Paige Spiranac demands PGA Tour make rule change to make it more like LIV Golf

Golf influencer Paige Spiranac has blasted the PGA Tour’s rules after several players suffered in the soaring temperatures at the FedEx St. Jude Championship over the weekend. The former pro believes the Tour should fall in line with LIV Golf, which has more relaxed dress code rules including shorts being permitted at all events.

Some high-class golf was played in the first event of the FedEx Cup Playoffs, with 43-year-old Lucas Glover enjoying a sensational renaissance, winning in back-to-back weeks thanks largely to a change of putter. But the 2009 U.S. Open champion suffered as much as anyone in the field in the soaring temperatures and suffocating humidity at TPC Southwind near Memphis, Tennessee.

Glover backed up his triumph at the Wyndham Championship last week by defeating Patrick Cantlay in a playoff, holding off challenges from a stellar leaderboard including Rory McIlroy, Tommy Fleetwood and Jordan Spieth. Glover has thrust himself into the conversation for September’s U.S. Ryder Cup team as a result.

But most golf fans on social media instead were talking about the state of Glover’s sweat-drenched clothing, particularly his pants as he battled down the stretch in temperatures in excess of 100 degrees Fahrenheit on Sunday with humidity factored in. Glover was seen dipping his hands in ice buckets several times in a bid to cool down.

Spiranac, 30, has almost four million Instagram followers. Since her college and professional career ended in 2016, the San Diego State University alum has turned her attention to modeling and content creation in the world of golf. She told followers on X – the platform formerly known as Twitter – the struggles throughout the week at TPC Southwind show the PGA Tour’s rules are out of date.

“The men on the PGA Tour should absolutely be able to wear shorts, and the rule needs to change right now,” she said. “Lucas Glover won for the second week in a row in a hot and humid Memphis. He also won for the worst documented case of swamp a** that we have ever seen.

“The guys were absolutely dying. They were sticking their hands in the ice coolers to bring their body temperature down. It is 2023, get it together, give the guys an option to wear shorts.”

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Glover – who said he did not “get this wet in the shower” on Saturday – was not the only man to struggle with the heat at the St. Jude Championship; Harris English’s caddie Eric Larson required medical treatment for heat stroke, according to Golf Monthly. Spieth said after the event his sweaty clothes made him feel “five pounds heavier,” adding he would have worn shorts if he had the option.

Spiranac dismissed suggestions that shorts should remain banned on the Tour due to “tradition.” She concluded: “You’re saying that in the air conditioning on your nice, cool couch drinking an ice cold beer. Of course, you don’t mind. But these guys are athletes playing in extreme conditions. Let them wear shorts.”

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