Lucas Glover Says Membership Cuts 'Doesn’t Make Sense'

2025 has been a year when the PGA Tour decided it was time to start taking action on the pace of play.  There have been some great strides in addressing the issue.  From the range finders in the RBC Heritage and also the first penalty in years at the Diner Club Peru Open.  Overall, the new pace of play rules are very much welcome, but there is some criticism.  There will always be some criticism when the rules are changed, but this bit of criticism comes from an advocate of these new rules.  Lucas Glover has a thing or two to say about the cuts being made to membership.  He believes the effort to cut back on the times can be approached in a different manner.

Lucas Glover on Pace of Play

Glover has always been an advocate for addressing slow play.  He even made his list of eight things that can be done to address the issue.  Some players question the need for these rules like Scottie Scheffler.  He suggested that the real problem is the size of the course that’s the real problem.  Glover disagrees with this sentiment and suggests that the real problem is things like honorary observers, a lack of bunker rakers, and a lack of modern technology to use for assistance.  One of the solutions that the PGA has landed on is cutting players.

Glover On Membership Cuts

Although cutting the number of people on the field will certainly improve times, it has not been received well.  The cuts are to be implemented for the 2026 season, and they are to be made, having only the top 100 in the FedEx Cup ranking keep their cards.  This is the main sticking point for Glover, who spoke on this in an interview.

“Limiting access is not a way to grow the talent coming into the PGA Tour, in my opinion, and making fields smaller doesn’t increase competition. That’s impossible. It doesn’t make any sense,” he said.  “We’re the only sports organization that’s saying that less players means more competition, and that’s been my soapbox. Every other sport has widened their fields, broadened their playoffs, more games, more teams, expanding.  We’re using pace of play as a crutch to say we need less players, and I just don’t agree with that.  And I think that’s short-sighted and honestly not the right way to go about it.”

Glover goes on to say that he wants to see the game grow and see the younger players get more opportunities in the sport.  However, the PGA limiting access won’t help that at all, according to Glover.

Membership Cuts Going Forward

As things stand right now, the membership cuts are still set to begin next season.  Additionally, Glover is currently in a position where he doesn’t have to worry about being cut.  He sits at a comfortable 31st in the FedEx Cup.  Granted, limiting the number of people will improve times, but to the detriment of the players.  Unquestionably, fans and players want to see slow play reigned in.  However, they also want to see the sport they love grow.