Holmes takes it slow at Genesis

Aperfect storm for slow play at the Genesis Open in Los Angeles on Sunday led to a Twitter storm blasting Genesis Open winner J.B. Holmes.

Holmes is one of the tour’s slower players on a good day, and then on Sunday at Riviera Country Club he found himself battling world No. 4 Justin Thomas down the stretch in cold, blustery conditions on very difficult greens. The Kentuckian drew the ire of golf fans, taking more than a minute to hit several putts and plumbbobbing near gimmes.

“Well, you play in 25-milean-hour gusty winds and see how fast you play when you’re playing for the kind of money and the points and everything that we’re playing for,” Holmes said at the winner’s news conference, which is an odd place to be put on your heels.

It’s not just the length of time it takes Holmes to hit a shot that is bothersome, it’s that he — and many other slow players — don’t begin their pre-shot routine until it’s their turn to hit.

Sunday’s round reminded fans of last year at Torrey Pines when Holmes took nearly four minutes before deciding to lay up with a 7-iron on the 18th hole of the final round.

Adam Scott, who recently spoke out against slow play and is also one of the nicest guys on tour, was cutting his competitor some slack.

“Well, look, we know he’s generally a slow player,” said Scott, who was the third member of the final group.

“When you get conditions like this, everyone turns into a slow player.”

Slow play isn’t unique to the PGA Tour.

The time a round of golf takes is frequently pointed to as a problem in attracting younger players to the game.

For those already in the sport, long rounds waiting on players is the most common of complaints.

Canadian Nick Taylor had an up and down Sunday and finished the tournament at 3-under, tied for 33rd. At one point during Sunday morning’s third round, Taylor was as low as 6-under.

Adam Hadwin had a disaster of a day, carding consecutive 77s to finish the week at 10-over. Of players who made the cut, only Cody Gribble finished worse.

Canada’ s top-ranked golfer hasn’t missed a cut in 2019 and has two top 20s, including a second-place finish through five tournaments.

Mackenzie Hughes shot 2-over through 36-holes and missed the cut.