Hard to feel joy for slowcoach Holmes
IT SHOULD have been one of the feel-good stories of the year: a win in Hollywood in Tiger Woods’ tournament over Rory McIlroy and Justin Thomas for a man who came back from brain surgery.
A man who wondered aloud in those dark days whether he would live a full life again, let alone beat such stellar competition to win the Genesis Open, one of the best events on the PGA Tour.
How could it get better than that? Surely the watching world was raising its arms and saluting the guts and gifts of JB Holmes?
Except nobody was. At almost 1am on this side of the Atlantic, it is hard to imagine who could have raised an eyelid let alone an arm as Holmes sucked the joy out of the event.
Only the other Holmes could solve the mystery of why the PGA Tour do not do something about slow play. Or a cynic.
‘Until TV or sponsors say, “No more money”, it ain’t gonna change,’ said an exasperated Adam Scott, who had the misfortune to partner Holmes all day.
Was it a coincidence Holmes’s antics saw Scott and Justin Thomas, his other playing partner, lose the? Thomas began the day looking like the best player in the world. He finished with a 75, his worst score for 18 months.
When the five-hour, 35-minute final round drew mercifully to a close, Holmes pointed to the fact his group were never put on the clock, which says everything about the appalling indolence of the PGA Tour when it comes to policing the pace of play.
Yes, the conditions were brutal and yes, we know players will take longer with so much at stake. But golf cannot go on like this and expect people to watch.
Fair play to American pro Zac Blair for calling out Holmes on social media, describing his pace as ‘beyond ridiculous and disrespectful to his playing partners’.
But, as he pointed out, it needs the big names to speak up, not just members of the chorus line.
This has been the worst start to a season I can recall, with the behaviour of Sergio Garcia and Matt Kuchar piled on top of the rumpus about the new rules. On Sunday, it got still worse.
Meanwhile, one casualty of the new schedule appears to be the four World Golf Championship events, which are 20 years old this year. The four majors and the Players Championship were supposed to be the only events with more importance, but could anyone say that is now the case? This week, the WGC-Mexico Championship is taking place, but Justin Rose isn’t playing, so how important can it be when the world No 1 is giving it a miss? Adam Scott said last week he might not play in any of them, citing the changed schedule.