Enforce rules, speed up golf
This week’s AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am is refreshingly packed with dynamic, bigname tour pros.
The top three players in the world ranking will be there: Dustin Johnson, Jon Rahm, Jordan Spieth. So will former No. 1s Rory McIlroy and Jason Day, both of whom rejoined the top 10 after strong starts to 2018.
Now, a humble but important request on behalf of the many fans who will migrate to the Monterey Peninsula in the coming days: Hit the damn ball.
Even when other sports are trying to corral game times — the NBA reduced timeouts this season and Major League Baseball keeps pushing paceof-play initiatives — the PGA Tour obliviously ignores its own rules. J.B. Holmes essentially mocked those rules in last Sunday’s final round in San Diego, taking 4 minutes
and 10 seconds to hit his second shot on No. 18. Four minutes and 10 seconds.
That’s just ridiculous. Golf Channel’s “Morning Drive” cleverly responded with a graphic showing sports feats accomplished in less than four minutes, including setting the world record in the mile run (3:43.13), winning last year’s Kentucky Derby (2:03.59) and the fastest English Premier League hat trick (2:56).
Yes, it was windy and Holmes had a chance to win the tournament. Yes, it was understandable for him to take more than the allotted 40 seconds, which wasn’t a reasonable amount of time given the circumstances.
But to consume fourplus minutes to decide how to hit a shot — especially a high-profile shot, before a sizable television audience — is bad for the game, plain and simple.
Holmes, who is in the field this week at Pebble, took that long in part because he knew there were no consequences. Tour officials historically refuse to enforce pace-ofplay rules, out of an illogical fear of embarrassing players. That’s the whole point: Embarrass them so they will play faster.
Golf faces enough challenges in attracting and holding fans.
Commissioner Jay Monahan’s response to the Holmes incident was not encouraging. Monahan referred to the “heat of the moment,” according to Golfweek, and offered no indication the tour will address growing concerns about slow play.
Here’s one suggestion, derived from common sense. Find a reasonable threshold — 60 seconds, maybe slightly more in extreme conditions — and stick to it. Hand out one-stroke penalties to offenders, two strokes to repeat offenders. Keep the game moving.
Other observations in advance of this week’s tournament:
Funny, many top pros once avoided the AT&T precisely because of slow play. Rounds took forever to complete, partly due to high-handicap amateurs and partly due to bloated fields (previously 180 pros and 180 amateurs).
Tournament officials reduced the field to 156 pros and 156 amateurs, swapped Poppy Hills for Monterey Peninsula’s Shore Course and made a concerted effort to land amateurs who are better golfers. Not coincidentally, more of the best tour pros now show up.
It’s easy to look at this week’s field and become enchanted by Johnson, the reigning world No. 1 with a strong history at Pebble Beach; or Spieth, the wonder boy who won last year’s AT&T; or even Phil Mickelson, a four-time Pro-Am winner and perpetual fan favorite.
But don’t sleep on J-Day.
Day tumbled off the radar in 2017, felled by lingering injuries, a caddie change and, most significantly, his mother’s cancer diagnosis. He had won five events in 2015 and three more in 2016, then went winless last year.
Monday’s playoff victory at Torrey Pines suggests Day is finding his way again. He hits the ball too far, and is too good around the greens, to struggle for long stretches.
He also brings some positive vibes at the AT&T, with three top-six finishes in his past five starts.
Last year’s opening round brought nostalgic, full-fledged Crosby Weather: howling wind, sideways rain, suspension of play shortly after lunchtime.
This year’s forecast: Sunny all four days, with temperatures in the high 60s and possibly eclipsing 70. Maybe nostalgia is overrated.