Holmes’ leisurely pace criticized again
A perfect storm for slow play at the Genesis Open in Los Angeles Sunday led to a Twitter storm blasting Genesis Open winner J.B. Holmes.
Holmes is one of the tour’s slower players on a good day and Sunday at Riviera Country Club he found himself battling world No. 4 Justin Thomas down the stretch in cold, blustery conditions on difficult greens. The Kentuckian drew the ire of golf fans, taking more than a minute to hit several putts.
“Well, you play in 25-mile-anhour 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 said.
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’s Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines, where Holmes took nearly four minutes before deciding to lay up with a seven-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 takes is frequently pointed to as a problem in attracting younger players to the game. For those already in the sport, long rounds and waiting on players are the most common complaints.
But is there an answer? At the casual level, proper spacing of tee times and a good marshal go a long way. As does a golf trip to the other side of the pond, where players walk more than they ride and head directly to their own ball rather than becoming a caravan travelling to each other’s balls.
But so far, the PGA Tour doesn’t seem interested. Holmes’ pace of play 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. “I was never on the clock. Nobody never even got a warning.”
Canadian Nick Taylor had an up and down Sunday and finished the tournament at 3 under, tied for 33rd. At one point during Sunday morning’s third round, Taylor was as low as 6 under.
Fellow Abbotsford, B.C., native Adam Hadwin had a disaster of a day, carding consecutive 77s to finish the week at 10 over. Of players who made the cut, only Cody Gribble finished worse. Canada’s top-ranked golfer hasn’t missed a cut this year and has two top 20s, including a second-place finish through five tournaments. Hamilton’s Mackenzie Hughes missed the cut.