Mcilroy shows zero tolerance for scourge of slow play
Even the thrilling climax to the Solheim Cup was not beyond his criticism, writes James Corrigan
‘If tennis can do it, there’s no reason why we can’t. It’s just a matter of enforcing it’
Rory Mcilroy knows the weight of his words in the world of golf and the damage they can cause when unloaded. And during his press conference here at Wentworth yesterday, the world No2 was acutely aware he would raise hackles when, in his latest diatribe against slow play, he dared to point the finger at last week’s Solheim Cup.
However, Mcilroy has had enough and feels that unless the game’s superstars bang the drum then in professional golf ’s eternal pursuit to present everything as being hunky-dory on those never-ending golden fairways, the outrage will be drowned out.
So he has vowed to keep up the noise, even if, in this case, it does involve criticising one of the sport’s greatest-ever climaxes and focusing on the negative of near six-hour rounds instead of all the positives on show at Gleneagles as Catriona Matthew’s Europe team defeated the United States, courtesy of the final putt, on the final green.
“I watched a lot of the Solheim and it was really slow,” Mcilroy said. “As much as you want to watch and support the European girls, it’s hard not to get frustrated. I am a fan of golf and want the best for the game. Look, it’s hard because there are different scenarios where you simply have to take your time. And they were tough conditions up there. But, you know, something has to be done.”
Mcilroy craves zero tolerance, when all the game at the top level seems to promote is total tolerance. Players who blatantly break the rules are consistently let off. As an example, in the first singles match on Sunday, America’s Danielle Kang was timed as taking 70 seconds on a putt on the 16th, 30 seconds more than the allotted time. Kang was already on a bad-time warning and so the punishment was clear – “immediate loss of hole”.
Except the referee allowed Carlota Ciganda to putt out and, after the Spaniard had won the hole, decided to forget Kang’s transgression. Of course, the official should have announced that Kang had already lost the hole because of her misdemeanour. Instead the referee chose to maintain a diplomatic silence and to hell with the deterrent factor and to hell with Kang feeling the shame.
Mcilroy cannot help but contrast this to the treatment dished out to Rafael Nadal in the recent US Open showpiece. “Rafa got a time clock violation on a really big serve at the end of the final, so if tennis can do it, there’s no reason why we can’t,” he said. “It’s just a matter of enforcing it.”
Mcilroy has been clear on this all year and anyone who believes he was being in any way sexist when referencing the Solheim Cup should hear what he has said about his own male peers. “The guys that are slow are the guys who get too many chances before they are penalised,” he said. “It should be a warning and then a shot. I don’t understand why we can’t just implement that. We are not children that need to be told five or six times what to do.”
Mcilroy is spot on and until the mentality changes and until Tour commissioners, chief executives, referees and everyone else accepts that some of these mollycoddled millionaires will have to be embarrassed and forced into complying with the regulations, all we will essentially get is deckchair rearranging.
Credit to the European Tour, because they have gone far further than their American counterparts and drawn up a four-point plan to root out the slowcoaches. Here at the BMW PGA Championship this week, they are providing referees with the times for each group through each hole to identify the gaps. And on three holes there will be on-tee displays so the pros know their position on the course in relation to the group in front.
All very worthy and all very innovative, but it will mean absolutely nought until they issue shot penalties and then carry on doing so. To Mcilroy, the debate starts and ends there. “It will stamp it out right away,” he said.