European Tour Allows Shorts In Competition For First Time

(Image credit: Getty Images)

By Sam Tremlett 2019-11-28T10:50:19Z

Players will be allowed to wear shorts for the first time on the European Tour this week.

European Tour Allows Shorts In Competition For First Time

For the first time in European Tour history, golfers will be allowed to wear shorts during tournament play this week at the Alfred Dunhill Championship held in South Africa.

Temperatures are believed to be hitting the 40 degree mark at Leopard Creek Country Club which pushed the Tour to make the decision. Roughly four hours east of Johannesburg, the Gary Player designed course is expected to be at its hottest on Saturday this week.

Previously players were only allowed to wear shorts on practice days and during pro-ams, they had to wear trousers during tournament play regardless of the weather. The European Tour introduced this shorts rule in 2016 and the PGA Tour followed suit this year.

However the intense heat the players will feel this week led to a change in thinking and it is a decision that appears to have gone down well with many players on Tour. Some of the tweets are below;

As mentioned above the PGA Tour introduced shorts to their golf and it went down a storm with players like Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy.

Woods said; “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.”

"It makes the guys a lot more comfortable,” Rory McIlroy said. “… I don’t think there’s anything wrong with professional golfers showing the lower half of their leg.”

The Alfred Dunhill Championship kicks off the new European Tour season just a few days after Jon Rahm secured the DP World Tour Championship and Race to Dubai titles.

Don't forget to follow Golf Monthly on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for more golf news.