Jason Day Spits at Pace of Play, Vows to Slow Down

[natureboy]

3 hours ago, The Recreational Golfer said:

Day also said,  "If that means I have to back off five times, then I’m going to back off five times before I have to actually hit the shot.”

Once you've figured out what to do, why would you need to back off (unless it's the 12th tee at Augusta)?

Shifting winds would be one reason that happens quite a bit.

3 hours ago, The Recreational Golfer said:

There was a Tour golfer a few years ago (whose name I forgot) who was a real snail, but in the fourth round of one tournament he was the first to tee off and he played as a onesome. He also had a flight to catch, so he finished his round under three hours and shot something under par. He said, afterwards, there is no reason for me to play slow again. Anybody else remember this?

Kevin Na at the Tour Championship. See more below.

 

3 hours ago, Golfingdad said:

Kevin Na (I think??) did something similar just last year I believe ... but I don't know about any comments afterwards.

The problem with his approach is that he did it by jogging in-between shots. He did not alter his pre-shot routine on the tee, on the green, or in-between. In a regular event where you're paired with someone else that's where the delays come from (along with penalty rulings that create a delay that carries through the field - particularly if players don't speed up routines to make up for that time loss).

[Hategolf]

Jason Day is slow player? I like watching him. 

Watching slow putting in tv in the other hand drives me insane. As of matter of fact I wish they wouldn't spend as much time showing putting.

[Golfingdad]

22 minutes ago, Hategolf said:

Jason Day is slow player? I like watching him. 

Watching slow putting in tv in the other hand drives me insane. As of matter of fact I wish they wouldn't spend as much time showing putting.

Agreed.  If they're at the stage where they're showing all of the shots, like on the weekend with the leaders, then I certainly don't mind seeing the putts ... but when it's Thursday or Friday and they just seem to cut around hole to hole and show people missing birdie putts, that can be pretty dull.

[krupa]

13 hours ago, No Mulligans said:

I just saw this regarding other pros annoyed with Day's comments on slowing down:

http://www.golfworlddigital.com/gw/01_09_2017/MobilePagedArticle.action?articleId=1059566#articleId1059566

Maybe they're immune to it but would Day's slow play force the others in his group to play faster to avoid getting put on the clock?   Or do fast players slow down to the slower player's pace?

Are the Tour's un-enforced pace of play rules only applicable to the whole group?  Couldn't a rules official, once notified of a problem follow the group for a hole or two and identify and penalize the slow player(s)?

[14ledo81]

8 hours ago, Golfingdad said:

Agreed.  If they're at the stage where they're showing all of the shots, like on the weekend with the leaders, then I certainly don't mind seeing the putts ... but when it's Thursday or Friday and they just seem to cut around hole to hole and show people missing birdie putts, that can be pretty dull.

Extremely dull.  I so much more like watching full swings.  Or even short game stuff.

[iacas]

25 minutes ago, krupa said:

Are the Tour's un-enforced pace of play rules only applicable to the whole group?  Couldn't a rules official, once notified of a problem follow the group for a hole or two and identify and penalize the slow player(s)?

Once a group is on the clock the individual players are timed. It takes a few bad times before you're penalized, and being on the clock is wiped out if you catch up to the previous group.

[Groucho Valentine]

At least PGA tour guys are not as slow as college players. If I'm paired with a couple of college kids in a tournament, I'm bringing war and peace with me...good god they are slow. 

I dont particularly care about slow play on tour, mostly because I'm not out there. It seems like the PGA does enforce slow play, its passive aggressive. If they're going to get tough on it, id like to see them time individuals instead of groups. Warn the player, not the entire group. As most of us know, its usually only one player that slows it down. A traveling official can use his or her eyes and see that. On other levels its just not practical to time individuals, but the PGA tour has more than enough resources and manpower to do this. 

Im not in favor of enforcing slow play on the final 2-3 groups during the last round. Theres no reason at all to time the final group. Let them take as much time as they need. 

[iacas]

4 hours ago, Groucho Valentine said:

At least PGA tour guys are not as slow as college players. If I'm paired with a couple of college kids in a tournament, I'm bringing war and peace with me...good god they are slow. 

Yeah, generally speaking, totally agree.

That said, at our fall event I had 61 players spread out into mostly 20 threesomes (one twosome, two foursomes because four of them were female), and they were sent out to their shotgun tees at 12:50, and by 5:20 I was heading to the car having announced the winners and handed out trophies and whatnot.

(We're also Division III, which helps.)

Pace of play is a huge problem.

[Missouri Swede]

5 hours ago, Groucho Valentine said:

 

Im not in favor of enforcing slow play on the final 2-3 groups during the last round. Theres no reason at all to time the final group. Let them take as much time as they need. 

Other than consistency in applying rules and conditions of competition.

What if it's getting close to sunset on the last day, and the last group might not make it through?  (Yes, this has happened.) One guy might want to slow down--force it to go to the next day.  The other might want to finish up.  I'm not sure the choice on pace of play should go (by default) to the player who wants to play more slowly, but that's what we've got now.

[DaveP043]

17 minutes ago, Missouri Swede said:

Other than consistency in applying rules and conditions of competition.

I agree completely.  Just like the rules of golf, the pace of play rules have to apply to each and every player, for every hole they play.  If a group is significantly behind, as defined by the rules, that means they're playing slower than every single group ahead of them all day.   Put them on the clock.  Apply stroke penalties if appropriate.  If it costs even one player a win, every single player will find a way to speed up, so it doesn't happen to them when they're near the lead.

[Groucho Valentine]

1 hour ago, iacas said:

Yeah, generally speaking, totally agree.

That said, at our fall event I had 61 players spread out into mostly 20 threesomes (one twosome, two foursomes because four of them were female), and they were sent out to their shotgun tees at 12:50, and by 5:20 I was heading to the car having announced the winners and handed out trophies and whatnot.

(We're also Division III, which helps.)

Pace of play is a huge problem.

Thats doing well for any tournament round. Ive never had a brisk round with a college player in the group. I played with a kid from Rutgers last year in state open quail and he was alright, but still slow. I cant figure out where they learn these habits. 

[MrDC]

I may be wrong but I bet you'll find a lot more pros that play fairly slow than fast, maybe not Day slow but slow enough, when a big paycheck is on the line most of you would be slow as well. So I kind of agree with Day, if he plays better slow and makes more money slow then slow it is, they can wait, too bad.

But I agree that this doesn't matter to me the fan, the camera just toggles to another player so what do I care?

5 hour rounds? cry me a river, they can come do my job for 10 hours tomorrow instead of me, I'll go suffer the golf.

Edited January 10, 2017 by MrDC

[Groucho Valentine]

18 hours ago, Missouri Swede said:

Other than consistency in applying rules and conditions of competition.

What if it's getting close to sunset on the last day, and the last group might not make it through?  (Yes, this has happened.) One guy might want to slow down--force it to go to the next day.  The other might want to finish up.  I'm not sure the choice on pace of play should go (by default) to the player who wants to play more slowly, but that's what we've got now.

And they apply it consistently now?  None of those guys want to come back for another day. You're talking about a nuclear scenario. When a final group is might not finish by sundown its usually due to a weather condition, not pace of play. Im in favor of not timing them if they fall behind. Shit slows down when your in the hunt for a win. 

[iacas]

7 minutes ago, Groucho Valentine said:

Shit slows down when your in the hunt for a win.

It doesn't have to.

[saevel25]

I agree. Rory and DJ play much faster than Spieth and Day. 

[DaveP043]

15 minutes ago, Groucho Valentine said:

And they apply it consistently now?  None of those guys want to come back for another day. You're talking about a nuclear scenario. When a final group is might not finish by sundown its usually due to a weather condition, not pace of play. Im in favor of not timing them if they fall behind. Shit slows down when your in the hunt for a win. 

What I've said, and what most others have said, is that the pace of play rules SHOULD be applied consistently.  We realize that's a change from the current situation, and I think its an appropriate change.  There's no doubt that consistent enforcement will be unpopular with whoever gets affected, but those ARE the rules, they should be enforced.  

And just because SOME players go even slower when they're near the lead doesn't mean that should be accepted.  I have no problem if the winner is the guy who can play well AND play at a reasonable pace.  Its not like they're required to race, just play no slower than the slowest group ahead of them.  There's no reason for the last group on Sunday to be two holes behind the preceding group, and I've seen that happen quite a few times.

[Groucho Valentine]

16 minutes ago, DaveP043 said:

What I've said, and what most others have said, is that the pace of play rules SHOULD be applied consistently.  We realize that's a change from the current situation, and I think its an appropriate change.  There's no doubt that consistent enforcement will be unpopular with whoever gets affected, but those ARE the rules, they should be enforced.  

And just because SOME players go even slower when they're near the lead doesn't mean that should be accepted.  I have no problem if the winner is the guy who can play well AND play at a reasonable pace.  Its not like they're required to race, just play no slower than the slowest group ahead of them.  There's no reason for the last group on Sunday to be two holes behind the preceding group, and I've seen that happen quite a few times.

Overall, my point is that it doesnt matter if the last group is two holes behind. If hypothetically thats the pace the final group is making with no objection from partners, just let them have at it. 

Edited January 11, 2017 by Groucho Valentine

[saevel25]

3 minutes ago, Groucho Valentine said:

Overall, my point is that it doesnt matter if the last group is two holes behind. If hypothetically thats the pace the final group is making with no objection from partners, just let them have at it. 

All groups need to play by the same rules. Why should the last group get a benefit over the field?