​When Mark Darbon, the chief executive of the R&A, sat down with reporters Wednesday at Royal Birkdale ahead of the 154th Open Championship, he confirmed something we learned ahead of last month’s U.S. Open: Golf’s governing bodies are considering the idea of using Model Local Rules (MLR) to curb distance at the highest levels of the sport.That idea should sound familiar, because we’ve heard it before.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThe United States Golf Association and the R&A first proposed the idea as a solution to the governing bodies stated distance problem in March, 2023, before abandoning it in favor of the universal golf-ball rollback announced in December of that year.Mark Darbon, CEO of The R&A speaks to the media during a press conference during a practice round, prior to The 154th Open Championship at Royal Birkdale on July 15, 2026 in Southport, England.Now, after conversations with the PGA Tour, the DP World Tour and players themselves, the pendulum appears to be swinging back.“There’s clearly been a bit of change in the position of the PGA Tour and its players, an openness to look at some model local rules,” Darbon said Wednesday.For golfers who have spent the last three years trying to keep track of robot testing protocols, launch conditions and endless debates about virtues and shortcomings of bifurcation, this latest twist may feel like yet another plot twist in a movie that feels like it’s running too long already. But, it could ultimately reshape professional golf far more than the rollback plan currently scheduled to begin in 2030.1 / 19A young visitor shelters in the shade, as players practice a few days before the start of the 2026 Open Golf Championship at Royal Birkdale golf course near Southport in north-west England on July 12, 2026.(ANDY BUCHANAN, AFP via Getty Images)First, it helps to understand what a Model Local Rule actually is.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementModel Local Rules have been around for generations, and tournament organizers use them to address everything from preferred lies to out-of-bounds stakes and temporary conditions. In 2022, the USGA and R&A introduced an MLR that allowed tournaments to cap driver length at 46 inches and it was quickly adopted by the PGA Tour and LPGA.The concept the governing bodies explored and formally proposed in 2023 was much more ambitious. Instead of changing equipment rules for everyone, tournament organizers could require elite players to use equipment tested under different, distance-reducing standards.At the time, the focus was primarily on golf balls. The governing bodies proposed testing balls at higher swing speeds at more optimized launch conditions, creating a “competition ball” that would fly shorter in the hands of the fastest players. The testing standards for other balls would not change, so equipment used by recreational golfers would be unchanged.There were also discussions about club regulations. The USGA and