A hot topic these days is which professional golfers are slow players and what other pros think about them. To be fair, slow play is not a new topic and it has been around since golf was invented hundreds of years ago. I would have hated to seen the amount of time golfers spent looking for their last feather stuffed, leather-covered, handmade golf ball.
The topic of slow play makes its rounds in the media from time to time when professional golfers can’t take it anymore and make public comments. Most recently, the topic has come back around after the 2023 Masters. A reporter teed it up when asking Brooks “you’re a pretty fast player, curious to know your thoughts on the pace of play this afternoon?” Brooks responded, “yeah the group in front of us was brutally slow. Jon went to the bathroom, like, seven times and we were still waiting.” The group in front of them had Viktor Hovland and Patrick Cantlay. It was obvious, and recent history continues to prove out, that he was talking about Patrick Cantlay.
Brooks Koepka has long been an advocate of the tours doing something about speeding up the pace of play. Additionally, he’s not been afraid to address the issue when asked.
“That’s what I don’t understand. When it’s your turn to hit, your glove is not on. Then you start thinking about it; that’s where the problem lies. It’s not that he takes that long. He doesn’t do anything until his turn. That’s the frustrating part. But he’s not the only one that does it out here.”
Brooks Koepka on J.B. Holmes at the 2019 Open Championship
At the 2019 Open Championship at Royal Portrush, J.B. Holmes was the second to tee off on the first tee. When it was his turn to hit, Holmes wasn’t even ready to hit and started deciding what club to pull. It took him almost a minute to hit his first tee shot of the day. It didn’t get any better for Brooks or the rest of the field as the day wore on.
One of the most recent professional golfers to weigh in is 2022 U.S. Open Champion Matthew Fitzpatrick. Fitzpatrick won the 2023 RBC Heritage just last week for his 2nd championship in the United States. In the final round he was paired with Patrick Cantlay and Jordan Speith. Fitzpatrick is known for being a speedy player.
“I think they give us way too much leeway to get around. If you’re a three-ball, in my opinion, you should get around in four hours. 4 1/2 [hours] absolute maximum. It’s a disgrace to get anywhere near that. You’re talking 5:15 and 5 1/2 [hours] in some venues, and it’s truly appalling,”
Matt Fitzpatrick on Speed of play in professional golf
Matthew Fitzpatrick decided not to call out specific players but the tours themselves as the real problem. The rules state that a player has 40 seconds to hit their shot once it’s their turn. Rules state that players will be penalized one stroke for the first violation. Fitzpatrick claimed the PGA TOUR and the DP World Tour have been letting slow play slide for years with nothing being done.
During the 2022 U.S. Open, Rory McIlroy ended up losing his cool a bit after leaving the ball in the bunker. He was later asked about the course, the conditions and his frustrations after the round in an interview.
“Yeah, the guys in front of us were playing so slow. They were like a hole or hole-and-a-half behind the group in front of them. So yeah, that was a little frustrating, too.”
Rory McIlroy, 2022 U.S.Open
Patrick Cantlay is the latest golfer to take heat over slow play. There have been other players who’ve been specifically called out. Those include the previously mentioned J.B. Holmes and even Bryson Dechambeau. Patrick Cantlay did respond to the criticism.
“(When) we finished the first hole, and the group in front of us was on the second tee when we walked up to the second tee, and we waited all day on pretty much every shot,” Cantlay said. “We waited in 15 fairway. We waited in 18 fairway. I imagine it was slow for everyone.”
Patrick Cantlay, on if he was playing slow at 2023 Masters
While it makes for some interesting and truth filled dialogue, the real problem with slow professional golfers is that they are emulated and create slow amateur golfers. We’ve all got out to the course and got behind “the” group. The players taking themselves too seriously and emulating the pros. You see this especially on the greens while they start straddling lines and aim point putting with their fingers. It can be frustrating. Next, it can be argued that slow professional golfers do diminish the product. Who really wants to watch a golfer fiddle with their glove, step away multiple times or otherwise not play a shot?
This is a similar issue in other sports. Most recently, Major League Baseball instituted a pitch clock for the 2023 season. On opening day this year, the average game time was two hours and 45 minutes. That was a 26 minute improvement to opening day of last season. I think most would agree that this is a positive thing for the fans.
This issue goes back a long ways. Back in 2017, Jason Day was a player taking heat for his slow pace of play. He was displaying a tendency to back off a shot multiple times until ready and committed. At that point, he was the number one golfer in the world. Day was asked about his slow play and answered honestly. His answer did speak to his mindset and the long history of the tours not being concerned about pace of play.
“In my opinion, I don’t care so much about speeding up my game. I’ve got to get back to what makes me good. If that means I have to back off five times, I’m going to back off five times before I have to actually hit the shot.”
Jason Day on slow play in 2017
There is a lot of talk in social media these days about pace of play. That will certainly keep the topic in front of the governing bodies of professional golf for now. Truly, if anything is ever going to change, pro tour leadership is going to have to enforce pace of play rules. As for us amateurs, the tried and true saying of playing ready golf will get all levels of players around the course in a timely manner.