PGA Tour to introduce new pace of play rule after years of fan complaints

Photo by Mike Mulholland/Getty Images

Slow play has been a plague on the PGA Tour for what seems like forever.

Bryson DeChambeau was at the center of a slow-play controversy in 2019, which led to a series of PGA Tour rule changes to speed up the pace of play. But clearly, they haven’t worked.

A large number of fans still believe it takes far too long for players to play their rounds, and it even reared its ugly head for a moment during the RBC Heritage. Matt Fitzpatrick was seen taking minutes to play a shot, which was just a layup on a par five.

So the PGA Tour is taking action after a series of fan complaints, but rather than fixing the problem, they’re trying to change the narrative.

Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images

PGA Tour attempts to change ‘negative’ perception on slow play

Next month, the PGA Tour will make average shot times for players on the Korn Ferry Tour public, a step towards the same treatment for players on the PGA Tour.

There will be a public ranking of the fastest and slowest players, along with a list of their times for different shot types. But the tour made clear that its aim isn’t to speed up players, but to show the public that there isn’t an issue with slow play at all.

A statement sent to Korn Ferry Tour members listed the following in its objectives:

• “Providing competitive context to fans
• Creating positive storylines and changing the perception around the speed of play, which currently spews negative
• Correcting inaccurate information and supporting members who are incorrectly labelled as slow players
• Being informative to the slowest players and monitoring any changes to their speed of play”