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Golf has always been a pretty stuffy sport in a figurative sense, but anyone who’s walked the course while enduring the kind of grueling heat Lucas Glover was forced to grapple with at the FedEx St. Jude Championships knows that term can also be used very literally.
Over the weekend, Glover set himself up for success for the last two events on the FedEx Cup schedule with a playoff win over Patrick Cantlay at TPC Southwind, but his play at the tournament was slightly overshadowed by the incredibly noticeable sweat issues he found himself dealing with courtesy of the brutal temperatures in Memphis.
In 2022, LIV Golf attempted to differentiate itself from the PGA Tour by giving golfers the green light to wear shorts on the course, but the latter doesn’t seem particularly eager to tinker with a longstanding dress code that’s essentially a vestige of traditional country club attire standards that are slowly but surely becoming a thing of the past.
Caddies on the PGA Tour have been allowed to wear shorts since 1999, and while players on the LPGA Tour need to adhere to minimum length requirements, they’re also allowed to show off their legs on the links.
However, guys on the PGA Tour don’t currently have that luxury—but plenty of people seem to think it’s time for that to change thanks to the many, many golf fans who think Glover’s sweat-logged trousers proved why it’s time for a change.
PGA Tour should overturn their ban on shorts on the strength of Lucas Glover’s pants alone.
— James Bigg (@JamesBigg) August 13, 2023
Would fans rather seeing butt sweat/joggers or shorts?
Just let pros wear shorts! pic.twitter.com/uqLRh07rlG
— PGA/LIV Hot Takes (@PGALIVHotTakes) August 13, 2023
Let today’s FedEx St. Jude golf tournament in Memphis with triple digit heat and Lucas Glover’s sweaty pants be another reminder that it is absolutely ludicrous that players can’t wear shorts on the PGA Tour.
— Tommy Castor (@TweetsFromTommy) August 13, 2023
Bring shorts to the PGA #pga pic.twitter.com/eadxMN1KSc
— silas (@silaskoop) August 14, 2023
The PGA Tour obviously has a fair amount on its plate as it continues to navigate its pending merger with LIV Golf, and I can understand why taking another look at its dress code might not exactly be the highest priority for the organization.
However, much like it seems like it would be pretty easy for the Tour to fulfill Jon Rahm’s request to put a porta-potty on every hole, lifting the ban on shorts is probably something that could be done by simply exercising a little bit of common sense.