courses to build more open and wider so people don’t get hurt.”

McIlroy and Tiger Woods supported the proposal but it was opposed by the PGA Tour and PGA of America and strongly criticised by top equipment manufacturing company Acushnet and the likes of Justin Thomas, who plays their market-leading Titleist balls.

“Anybody who is successful doesn’t want change,” Harrington said. “If you are at the top, you never want to change – you want to keep it where it is, your winning formula.

“Golf is doing very well at the moment but the R&A needs to see the bigger picture.”

The change will apply at the elite level from 2028, but also for recreational players from 2030.