Play was painfully slow in the final pairing at The Heritage last Saturday — Stewart Cink and caddie/son Reagan were blabbering away before virtually every shot and keep in mind, the play the final two rounds at Harbor Town Golf Links was in TWOSOMES!
The Stewart And Son Talk Show went on and on and on until finally one sensible tour officials had the gumption to basically put them on the clock. That’s the great thing now, the pairing doesn’t go on the clock, just the guilty individual.
Still, the PGA Tour has yet to pack any sort of wallop. No one’s been fined or penalized although on Saturday at Harbor Town, Matt Kuchar joined playing partner Si Woo Kim in staring at Kim’s ball, perched on the lip. Cue the music from Caddy Shack and the wait at the 18th hole for Danny Noonan’s putt to drop.
The two stared at it for more than a minute and although it eventually fell in, it was a rules violation. The rules is simple — a player has a “reasonable amount of time” to walk up to a ball on the lip. Once he arrives, it’s set in stone — ten seconds — no more no less. If it doesn’t fall in 10 seconds, it’s deemed to be at rest, even if someone (yeah you Kooch) thinks it’s moving.
Long story short, Kim didn’t make birdie, with the penalty, it was a par, which is what it should have been had he tapped in and avoided the rules violation.
Which brings us back to rules violations. No one has been penalized for slow play as of yet.
So there you have twosomes taking four hours. Meanwhile, out in Hawaii, the final pairing of Lydia Ko and Nelly Korda played the final round of the Lotte Championship in three hours, thirty minutes. We need to repeat that, hey Jay Monahan (aka The Sheriff of Nottingham, PGA Tour Commish), that was 3:30 as in three hours, thirty minutes. Ko went on to win big.
Which brings us back to the PGA Tour where broadcast times have been running over with regularity, something that hasn’t gone unnoticed.
The slow play from Cink and Son didn’t go unnoticed as the CBS announcers repeatedly questioned the amount of information being discussed between father and son. But since the pace of play has not been enforced with penalties, Cink and other slower players have no motivation to change. Throw in green books (yeah you, Bryson), all par-fives reachable in two, a drivable par four and it’s hard to break four hours.
Now this week we have the “team” event in New Orleans where there won’t be customary threesomes or twosomes on the weekend. No, heaven forbid, we’re looking at FOURSOMES for PGA Tour players. Are you kiddin? Foursomes!
Down there at the TPC Louisiana you’ve got two days of best-ball and two days of alternate shot. Now, with four guys playing best-ball, that’s bound to get slow and when you throw in the mind-numbing alternate shot days.
One-hundred seventy players — 85 teams — playing in foursomes.
What time does it get dark in New Orleans?
3 Comments
baxter cepeda
We spend our share of time where the ladies played in Hawaii last week. 3:30 is impressive but to be fair they didn’t have to cross streets and what not to get from hole to hole like the men at harbor town. The ladies also had no non-mask wearing fans on site still to avoid. It’s apples and oranges but kudos for the women playing that fast.
Team cink got a tiny bit carried away Saturday with the yapping. They seemed to fix it Sunday when they barely talked before the second at two; which is where they talked way too long the previous day. 24 year olds are gonna push the line, specially when they know authority is soft like jello.
baxter cepeda
Speaking of slow when are you going to drop an article on your boy Monahans latest move to create a 40 million $$$ premier social media darling competition for the pga tour?
This new Hunger games like program from the pga tour, which was discovered moreso than announced, and mostly criticized even by the ultra positive Golf Today duo (for obvious reasons) only rewards 10 guys.
10. That’s the part I’m really struggling with. The least they could do is spit that money 100
Ways. But they do 10. That’s not exactly an incentive for most guys to market.
The thing to keep in mind is we can almost predict accurately right now whom those 10 Gus will be for the next 10 years.
Most of these guys already make more money off the course than anyone. Many don’t even manage their own accounts. Most of these 10 actually avoid the socials …wisely.
Some sure to be mainstays like Tiger don’t play often due to injuries and because they have so much money they don’t have to.
Some of the perennial top 10 may struggle to keep their cards; party because they are so active on socials.
The BIG Quastion:
How long until the pga tour announces that top 10 members in the potentially cancerous social media darling club are ensured a pga tour card ?
That would Take more pressure of Rickie. Or maybe give him more pressure from folks on the socials.
It is understandable that in a world where a quarterback got a half a billion dollar contract, someone like Tiger should be rewarded more.
But After Tiger there is a huge drop off to the other social media darlings of golf. The thing about Tiger is his on course success matched his off course popularity. But that isn’t always the case…ahem Ricky.
Like everything the pga tour office comes up with, this needs editing. Although Many observers—if not most— would call it a terrible idea in need of a complete overhaul.
I would tend to agree.
The only way this makes sense is if the tour rewards all players making efforts to market the tour.
You would think and hope many players with zero chance to get in this top 10 would start objecting to this.
It literally may be the toughest club in golf to get into. Tougher than the green jacket even.
10 years from now what’s the over under on how many guys will have been at this clubs table?
I’m guessing between 10 and 20, including a 55 year old (Tiger) and a 60 year old (Phil) still being there a decade from this minute.
Truly unbelievable.
Tom Edrington
Stay tuned, already done and will be out as the next feature. I guarantee you’ll get a kick out of this one!