WM PHOENIX OPEN

February 12, 2022

Charley Hoffman

TPC Scottsdale

Quick Quotes

Q. Things often get sort of lost on social media, so I just wanted to ask what you really meant with the Instagram last night.

CHARLEY HOFFMAN: What I meant and what I said, I mean I think I explained it fairly well, but obviously not a huge fan of the USGA and how they govern us all the time. I was under the, or, under the impression that the rule had changed. And I was frustrated when the rule hadn't changed, why it hadn't changed and I think there's some sort of -- I mean obviously we have a PGA TOUR liaison that helps with the USGA and helps in figuring out what the rules should and shouldn't be.

And it just, it didn't make any sense at that point in time why that rule hadn't changed, especially this exact tournament when it happened to Rickie Fowler, he ended up winning the golf tournament, but it could have cost him the golf tournament.

But as -- and as I told the rules officials last night it's like, everybody says, We're going to change it for the better, we're going to do this and that, we're close or whatever but nothing seems to get done.

And unless you come out on a platform like I did it somewhat influences a change. That's what I meant by the rulings and everything else.

Q. You wrote that you wonder why guys are looking to join another tour. Do you feel like a lack of accountability or a rules issue are why guys --

CHARLEY HOFFMAN: I think it's a whole, a whole -- everything. You got to look at yourself as a policy board member and look at your self in the face, as I said, what can I do better as a player director, what can the executive committee do, executive directors do better to make sure that we are the best tour in the world.

And if it's -- the PGA TOUR's rewarding us by using social media in their platforms now, but they don't like it when you don't say something that may not be up to their standard. But you're rewarded on it.

I'm by no means trying to win the Player Impact Program, but I wanted to get my point across that there's rules out there in the game of golf that should be changed.

I had no -- I wasn't near the golf ball, I had no intent to hit at the golf ball and the ball moved after I dropped it twice and I have to put it down where the ball landed. I have no control over that, I turn my back and the ball goes in the water. How is that a rule that is good for the game of golf and how we play? I mean, not one person at a country club would have took another penalty for that, why is it, in professional golf, are we doing that? It's not the first time it's happened.

So you have to use what I have because obviously what we, what the players have said and our person that sits on their board and sits with them, it hasn't gotten through to them.

And I talked to the USGA last night and hopefully they got the point and hopefully it does change. So hopefully a little bit of hard times for me going through this, probably going to catch a ton of crap, will make the game better and I hopefully the PGA TOUR and the policy board and everybody gets together and we keep everybody here and we play in the U.S. the best game of golf in the world and we have the best players play week-in and week-out here in the United States.

Q. You made a pretty giant leap though going from this rules infraction to, you know --

CHARLEY HOFFMAN: Yes.

Q. -- players --

CHARLEY HOFFMAN: Strategically.

Q. Yeah?

CHARLEY HOFFMAN: I, if I just griped about a rule no one probably catches it. No one says anything.

Q. How much thought did you put in --

CHARLEY HOFFMAN: A decent amount. So I put a jab in there on purpose just so that the media would catch it.

Q. And Jay Monahan's name too?

CHARLEY HOFFMAN: And Jay, yeah, it was "Sorry, Jay", that I was doing this, because I have a great relationship with Jay and I have nothing for admiration about what Jay does for this TOUR and how hard he works.

So it was a "Sorry, Jay" because I know he's going -- this isn't an easy time for the PGA TOUR. So that's why that "Sorry, Jay" that that's why I said we need to do better, we as player directors, as executive directors, commissioners, everybody, we need to do better to make sure we keep everybody here in the U.S.

Q. You're one of the few players on the policy board. Is the system in place not working?

CHARLEY HOFFMAN: I think it works really good, but we have, we have a threat. I mean, that's real. I mean, you can't hide under a rock and say it's not.

And I, there's no way that I, it's ever crossed my mind to go over and play for a competitor and -- ever -- and it was never -- if it came across in that Instagram post that I have been reached by them, I have not been reached by them, it came across wrong. I added that so the media would catch it, so I would prove my point on the rules side.

Q. Did you hear from fans today at all and did it impact your play?

CHARLEY HOFFMAN: No, my play was bad. I won't have any tour to play on if I keep playing the way I did today. (Laughing).

No, I mean I, not really, I actually expected more. No, I just didn't play good. I got off to a bad start, hit the drive on 1 or 10 that went out of bounds, I thought it was good, and just never got it going today.

Was I thinking about what I said? Of course I was. I mean, could it have affected me? Maybe. I don't think, I wasn't emotionally -- the fans were fine, it wasn't anything like that, I just didn't play a good round of golf and hopefully my point got across, hopefully it didn't get misunderstood that I support any other league by any means because I do not. I support PGA TOUR through and through and I have no intention of going and playing in another league. But it is a real threat.

Q. So it's fair to say that you chose your words carefully, it wasn't in the heat of the moment.

CHARLEY HOFFMAN: Oh, it was definitely in the heat of the moment, I mean there's no question there. But as I told the rules official when I was done with the ruling that they said, Oh we're working on this. Well I said, This should have been taken X amount of the years ago when it happened to Rickie at this tournament. That's not taking care of it, that's too long in between.

I mean the reality is livelihood, I don't know, I mean, one shot is, no matter what happens, is going to affect me point-wise, something, somewhere down the line. I don't know what it's going to be. It's going to affect me on a bogus rule that hopefully changes for the better in the long run and hopefully we learn from it.

Q. But it seemed to me anyway that the PGA TOUR official just enforced the rule that's in place --

CHARLEY HOFFMAN: A hundred percent.

Q. -- and protected the field. You mentioned --

CHARLEY HOFFMAN: He protected me -- well I was about to just place it there and not take a penalty whatsoever, I'm glad I called him over. There's no, it's not the PGA TOUR rules fault. I could argue that the line was in the wrong spot, that a ball shouldn't ever roll after placing it. I mean, I could argue that, that's, that's here nor there.

But the PGA TOUR knows there's a rule that's not great in it -- which they did a good job a few years back of changing a bunch of rules. But I thought, like I said, I was under the impression that rule had been changed also. I was wrong.

And I take -- I mean, I take total accountability for that and I'm lucky that I called a rules official over because normally I work at a pretty quick pace and I just do it on my own because, I don't know if I think I think I know all the rules, but I think I'm pretty caught up with most of the rules.

But obviously I was, I'm making a stance for the USGA to change this. And I think the partnership between the USGA and the PGA TOUR's gotten much better through the last handful of years, but there's no way that that's good for the game of golf when balls move like that and can affect the outcome of golf tournaments.

Q. How many texts on your phone when you woke up?

CHARLEY HOFFMAN: Not a ton. I talked to, like I said, I talked to the USGA, I talked to the PGA TOUR last night. I am sure on the social media thread there was a ton. I don't, I'm not a huge social media guy to begin with, and that's the platform I chose to use.

Looking back could I have done it behind closed doors? Probably. But sometimes that doesn't always work.