Does The PGA Tour Have A Problem With Rule-Benders? Brooks Koepka Appears To Suggest So...

Brooks Koepka made headlines with his recent comments about some of the more murky practices on the PGA Tour, which begs the question of whether it's become a major problem in the game.

The two main subjects brought up by the five-time Major champion were players improving their lies in the rough and the art of trenching on the greens - excessively tapping down spike marks in front of their ball to create a channel for their putts to run along.

Now, Koepka, speaking to Dan Rapaport, did not name names for either of these so it's purely anecdotal evidence but it's not the first time these issues have been raised.

Are these serious problems for the PGA Tour though? Let's take a look...

Are players getting away with improving lies in the rough?

What Brooks Koepka said: “I've noticed a lot of guys do it, and guys get away with it more because you're not on top of them.

“So I might be over there hitting my shot, but you're over here in the left rough and guys definitely do it, but it's just how are you going to prove it?”

Is it a problem?

We've had some high profile examples of this in 2026, with Bryson DeChambeau of course being given a two-shot penalty for improving his lie at Royal Birkdale during the Open Championship.

Wyndham Clark also caused a bit of a stir during his US Open success at Shinnecock Hills with fans online pointing to excess practice swings and the position of his club and his feet around the back of the ball.

USGA officials took no action on Clark though but there's copious other examples of players supposedly improving lies by trampling on grass near and pressing their clubface directly behind their balls.

Koepka cites one example, saying: “There's one I saw this year that was really bad. I'm not going to name the player. It was a chip. I saw it. It was really bad. He went for the backswing and you could see the whole ball.

“What am I going to do? I can't prove it, and like at the same time, I understand guys have got to put the club down here, but if you keep putting the club down of course...”

Is there a solution?

As was pointed out with DeChambeau, there is very much a two-tiered rule to this, as high-profile players in high-profile events get much more scrutiny both on the course in person and via video replays.

So this one is very much down to the honor system and the integrity of those playing the game - it's up to the pros to uphold the standards and honesty golf has been built upon to not go too far in this.

In the modern world though sports stars will often push the rules as far as they can to gain an advantage, and golf's not totally immune to this search for an edge with so much money now on the line.

So maybe every now and again in a big event an example has to be made, as you can guarantee the field at the Open were far more careful with their footsteps around Brikdale after the DeChambeau saga.

But in general we need self policing

Is AimPoint to blame for behavior on the greens?

What Koepka said: "It's not good. It gets very chewed up around the hole lately and I don't know if it's because more people are doing AimPoint.

"They're also close to the hole when theyre doing it. If you have a three footer sometimes it's very chewed up around the green, but they just tap it all down. Whatever.

"But yeah, not a huge fan of it, they do it in front of the ball and behind the ball."

Is it a problem?

There's a two-fold issue here - are players doing too much gardening with their putters on the greens tapping down spike marks, and is the practice of AimPoint so close to the hole forcing that extra attention to detail?

To start with, since 2019 the rules of golf allow for players to tap down spike marks on their putting line on the greens, so there's nothing illegal going on here. But some players have been accused of going overboard.

When that happens, the word 'trenching' comes into play, a practice where the putter is effectively used to flatten out a path towards the hole to create a valley for it to run along smoothly.

That's an extreme example of course and no players have been accused of that, but there has been a visible rise in them fussily tapping down every blade of grass out of place on the greens.

This leans into Koepka's point though, that perhaps it's now necessary due to all this extra activity around the hole caused by AimPoint increasing the foot traffic even in close proximity to the hole.

We've all seen players, and caddies, straddling their line to judge any slope and using AimPoint even at close range, which infuriates many traditionalists and also does nothing to help with the pace of play.

Is there a solution?

Former US Open champion Lucas Glover has called for AimPoint to be banned in one of the more extreme views on the topic.

It does seem odd that in the days of metal spikes ripping up greens players were not allowed to tap down spike marks, yet in an era of soft spikes there seems to be more work to be done around the hole.

All the traffic from AimPoint no doubt causes damage near the cup and although it's a modern tool used by many top pros, does it need to be implemented even from around three or four feet?

So while players are allowed to wander around the hole all day with their caddies then you can't really stop players from tapping down the resulting spike marks.

But we have to have limits, the pace of play takes a hammering on the greens with all this fiddling about and that's something the PGA Tour really need to keep an eye out for.

It's still a watching brief right now but certainly something to really stay on top of.

But what do you think? Is there too much bending of the rules on the PGA Tour? Do players improve lies in the rough and on the greens, and is AimPoint to blame for at least some of it? Send us your thoughts, suggestions and solutions by joining the conversation below....

Brooks Koepka Doesn't Hold Back During This Practice Session - YouTube

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