Molinari inspires slow-play action

Edoardo Molinari’s decision to name and shame players was the catalyst behind the European Tour’s slow-play crackdown, according to chief executive Keith Pelley.

The European Tour announced a four-point plan to tackle slow play on Monday, including a shortened process before players are handed a oneshot penalty.

Financial penalties will also be increased for players who are regularly timed by officials during the season, while members will have to pass an online rules test and field sizes in fully sanctioned events will be reduced from 156 to a minimum of 144.

Molinari had taken to social media to express his frustration after his second round in April’s Hassan Trophy took five and a half hours to complete.

After the original post gained a lot of attention, Molinari said if it was retweeted more than 1,000 times he would release the full list of players who had been timed, how many breaches they had committed and how much they had been fined.

The former US Amateur champion was true to his word and published the data, even though his brother Francesco, the 2018 Open champion, was among the offenders.

“I spoke to Edoardo shortly afterwards and while I didn’t necessarily agree with his chosen method, he was entirely right to confront the problem and it prompted a discussion at the next Tournament Committee meeting, held at the Betfred British Masters in May,” Pelley said.

“Thankfully, our Tournament Committee shared Edoardo’s belief that enough was enough, and they were prepared to make some hard decisions, accepting the need to be more punitive.”

Picture: PA. Francesco Molinari was named by his own brother.