The PGA Tour may be unable to conclude a deal to unify professional golf but there is, finally, progress on another key issue for spectators: slow play. Speaking ahead of the Players Championship, the Tour’s commissioner, Jay Monahan, revealed the imminent arrival of new sanctions which could include the naming and shaming of offenders.
The two-time major champion Collin Morikawa had already made clear that the PGA Tour’s current pace of play policies – which only occasionally sees golfers fined – are unfit for purpose. “I think you just have to start stroking guys and giving guys actual penalties, whether it be strokes or FedExCup [points],” Morikawa said. “What I’ve learned is that monetary fines are useless. We make so much money and some guys frankly could not care less.”
Monahan, who had previously rebuffed the widespread sense that slow play was an issue worth tackling, has taken note. “We’ve committed to addressing the speed of play,” said the commissioner. “To that end, I’m excited to formally announce these recommendations from our player-led speed-of-play working group. We will begin publishing speed-of-play related statistics later this season. We will also begin testing a new speed-of-play policy on the Korn Ferry Tour and PGA Tour Americas, beginning next month, which will include assessing penalty strokes for slow play.”
Strangely, Monahan would not directly address whether those punished would have their names shared with the public. However, it is understood that very plan is under consideration. Monahan added: “This is not done so from the standpoint of negativity; there’s also a really positive element to this. They’re celebrating the players that are playing faster and improving, and at the same time there’s giving players the information that they need to have to be able to improve in the eyes of not only how they’re competing but also in the eyes of our fans.
“So I look at this as a very positive development and I think it’s pretty telling that when you’ve got six player directors that sit on our boards and you’ve got 16 members of our Player Advisory Council that there’s a lot of shaking of the heads and there’s an understanding that this is an area where we need to improve and we’re committed to doing so.”
Justin Thomas believes posting the names of slow players in locker rooms would be sufficient. “It would obviously end up getting out,” Thomas said. “Nobody wants to be known as that. I’m the first to admit I mean I’m on the slow side of players. It bothers me. I’ve talked to many officials about it, I want to know why I’m slow because obviously the first thing that any slower player thinks is that they’re not slow.”
