Tyrrell Hatton and Sepp Straka produced fine performances to win their respective tournaments on the weekend but, although it's a great sign for Europe ahead of the Ryder Cup in September, the two events left a slightly sour taste in my mouth.
To begin with, the Hero Dubai Desert Classic saw a final round of 5.5 hours, whilst The American Express involved groups taking 40 minutes to play just one hole! If that happened at my golf club, the perpetrators would be outed and dealt with in a swift manner.
Now, I understand these players are vying for plenty of dollars but, at the same time, what example is it setting when a round is taking up a near quarter of the day? Or pretty much half a day when you include the fact that light is limited...
It's not just The American Express where this has happened. Previously, there have been times when the PGA Tour has had to halt their first or second day of action due to fading light, despite the fact there have been no issues with weather or delays in tee times. In California, you couldn't ask for a stiller final round, in terms of wind, and yet rounds were taking over five hours on a course they had played multiple times already
The introduction of the TGL shows what golf is capable of. In fact, during the final round of The American Express, you could fit 2.5 rounds of TGL into the same time period. This is primarily thanks to the shot clock aspect used during the matches, something that the likes of Matt Fitzpatrick and Rickie Fowler were supportive of during their first match at the start of January.
I love watching golf and, although Straka was leading The American Express with some exceptional play, it was a real struggle to stay tuned in watching the broadcast. The leaders teed off at 10.50am (local time) and, by 3pm, they had only just completed the 13th hole. This isn't a one time thing, it's happened to often now. Sort out your slow play!
To begin with, stop giving them warnings, actually do something about it. Don't penalize them in terms of fines, take away FedEx Cup or Order of Merit points. If they miss the season finale by two points following slow play then tough luck. The majority of these players are multi-millionares, if they will get fined $5,000 for slow play, they will happily take it if they know they will earn $300,000. Take away points and they may think about it more.
There have been times when a shot clock element was introduced, such as the 2018 Shot Clock Masters in Austria. The winning score was 16-under, so not exactly bad, and the average time dropped by 35 minutes. What's more, the scoring average was better than the year before and some groups finished in under four hours.
Obviously, a shot clock isn't the long-term solution, but what might help is if the Tours actually implement penalties for slow play. In its short history, it seems that LIV Golf have done more to showcase slow play than that of the other circuits and, in terms of quick-fire action, it is over within a set period of time.
Until something is done about slow play it will continue to be one of the elements that put people off the game. We have already seen PGA Tour viewership drop off and, when a round is taking well over five hours to complete, is that going to keep viewers engaged? Even if the competition is close, it seems that viewers aren't tuning in for good reason.
