Golfers say slow play hurting sport

As he watched the season-opening Hyundai Tourna­ment of Champions, Luke Donald voiced his displeasure on Twitter.

“Sounds like slow play is already an issue the first week of the PGA Tour season and it’s twosomes,” he tweeted. “Sort it out please.”

He continued: “It’s not that hard, be ready when it’s your turn. Slow play is killing our sport.”

Slow play has long been an issue for the PGA Tour, and it continues to be a problem this season. In a four-tournament stretch, starting with the Phoenix Open, the final pairing in the final round took more than 5 hours to finish each event.

Hunter Mahan said it’s up to players to police themselves on their respective pace of play.

“I try to play as fast as I can, but it’s up to the players,” he said. “It’s not really up to anyone else to play faster.”

In the first round of the 2011 Masters Tournament, threesomes took an average of 5 hours, 11 minutes to finish. The second round took players an average of 5:02, and twosomes in the final round took 4:02.

According to the United States Golf Association, twosomes should be finished in 3:58, and threesomes should take no more than 4:35.

The Royal & Ancient Golf Club goes further in its guidelines, stating that two players should take no more than 3:10; three­somes no more than 3:30; and foursomes no more than 3:50.

One of the problems with slow play stems from the college players. At last weekend’s Augusta State Invitational, a major NCAA Division I collegiate event, the final pairing – a foursome – finished the final round in a painstaking 5:52.

Two-time Masters champion Tom Watson said there should be severe penalties for slow play. That means, he said, the governing organizations would have to get serious about tackling the problem.

“The bottom line,” Watson said, “is they should add a two-shot penalty to someone who doesn’t want to conform to the rules.”

Rory McIlroy considers himself a fast player. He said the governing bodies don’t need to do anything drastic, such as using a shot clock. Still, he said, threesomes in the first two rounds should take no longer than 5 hours.

“I think there’s definitely a concern, but more for the TV audience and the spectators,” McIlroy said. “People don’t want to turn on golf and see guys taking 2 minutes over a shot. It’s just not enjoyable to watch.

“We are trying to grow the game of golf, and we are trying to portray this great image of the game, and if you turn on TV and see guys taking so long, then people are not going to want to watch it. I think that’s a real concern.”