PGA Tour’s Slow Play Problem: Can New Rules Finally Fix It?

The PGA Tour’s slow play problem has been a thorn in the side of golf fans for years, and it seems like a lasting solution has been found after the Tour announced plans to publish speed-of-play-related statistics, including the names of the fastest and slowest players, in an effort to shame players into picking up the pace.

The Tour’s commissioner, Jay Monahan, made the announcement ahead of The Players Championship last month. The PGA Tour will start releasing speed-of-play statistics later this year which will publicly show which players are fast and which players are slow based on stroke/time data. They will also test rangefinders at six Tour events between the Masters and PGA Championship to see if that helps. In addition, there will be a new pace of play policy on the Korn Ferry Tour and PGA Tour Americas including the potential for more stroke penalties which began on April 14th.

“We’ve committed to addressing the speed of play,” Monahan said. “To that end, I’m excited to formally announce these recommendations from our player-led speed-of-play working group. We will begin publishing speed-of-play related statistics later this season. We will also begin testing a new speed-of-play policy on the Korn Ferry Tour and PGA Tour Americas, beginning next month (April), which will include assessing penalty strokes for slow play.”

Players Optimistic Over New Rule

While the rules are a welcome development, there have been questions from many corners about whether this new approach will actually work. Some players, like Justin Thomas, think it’s a step in the right direction. Thomas admits to being on the slower side and welcomes the opportunity to improve his pace of play. Others, like Collin Morikawa, believe that stricter penalties, such as stroke penalties, are needed to really make a difference.

Rory McIlroy has also weighed in on the issue, suggesting that smaller fields could help improve pace of play. However, this solution also comes with its own disadvantages, as it would limit playing opportunities for some golfers.

The LPGA Tour has already taken a more aggressive approach to addressing slow play, introducing harsher punishments for players who exceed their time allotment per shot. Under the new guidelines, players who take too long will receive fines or even stroke penalties.

While it remains to be seen whether the PGA Tour’s new approach will be effective, it’s clear that something needs to be done to address the slow play problem. Many would agree that this is a welcome step in that direction. With the game’s top players and governing bodies finally taking action, there’s hope that golf fans will soon be able to enjoy a faster-paced and more exciting game.

Photo by Soheb Zaidi on Unsplash