The waiting game...
Slow play has been an epidemic on the PGA Tour since as long as anyone can remember. Every year it’s the same ol’ story — fans/media/players complain and it’s always brought up at least once in the annual Players Meeting, but the pace of play on Tour hasn’t improved. It’s become one of those things that’s almost become part of the game. At least on Tour, but Kevin Na’s waggles and whiffs put a massive spotlight on the slow play issue, which was already a point of contention heading into the week.
Interesting enough, this week’s event marks the 20th anniversary of the last time a player — Dilliard Pruitt, who is now, coincidentally, a Tour rules official — was stroked a one-shot penalty for slow play at the ’92 Byron Nelson Classic. *Update: Last player stroked was acutally Glen Day at the ’95 Honda Classic.
The Tour’s pace of play policy references Rule 6-7 in the USGA’s Rules of Golf and it also defines “Out of Position,” stating:
The first group to start will be considered out of position if, at any time during the round, they exceed the time allowed to play, as detailed on applicable course’s Pace of Play Chart. Any subsequent group will be considered out of position if, at any time during the round, they (a) exceed the allotted time to play and (b) reach a par-3 hole that is open and free of play or reach a par-4 or par-5 hole and have not played a stroke from the teeing ground before the hole is open and free of play.
In regard to “Timing,” the rules officials determine a group is out of position, then all the players will be timed and informed they’re on the clock. The time limit or “shot clock” is 40 seconds with an extra 20 seconds given several exceptions (not all shots take the same amount of time to play). First time you receive a bad time, you get a warning, and then if you get another, it’s a stroke penalty. That’s what the rules read, but the Tour doesn’t apply it.
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Last Wednesday in a pre-tournament press conference, Commissioner Tim Finchem was asked to comment on the Tour complying with the USGA standards and stroking players.
“I actually think we might want to experiment with penalty shots,” he said. “But I don’t think penalty shots make a difference to be honest with you.”
Really? Well, if you haven’t done it in 20 years, how would you know if it’d work?
After his final round at the players, Tiger Woods didn’t mince words (for Tiger) on the topic. In 2008 he went out of his way to bring up the slow play problem. Has anything changed in four years?
“Worse,” said Tiger. “Last week (at Quail Hollow), we were playing in 4:40 and there’s no wind. That’s hard to believe.
“We have gotten slower on Tour. College has gotten just incredibly slow. It’s so bad that now we are giving the guys the ability to use lasers to try to speed up play, and they are still in, you know, 5:45, 6:00 plus.”
Yep, it’s been like that for over a decade. It’s painful.
The easy solution?
“I think very simple, if you get a warning, you get a penalty,” said Woods. “I think that would speed it up.”
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More waiting
In an informal poll I did last week among at The Players, all but one said the only solution to fixing slow play would be to dole out strokes.
When I asked Henrik Stenson for his response to Finchem’s comment, the Swedish golfer said, “They don’t give strokes here?” He seemed surprised. Stenson is a member of both the European and PGA Tours. He was aware that the slow pokes receive fines.
“Giving strokes would speed things up if you’re stricter with the rules,” he told me on Saturday after the third round of The Players Championship. “People already get pretty heavy fines. Over here, you can get fined $20,000 if you’re on the clock more than 10 times in one season.
“When I won here in ’09, I was given a letter after the tournament that I’d been on the clock 3 times. I’m not going to mention any names, but I was playing with certain players who are not known to be the quickest and then I got a warning letter. I consider myself to be in the middle (speed-wise).”
The fines clearly aren’t enough to motivate a player to speed up, and why would they? (Aside from the most basic: common courtesy.) The crime is worth the punishment.
“What’s the difference between first and second right now? How much is it? he asked. Reporters replied that it was about $800,000.
“So I would take the five grand and over the 800K,” said Tiger. “But that’s one shot, and that’s the difference. That’s what people don’t realize is that one shot is so valuable out here.”
Brian Davis, who is one of the quicker players, also doesn’t think purely fines is enough incentive.
“I think we should just play for a million bucks every week and everyone would just run,” said Davis on Sunday, with a wry smile. “There are six million (or more) reasons why to slow down.
“Some guys are slow and they want us to police ourselves, but obviously we can’t. The men upstairs usually get it right. I’d be scared if they said, you get bad times, it’s a shot. If they just say, we’re timing you, you have a bad time, you’re penalized a shot. I’d panic. I’d run.”
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See ya later, suckers.
On Friday the threesome of Matt Every, Colt Knost and Harris English arrived on the 18th tee and took a seat in chairs alongside the tee. They had a good five minutes or more.
Colt called to me from across the tee box and said frustratedly, “Hey, Stephanie, I have a story you need to write–how effing slow these guys in front of us are playing. It’s ridiculous. Five hours and 20 minutes.”
I told him that he didn’t need to worry about that — we were all over it already.
He was also very vocal throughout the week via Twitter:
“Love it when it take 5.5 hours to play a round of golf. So ridiculous!!!”
Rickie Fowler replied:
@ColtKnost beat ya…5 hours 20 mins…morning wave…boom!!#waitedeveryshot
On Sunday, Knost missed the cut, but watched the final-round coverage and said:
Final group at the players is over a hole behind!! Pace of play is no issue!! FALSE
World No. 2 Luke Donald, watching from his TV at home, tweeted at the season opener in Hawaii:
“Slow play is killing our sport.”
After the third round at The Players, Donald raved about his playing partner:
“My new favourite golfer to play with is Bill Haas, top bloke and always ready when it’s his turn, one waggle and he’s off
#refreshing“
You know there’s a problem when “slow play” is basically trending on Twitter and overshadowing the fifth major. In fact, he nearly stole the show, thanks to Kevin Na. However, perhaps it had to take something this extreme for Na to really address his waggle and trigger-pulling issue, and for the PGA Tour to finally start enforcing the rule and pace of play policy more stringently.
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Tick-tock, tick-tock!
Apparently, the European Tour, who has the same policy, takes slow play much more stringently and it’s not rare a player receives a penalty stroke.
“The rules officials are more people’s tails in Europe on speed of play, for sure,” said Stenson.
Added Davis, jokingly: “The officials are brutal in Europe. They jump out of the trees and say, ‘Gotcha!’”
Stenson and Davis both pointed out a gray area that could cause problems when it comes to give out penalty strokes for slow play.
“If you take a guy a stroke, it might not be only necessarily a check but the tournament and that’s a lot of cash,” said Davis. “I think penalties would make a difference, but problem is there’s a fine line between when do they start the clock and when does he officially start.
“They want us to police ourselves, but obviously we can’t do it.”
Some shots also take longer to play than others, which was Stenson’s concern.
“If you’re usually a quick player, but you hit a bad shot and you’re on the clock because someone in your group is slow,” he said, “You’re going to miss a green and end up with a tough shot somewhere and you’re not going to feel like you have that minute to go up and look (at the green) because all of a sudden you get a bad time. The other players is really the slow one, but I’m going to get the bad time.”
What about imposing a total time limit allowed for all shots you play? Well, it’d be difficult to monitor that and a pain to have someone time every single player (though it has been done by the intrepid team of Golf Mag staffers last year at Bay Hill). Hypothetically, it’s a logical and fair concept.
This is what another player suggested: Let’s say a player has 46 minutes — that’s a totally arbitrary number — of shot time for the round. When I tee off, a person is timing you, but total amount of time to play all your golf shots. Some shots take more quickly to play them, so when you have a shot that requires more time, more than 40 seconds of attention, you can use that time. If it takes someone a long time on every shot and exceed 46 minutes, maybe they should be penalized.
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I feel like with all the critique and negative attention the Tour has received over slow play, they have to do something to improve it, and the only solution that will motivate a player to hurry up is to give penalty strokes. Yes, you know, like I said earlier, what a novel idea to enforce the rule!
Given this week is the 20th year anniversary, I can’t think of a better time. My only concern is some poor unknown player is going to get Doug Barron’d.
A one-shot penalty is worth more than winning a tournament. Every player knows how costly one shot can be. One shot can decide your schedule because each shot counts throughout the year. Just ask Spencer Levin, who finished 31st on the 2011 PGA Tour money list.
Last season he had to call a stroke on himself when an outside agent caused his ball to move on the putting green. Turned out the disparity in prize money due to that one-shot penalty was worth the difference in finishing 31st and 30th on the money list. The top 30 receives huge perks, like being automatically exempt to the next season’s majors, most of the WGCs (no-cut, so free money), and all the invitationals, etc.
That all said, happy 20th anniversary of the last time a player was stroked for slow play! Bet Pruitt can still tell you exactly how much money in official money that cost him.
By the way, I’m a little tired of hearing about people compare their Saturday game with their buddies at their club to a PGA Tour event. I know it’s the only barometer we know how to measure, but this would fall under the bifurcation category.
(AP Photo/Chris O’Meara)
Four guys with 20 handicaps can play 18 any weekend in four hours. Roughly 380 shots. Two tour pros can’t in 5+ hours and only hit it 140 times. Penalize them! The rest of the sport needs fast play too!
The more I think of it, the more I think that neither fines nor stroke penalties are the key to speeding up the tour. I think the solution has to come from the players themselves. Guys like Donald calling people out on twitter is a start.
I’ve been watching golf on TV since 1982 and playing since 1979. Slow play was s problem back then both as a player and talked about on TV and written about. Thirty years of complaints and possible solutions have changed nothing and never will. It’s a battle that won’t and can’t be won. Let’s move to the next topic please.
dudes are playing for millions of dollors Nicklaus started it and nobody had the guts to say anything to him considering unless you time every player its not fair I suggest the world gets over it
Yikes…another tough read. Does this stuff get proof read, at all??
With two-tee starts and super large fields on Thursday and Friday it’s just going to be slow. One or two rulings and both sides are backed up.
As for this past weekend, the leaders (Na and Kuchar) teed off at 2.45 and finished before the conclusion of the 7pm telecast. I don’t think there was any gap between them and the group in front of them.
Watching Na go through the gyrations is a bit troublesome but I’m pretty sure he and Zach played in just over 4 hours on Saturday as well.
The Commissioner said there will be no changes so get used it.
Stephanie maybe you or one of the tour players could actually give a valid reason why slow play is killing the tour. What is the down side or problem that arises when PGA players are slow? As a fan I can’t see any reason. When you look at slow play for amateurs, they are playing at a local club for enjoyment, to relax, spend time with friends, etc. Its understandable. For the PGA tour its their livelihood at stake with every stroke. Now I could understand if tournaments weren’t able to finish on Sunday and they had to come back on Monday morning. But that hasn’t ever happened, outside of a playoff that I can remember. Every tournament I have watched this year has ended right around 6pm Eastern (except Hawaii events of course). These guys have the best JOB in the world, and they are upset they have to spend an extra hour on some of the most beautiful properties in the world. Come on. Its hard to feel bad for a guy who is getting a 5, 6, or 7 digit paycheck for 4 days work who is complaining about spending a few extra hours out on the golf course. That’s something the rest of us dream about…
Agreed, I’m so done with people constantly complaining about this. You fill the course with players, and you are going to be waiting on alot of shots. The fact that the players call in for rules officials on every questionable drop or situation contributes. How about they spring for a rules official with every group, or at a minimum, 1 per hole ?
Slow play is awful for everyone. As a volunteer walking scorer those 5 1/2 and 6 hours rounds are killers. I also score on the LPGA and sometimes feel like I’m running to keep witht the players. I know they are playing for alot of money but also having watched alot of college golf tournaments they are the worst! All of these hot shot teachers and guru’s need to teach faster play.
Tom Joad: “proofread” is one word. You should check your spelling.
Nice catch.
Name names. pairing sheet for friday at players
8:50 a.m.: Joe Ogilvie, Bob Estes, Brian Davis
9:00 a.m.: Ryuji Imada, Robert Karlsson, Peter Hanson
9:11 a.m.: Matt Every, Colt Knost, Harris English
BTW Stephanie, if I say I can play a round in an hour and forty five minutes, or if I say my threesome routine plays in under four hours, I’m not in any way suggesting that tour pros should play in the same time. What I am saying is that if my foursome can play the local muni in 4.5 hours, hitting the ball several hundred times, that two tour pros should be able to get around in under five hours. I fully understand that what they are doing is much more difficult, requires more thought, more precision and more discussion. However, there are rules in pace that dictate the appropriate pace of play, as you have listed, and those rules should be enforced, or done away with.
It is amazing how slow they are OVER a shot. 5.5 hour rounds and these guys are REALLY fast walkers. It is amazing how fast they walk – and it takes that long….
Get to the ball, look at the lie, get the yardage, windage, and club from your caddie, pick your line, (practice swing if you must), and then step it, ground the club, and hit the freaking ball….
Somebody time Rory, he has to be one of the fastest once reaching his ball.
Rory and Rickie might play in under 2 hours with nobody in front of them, they’d both be under par….
Perhaps a “tee time” weighting system based on time over ball averages….If you are one of the leaders in “shot time”, then you get to pick morning or afternoon wave….
Lets see, Rory #1 in the world – fast
Luke #2 in the world – fast
Rickie – Won last week, rising talent.
Bill Haas – Big Trophies last year, 10M in the bank – Fast.
Obviously slow players aren’t getting any better scores taking all that time…..
Tiger isn’t the fastest, and I’ve seen him take 5 minutes over 1 putt, but still, when he’s complaining its got to be bad.
I don’t even like all of Dufner’s wobbles. Just hit the thing.
I can really understand how a putt might take 2 minutes or more. But most drives and second shots should take less than 30 seconds.
Tiger is generally right in the middle of the pack (he used to play faster, at end of the day while in contention he’ll slow down, or if pace is really slow he slows down). At Quail he played first two rounds with Webb (who is slow) and Ogilvy, they were waiting on every shot. At the Players, he played with Rickie (who is fast) and Hunter, they were waiting on every shot. On Sunday he played with Furyk (who tends towards slow) and as you can see they were waiting on a par 5. So yeah it’s really bad.
And some of the guys who have been around for a while (like Tiger) have slowed down bc waiting on every shot stinks.
Many good points here. I tend to jump on the slow play bandwagon. To me the worst part about slow play, when I’m playing, is that I would rather not wait excessively long to play a shot. I want there to be some momentum. I know who the guys are in my group that are slow, and I know why. I do wonder how two or three guys with caddies and marshalls (everywhere), can get so behind. But I do have to agree Bill Sawyer’s point. These guys are playing on beautiful courses, for big money. The TV people love it because they can sell more commercials, which also helps the purses on TOUR.
Now, how about this for a twist. The TOUR analyzes each player, collects video evidence of each players pace of play. Based on the repetitive nature of their slowness, they get assigned a Pace of Play rating. Say a “PoP5″ is the worst. The rating is based on their Pace of Play only. If they fall into the dreaded PoP5 category, they are advised of their status and given warning that the following actions will be enforced if their group is slow. Give the player a warning that they are on the clock. If the player does not adjust and catch up, make them pick up their ball after reaching their next green, and give them a three putt. Sends a message and certainly should speed up play, real time. That will never happen, but I bet it would work. Humiliation can go a long way. I don’t think it would be that difficult to identify the slowest players, show them the evidence, lay out the punishment in store if they don’t clean it up, and then enforce it.
The players need to not only practice on their game but on a quick and effective pre shot routine. An under a minute pre shot routine should be the requirement for all players.
Sorry this is going to be somewhat off topic and sound like an advertisement. but….if you have not hit the Adams XTD super fairway and hybrids yet..do it. They are pricey but I have never seen a club perform like these do. A decent swing around 105 mph with a the 3 wood will carry 275 and roll out to about 285 easy. You can seriously speed up play with them. So legit.
The only solution to the problem is to penalize players shots. Fines won’t do the job as these guys don’t care about the money. They will however care about giving away shots to the field.
It’s a very difficult issue to fix on the pro tour.
Ironic that a slow play post brings about a halt in content on this site. 3 days with nothing is like Kevin Na on the back nine at Sawgrass.
a really good tourney is getting no coverage…..i would even take some of Conor’s lame Euro talk….maybe Steph’s gettin her groove on!!
Today’s Pressel-Munoz match on the LPGA Tour adds a whole new dimension to this argument. Pressel was called for slow play on a hole that she won, meaning she lost the hole. Instead of being three-up, she was one-up. She fell apart and lost the match, accusing Munoz of a rules violation on the way.
Well there is also a case to be made from today’s Byron Nelson. It ended about about 5:40p EST. That left CBS with about 15-20 min to fill. Most of it was commercials but when they did go back to the booth it was quite obvious they were struggling to make adequate conversation. “Struggling” might be too nice, it was painful to watch. Almost like the CBS producers were at a loss on what to show. Nantz and Faldo tried but you could almost smell them watching the clock.
@Bill, I thought the same thing – I’m sure they were hoping for a convenient 1 hole playoff to fill that slot. So what are we to conclude about slow play being “rampant”, when a pro event ends 20 minutes ahead of schedule ? Duffner teed off at 12:15 in the last group and finished up at 3:40 (times Central), for about a four hour round. Seems pretty solid to me, especially being in the last group on a Sunday.
A whole tourney missed on the big tour and two nice match play events go unmentioned.
Nice work. If you’re on vacation, have an underling do it. Very poor effort from this so called blog.
The Pressel penalty was ridiculous, insane, and self defeating; this has damaged the reputation and progress of the LPGA.
With a full field on the course, enforce the slow play rule; it’s necessary and makes absolute sense. But with only four players on the course, the LPGA should have been far more concerned with showcasing the incredible talent of its players at the match play.
Four of the most photogenic, skilled, personable players in the entire organization were on the course, and what should have been a remarkable day of golf was reduced to cat fights and tears. It is incomprehensible that anyone in the LPGA believes that this was the best way to portray the LPGA, or that this is the image that best serves the interests of the organization, its players, or even the game of golf.
Michael Whan is doing great things to rebuild the LPGA, but this idiotic situation is a severe blow to that effort. I’m confident that of all the potential sponsors watching this situation unfold not a single one will now say to themselves “Smart move…those guys are really sharp…that’s the kind of orgnization and event where I want to invest $3 million of my marketing budget…”
On the rule itself – a local LPGA rule, not a rule of golf – Pressel was penalized, but it was Munoz who got them on the clock to begin with. That Pressel suffered such an extreme penalty demonstrates the extreme lack of logic of the rule.
While slow play is certainly an issue at every level of golf, this was completely the wrong time and place to take a stand. There is a reason the PGA tour – perhaps the most successful sports organization int the world – has not penalized a player for slow play in more than 20 years: they have decided that strokes played should dictate who wins and loses. This situation demonstrates the wisdom of their strategy.
nmonroe concur with your statements about a great day of golf being reduced to cat fights and tears. All people in the business of enforcement have the option to exercise discretion and the rules guy in this one completely f’d it up.
Is this blog still in business?
LPGA Tour is a dead animal. American talent is a fraction of what the Asian market is producing. This, as the story goes, is hurting sponsorship and young American talent. LPGA made a huge mistake here with their young star player.
This place is going the way of the Back9 network….Intelligent writing and commentary @ http://www.geoffshackelford.com
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Is it time to place a rules official at every hole to time speed of play? I think not. The PGA should take a lesson from the LPGA and issue a one stroke penalty to all offenders straight away instead of handholding by warning and fining select players.