Explanation
Let’s be clear. When it comes to fast-paced excitement, watching golf even on an elite level requires an investment of time, patience and passion.
But when the pace of play becomes a glacier, the viewer switches channels and heads elsewhere.
Golf ratings are sagging, with fewer eyes seen on certain media platforms. The Golf talent pool is divided into different camps, so the ongoing division with Liv Golf was no help either.
Also, Tiger Woods, who has moved the needle for years, has become a serious competitor to a TGL sideshow performer, so viewers aren’t being helped either.
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Pro Golf is not attracting viewers.
The right case – Tom Kim.
In the final round at the AT&T event at Pebble Beach last week, the talent came to the famous par-5 18th place and quickly hit a tee shot on the adjacent rock that formed the boundary with Carmel Bay.
When Kim arrived where he believed his ball was finished, he was told that ocean waves had carried the ball from the Sandy Beach area.
Kim then returned to the teenage area to play the ball. As he played the rest of the hall, his overall pre-shot routine was heartbreaking to observe, working with standing on the shot for an unbearable long time.
Honestly, you could have ordered food at McDonald’s and served it immediately before Kim completed the sequence of a single golf shot.
South Korean Tom Kim will perform a shot on the 8th hole in the final round of AT&T Pebble Beach Proam 2025 at Pebble Beach Golf Link in Pebble Beach, California on February 2, 2025. Harry Howey/Getty Images
For too long, the PGA Tour leaders (chairman Jay Monaghan) ignored the issue of the terrifying pace of play.
As it continues for years and still today, the tour refuses to state whether players have been fined or suspended for issues relating to on- or off-course performance. Without meaningful transparency, the seriousness of the tour in dealing with such heavyweight and troublesome issues is questioned just as slow play correctly poses.
The final pairing at the PGA Tour event featured groups that had over 5.5 hours of play. Unlike recreational golf, players have spotters watching play in galleries lined up in each hole. Players also have caddies who support them in any way humanly possible.
How bad has it gotten?
Allocated TV time is routinely exceeded as turtle-like crawls are becoming normal events. This situation has become unbearable for sponsors, networks and most critically for the fanbase.
With courage, former LPGA star player Dottie Pepper, who serves as a course reporter for CBS Sports, summed up his dislike with a brief comment on the ongoing selfish nature of many players during the recent Farmers Insurance event. did.
“I think we’re beginning to need new words to talk about this issue of pace of play. That’s ‘respect’ for your fellow competitors, fans, for the broadcast, all of that,” Pepper said. said. “It just has to get better.”
Candor was most welcome. Particularly because broadcast partners on the PGA and LPGA Tour clearly dislike being responsible for the person in charge. It emphasizes that players and tournament officials are responsible for slow crawl optics, as deadly as cancer.
Given the money being nurtured by sponsors and the time of allotted television, the need to keep issues moving at a wise pace has long been behind.
Major League Baseball has established a pitch clock after seeing painful sentences on the wall. Pro Golf will have to track the shot clock in the same way and escalate a series of penalties that have fines and stroke penalties. And if such behavior continues, there should be a suspension of play privileges for the offender.
Last week, the PGA Tour announced a set of guidelines to be implemented at the AT&T event.
• Use “Average stroke time” to expose play pace data to players. This is the average time a player takes to take a stroke using shot link data.
•Players who have disclosed fines and penalties to players who violate slow play rules, not only satisfying fan feedback for more transparency, but also seeking accountability for slower plays.
• Call your verdict more quickly and efficiently using the PGA Tour’s new video review center.
CBS broadcaster Dottie Pepper will walk the course on August 23, 2020 in the final round of Northern Trust in TPC Boston, Norton, Massachusetts. Rob Cal/Getty Images
Late last year, the PGA Tour announced that field sizes will be reduced from 156 players to 144 players starting in 2026. It’s not embarrassing to see players pass an endless checklist of pre-shot routines on television broadcasts. It’s completely selfish for them.
There’s no doubt that elite level golf can be stressful. There’s a lot of money involved. And for many players, staying in a competitive lane is an annual proposal to stay on the ground stage. Playing on a course prepared in a tournament is not the same as when recreational players tee up it with a local club.
Reasonable guidelines can be implemented and implemented consistently. However, the larger unanswered questions remain. Will tour leadership introduce a sustained effort to seize proverb bulls by horns and send undeniable messages? The message is that you need to notify the turtle’s performance, or there are impactful results.
What elite-level professional golfers often don’t fully understand is that they are in the entertainment lane. You can take your viewers hostage and act as you pass through the endless pre-shot checklist.
Quantitative measures can be taken to eliminate the arbitrary application of stroke penalties and fines. And that means equal justice for all. Events and rounds occur regardless of the player’s name or position.
A tired phrase that is often heard on telecasts is that the slow-pork player is “placed on the clock.” so what? It’s just a story, and no action is taken.
Over the past few years, slow play penalties have only been applied to people far below the totem pole of recognition, named for the effect that made no sense at all.
A proper case: At the 2013 Masters, the 14-year-old amateur Guantian run received a one-shot penalty for slow plays during his second play in the tournament that year. It wasn’t like the people of Augusta stepping out their limbs and actually chasing the more prominent names that consistently cause such problems.
PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monaghan will speak with the media prior to the Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, Connecticut on June 19, 2024. James Gilbert/Getty Images
Surprisingly, the slow play problem is equally pronounced on the women’s side via the LPGA Tour. The reason why we don’t get the same level of scrutiny is that there is no overall TV exposure that women receive. For years, many key players on the LPGA Tour have lobbyed for more serious consequences.
At the top of a competitive pyramid, professional golf is a stressful profession. There is no doubt about that. The broader harm caused by slow play is equally clear as it will be transferred to the general masses of sports.
Some U.S. facilities are taking a positive attitude by mapping courses at specific time intervals and following up with clear sanctions for those who fail to comply. However, that is more of an exception than the rules. In today’s world of filling timesheets, golf needs to be shown to be measurable. Otherwise, future players will choose to pursue other pursuits.
Tournament representatives for both the PGA and LPGA Tour have a very good idea of who is causing the overwhelming majority of weekly slow play problems with regular suspects.
No matter how high their net worth is, inmates cannot continue in asylum.
Golf is not intended to be played as if the player is on roller skating, but the zombie-like procession must end.
The first two letters of the word “golf” are clearly said.
That’s exactly when it’s time to do that.
