Are Pro Golfers Allowed To Smoke On The Course?

Long gone are the days when it was commonplace to find professional golfers smoking on the course, from Arnold Palmer until he quit around the mid-1960s to John Daly at his peak in the 1990s.

Of course, that’s reflected in society, with the habit far less accepted nowadays than in previous decades. However, as in day-to-day life, that doesn’t mean it is banned on the course, but what are the stipulations?

The 2024 PGA Tour player handbook is a 159-page case study of small print on the dos and don’ts for its members, but the only times it references smoking as prohibited is in the locker room and in player/family dining areas.

Mentions of smoking elsewhere in the handbook are limited to its Player Endorsement Policy, where it is stated that “no sponsorships of any sort are permitted by companies selling tobacco products (including, starting March 1, 2019, cigars and tobacco smoked in pipes), smokeless tobacco products (including e-cigarettes and vaping products) and marijuana products (recreational and medicinal).”

Even then, players are permitted to represent a relevant company “as long as the appearances are private and not promoted or covered publicly.”

There is no stipulation that PGA Tour pros cannot smoke during tournaments, so they are free to do so if they want to.

That appears to extend to other areas of the male elite game, too. For example, Dan Brown was seen smoking during The Open at Royal Troon, while South African Justin Harding was photographed smoking a cigarette during the 2021 DP World Tour Championship.

In the women’s game, LPGA Tour players are also permitted to smoke during tournaments, as evidenced by one of the best in the world, Charley Hull, who has been seen smoking on the course regularly during the 2024 season.

After the US Women’s Open, she explained smoking comes in particularly handy when the pace of play is lagging, saying: “When it's a slow round on the golf course I smoke quite a few more than I should. But listen, I will stop soon. It's just when."

In 2024, at least one professional tournament was held where neither men nor women were allowed to smoke. Before the women’s Olympics tournament at Le Golf National, Hull explained why we wouldn’t see her lighting up that week. She said, “Yeah, I do smoke on the course. It's a habit, but I won't do it this week. Yeah, it's just something I do. I don't think you're allowed.”

However, while smoking is generally permitted during tournaments, the PGA Tour rules, at least, are more clear-cut on another practice that could raise eyebrows on the course – drinking alcohol.

On that subject, the handbook explicitly states that “consuming an alcoholic beverage during any practice round or tournament round” will “be subject to a significant penalty” as it is considered “conduct unbecoming a professional.”

Hull also stated before her 2024 Olympics appearance that the smoking ban could affect her game “because it relaxes me a little bit.”

Given the PGA Tour’s tough stance on alcohol on the course, it appears that, where mood-altering substances consumed in everyday life are concerned, smoking is as far as professional golfers are allowed to indulge.