It’s elementary, Holmes
Penalties for slow play would quickly fix the problem
A perfect storm for slow play at the Genesis Open on Sunday led to a Twitter storm blasting Genesis Open winner J.B. Holmes.
Holmes is one of the tour’s slower player’s 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 plumb-bobbing 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 told reporters during the winner’s press 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.
But is there an answer? At the casual level, proper spacing of tee times and a good marshal goes a long way. As does a golf trip to the other side of the pond, where players walk more than they ride, and walk directly to their own ball rather than becoming a caravan of golfers travelling to each other’s ball.
But competitive golf creates different challenges. Every player who has felt under the gun at any level, from amateur tournaments, to club events, to having $10 on the line with your buddy, knows how easy it is to grind to a halt when the pressure is on.
So there is truth to Holmes’ explanation that it’s hard to play fast with extreme amounts of money and your livelihood on the line. But nobody is asking him to play fast, we just don’t want to feel like gouging our eyes out on a Sunday afternoon.
Rich Beem, winner of the 2002 PGA Championship, went on Twitter Monday morning wondering when players will “take it into their own hands and call out players mid-round?”
That would be entertaining and certainly liven up the broadcasts, but it’s unlikely to fix the problem because tour players aren’t like us. It only takes one or two comments to shame most of us into to changing our ways. (I’ve got the onceworn white golf pants in my closet to prove it.)
Tour players, however, are not known for bending to each other’s will. These guys are the centre of their own world, one-man brands. For every competitor calling them out, there will be 20 “team members” urging them not to change a thing.
Beem’s point is deeper, though. He reckons that perhaps after a couple awkward on-course on-camera exchanges between players, golf ’s powers-that-be might take notice and feel forced to act. And he might be on to something.
In my opinion, nothing will change until it starts costing them strokes.
Brian Campbell and Miguel Angel Carballo were penalized for slow play last year at the Zurich Classic, but it was the first such penalty enforced in 22 years on the PGA Tour. And full respect to Campbell, Carballo and the Zurich Classic, but it’s a different message it it were Bryson DeChambeau and Jordan Spieth at the Players Championship.
The Australian Scott recently told Golf Digest that he’s willing to be the victim.
“I’ll take the penalty,” he told the magazine. “The only way it’s going to work is if you enforce it.”
But so far, the PGA Tour doesn’t seem interested. Holmes pace of play on Sunday wasn’t brought to his attention until he had the trophy in his hands.
“There’s times when I’m probably too slow, but it is what it is,” Holmes said after the win. “I was never on the clock. Nobody, never even got a warning.”
Speaking of clocks, the European Tour began the Shot Clock Masters last year in Austria. At that tournament, players are given 40 seconds to hit their shot, if you go over the limit and you’re hit with a one-stroke penalty. The first player in the group gets 10 extra seconds to hit and each player receives two time time outs per round. The format shaved 30-45 minutes off the telecast and a number of groups played in less than four hours.
So far, the PGA Tour hasn’t seemed the least bit interested. After the Genesis Open, perhaps disheartened after Sunday’s marathon, the affable Scott slightly changed his tune from his ‘give me the penalty’ comments from earlier in the week.
“It’s never going to change,” Scott said “I think, it’s just, get over it. Until television and sponsors say ‘No more money,’ slow play ain’t going to change.”
In that case, perhaps a J.B. Holmes winning streak is just what the tour needs.
Well, you play in 25-mile-an-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.
J.B. Holmes