Tianlang Guan, the 14-year-old amateur from China, received a one-shot penalty for slow play on the 17th hole during the second round of The Masters.
Guan took a bogey on the hole instead of a par. He somehow kept his composure and managed to par the difficult 18th and post a three-over 75, four-over 36-hole total. For now, Guan is inside the cut line (because he’s within ten shots of the leader), but it won’t be pretty if he misses by, say, one.
Pressel pouting
I’ve watched the replay of Golf Channel’s tape-delayed coverage of the semifinals match between Morgan Pressel and Azahara Munoz, with a particular interest on the 12th hole, where Pressel went over the allotted time — she had 2:09 to play her three shots — by 39 seconds. I’ve also read just about every article of coverage by the scribes on-site. (continue reading…)
No. 17 at Ocean Forest Golf Club
My sincere apologies for the respite in regular posting. I should’ve put up a message that I’d be taking a few days off. My bad. Good news is I’m back now.
Even better news? So is Jason Dufner…on Twitter.
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.
Pretty in pink at The Players
There are always a bunch of leftover tidbits from talking with players about whatever topic or observing something interesting/weird/funny/sad that I wish I could have shared, but for one reason or another, I didn’t have time to post or write it, or it just didn’t fit anywhere else. Maybe I’m an ultra geek and no one else cares, but that’s too bad. I’m not forcing you to read on… (continue reading…)
Speedy? Na. Classy? Ya.
Kevin Na bared his soul to the media and the world after Saturday’s third round of The Players Championship, candidly speaking about the demons he’s been battling for quite a long time.
As the 54-hole leader at the PGA Tour’s marquee event, Na received more television time than perhaps ever before, putting a massive spotlight on his bizarre pre-shot routine, which includes multiple waggles (he has to do everything in pairs) and whiffs (he’s not stroked because he doesn’t intend to hit the ball). He also backs-offs after setting up countless times. It’s painful and grueling. For him, too. (continue reading…)
Na says he can't hit a putt outside 2 feet if he doesn't line it up...
It’s no secret Kevin Na, the 54-hole leader at The Players Championship, is one of the slowest players on the PGA Tour — if not the slowest — but he is well aware of his problem and the criticisms.
He’s been under even more scrutiny than usual this week given his position on the leaderboard, but he’s handled it with candor, bearing his demons to the media (and the world) and throwing in some self-deprecating humor. That makes it hard not to sympathize with the difficult he has “pulling the trigger,” which causes him to back off the ball and go through his pre-shot routine more than once countless times throughout a round. (continue reading…)
Luke Donald may have overstated things ever so slightly when he claimed recently that “slow play is killing our sport”, but it very nearly ended the life of a Fort Worth recreational golfer last month. (continue reading…)
That's what euphoria looks like after eight years of patience
After Kevin Na rolled in a seven-footer for par on 18 at the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open, he raised his arms in the air and hollered for joy (as shown in the photo above). During his 18th-green-victory interview, he fought back tears, saying he had “nightmares about finishing second” in the past, but after eight years of trying, he’s finally won a PGA Tour event.
I’ll be honest — I felt some chills up my spine and goosebumps from seeing the raw emotions of a teen prodigy who turned pro at 17 and probably thought he’d experience this moment a lot sooner. I don’t have time to find the words to describe it, but simply, Na’s reaction is one of the reasons we watch and love competition and sports. (continue reading…)
AT LAST! JB Holmes sends a drive on its way
Mike Walker of Golf.com has published the results of a tedious experiment he and four others conducted during the second round of this year’s Arnold Palmer Invitational in Orlando. Armed with stopwatches, clipboards (for Science!) and a healthy stockpile of patience, the team took nearly twelve hours to monitor every one of 45 different players as they played the same nine-hole stretch around Bay Hill.
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