LOS ANGELES -- Ludvig Åberg and caddie Joe Skovron are part of a small slice of rules history as they were the first to take advantage of the 2026 rules update that allows for a damaged club to be replaced on the spot.
In this case, it was the 18th tee during the third round at Pebble Beach.
Åberg hit his drive out of bounds down the right side on the par-5 18th -- his ninth hole -- and noticed the face of his driver was cracked.
After Matt Fitzpatrick had been denied a chance to replace his driver in the BMW Championship at Castle Pines the year before, Model Local Rule G-9 was updated at the start of 2025 to include a visible crack in the face. However, golfers still had to keep the spare driver or part in the locker room.
This year, the PGA Tour asked for an update that allowed players to keep a spare driver head in their bag and change it on the course when the club was deemed to be damaged.
"They sent out rules changes at the start of the year and one of them was you no longer had to keep [the replacement] in the locker," Skovron said. "Before, someone had to get it for you. Now you can carry it in the bag, and if your driver is deemed damaged, you could put that one in. I had the backup in the belly of the bag."
Skovron said it makes sense for power players with high speed and faces that are increasingly thin.
Åberg called for an official, the crack was approved and Skovron attached the replacement. Otherwise, Åberg would have had to use his 3-wood for his next tee shot, and the driver could not be replaced until they made the turn near the clubhouse. Åberg nearly salvaged par, reaching the green in two and narrowly missing an 18-foot putt.
PGA Tour rules official Steve Rintoul said what happened to Åberg was a "perfect example why we pushed hard for the local rule to change."
"A guy discovers a crack on the 10th tee, his caddie can go to the locker room. If it's on the 14th tee, it might be two holes before he gets it," Rintoul said. "We like the fact if a club is cracked or broken, it can be replaced right there. The old method of the replacement was so archaic."