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Matt Fitzpatrick is one of the fastest professional golfers in the world, and he thinks other players on the PGA Tour and DP World Tour should follow his lead. On the heels of his victory at the RBC Heritage over the weekend, Fitzpatrick told Sky Sports that slow play is a real problem on both tours though he doesn’t believe anything will be done to stop it.
“The times need to be changed, the times need to be much less. That way when you’re not within those times, you can be penalized, properly punished for being slow,” Fitzpatrick said. “I think they give us way too much leeway to get around. You’re in a three ball, you should be around in four hours, four and a half absolute maximum.
“It’s a disgrace to get anywhere near that. You’re talking five, five and a half at some venues. It’s truly appalling. The problem is this conversation has gone on for years and years and years, and no one has ever done anything. It’s almost a waste of time talking about.”
The official rule according to the PGA Tour handbook is as follows.
The first group to start will be considered out of position if, at any time during the round, they exceed the time allotted to play, as detailed on the applicable course’s Pace of Play Chart.
Any subsequent group will be considered out of position if, at any time during the round, they (a) exceed the allotted time to play and (b) reach a par-3 hole that is open and free of play, reach a par-4 hole and have not played a stroke from the teeing ground before the hole is open and free of play, or reach a par–5 hole and all players have not played a stroke from the teeing ground before the hole is open and free of play.
Each golf course has a different chart, but none of them are under the four-hour mark Fitzpatrick noted, and almost all of them are obliterated on a weekly basis.
There are several pages of fines and penalties for various offenses by players in the PGA Tour…
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Source : cbssports
