Slow play is killing golf — we have to stop it NOW
yoUng Americans Bryson DeChambeau and Patrick Cantlay are two of the most fascinating players in golf. one, with his uniquely scientific approach, and the other for the manner in which he has overcome adversity.
Paired together in the final group for the Memorial Tournament in ohio on Sunday, we saw something else they have in common. They’re both so slow as to be all but unwatchable.
How sad that two players you want to root for make you reach for the off button instead. Indeed, when they announced that teetimes had been brought forward because of the threat of thunderstorms, it was tempting to wonder whether the real reason was to make sure Bryson and Patrick had time to finish.
They would need five and a half hours, would you believe, to complete 18 holes.
Meanwhile, the finish at the US Women’s open ought to have been riveting as Ariya Jutanugarn blew a seven- shot lead over the closing stages (she would eventually compose herself to prevail in a four-hole play-off against Kim Hyo-joo).
I turned on just as Jutanugarn plonked herself on the ground on the 16th tee and prepared for a long wait because play in front was so slow. I switched off again.
Slow play will kill golf as a toplevel attraction. yes, we know that hundreds of thousands of dollars can be decided on the strength of one shot. But watching is supposed to be entertainment, not a chore.
At least on the European Tour, they’re attempting to speed the game up. This week, those efforts will be taken further, although I do wish they hadn’t made it sound like a gimmick by renaming the Austrian open the Shot Clock Masters. This is far too serious a problem to be categorised as a gimmick.
golf lovers ought to applaud the intent, though, as players will be timed on every shot with one-shot penalties handed out to offenders.
Here’s a prediction: I bet few penalty strokes need to be imposed and a lot of players score better for playing quicker, because they will not be overthinking shots.
That’s the other thing about slow play — it rarely works. If Sunday marked a new low in the battle against this insidious disease, let’s hope events in Austria this week herald an antidote.