PGA Tour Allows Players to Wear Shorts at Pro-Am Events, Practice Rounds

The PGA Tour will now allow its golfers to wear shorts during practice and pro-am rounds moving forward.

PGA Tour Player Advisory Council co-chairman James Hahn announced the news via Twitter on Monday:

Per ESPN's Mark Schlabach, any shorts worn must be "knee-length, tailored and neat in appearance. Compression leggings worn underneath shorts must be solid in color." 

That rule change appears to be a hit with some of the players on the tour:

They aren't the only golfers on board with the plan. Tiger Woods revealed during a Facebook Live with Bridgestone Golf in May 2018 that he wanted to be able to wear shorts, per Dylan Dethier:

"I would love it. We play in some of the hottest climates on the planet. We usually travel with the sun, and a lot of our events are played in the summer, and then on top of that when we have the winter months here a lot of the guys go down to South Africa and Australia where it's summer down there.

"Also, a lot of the tournaments are based right around the equator so we play in some of the hottest places on the planet. It would be nice to wear shorts. Even with my little chicken legs, I still would like to wear shorts."

The new rule change comes just in time for a pair of events being held this week: the WGC-Mexico Championship and Puerto Rico Open.

In 2016, the European Tour passed a rule that permitted players to wear shorts during practice rounds and pro-ams. For Ian Poulter, that was a sign that the sport was finally catching up with the times: "It's 2016 not 1990. Get rid of the stuffy old rules that hold golf back. Make it more fun everyone."

Players must still wear long pants during tournament play.

Of note, the PGA Tour began to allow caddies to wear shorts during events in 1999.