Luke Donald: Slow play is killing golf

The Englishman, an absentee in Maui as he enjoys some time off after creating history by topping the moneylists on both sides of the Atlantic last season, watched the last-day action from Hawaii on television and was moved into tweeting about the pace of play.

In a short space of time, he rattled off seven separate messages and didn’t mince his words about a subject that has often been described as a “disease” in the game.

While Donald didn’t mention anyone by name, there seemed little doubt that his feelings were prompted by the laborious Byrd, who was playing in the final group with eventual winner Steve Stricker. After falling one-and-a-half holes behind the group in front, they were put on the clock by PGA Tour officials yet, on one occasion, Byrd was timed by onlookers as taking one minute and 45 seconds before hitting a shot.

Each player is given 40 seconds to hit a shot from the fairway and 60 seconds on the green once his group is on the clock. If a player in a group that is on the clock doesn’t meet those standards, the player is in violation. Two time violations in a round can result in a $5,000 fine and a one-stroke penalty, with four bad times in the same event resulting in disqualification.

Donald tweeted: “Sounds like slow play is already an issue the 1st week of the @PGATOUR season and it’s 2 somes. Sort it out please....

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

He went on to point the finger of blame at the players and their caddies, which was probably another veiled reference to Byrd, who not only has a painstaking pre-shot routine but also seeks constant assurances from his bagman before hitting a shot.

Donald added: “Can’t really blame the officials, not enough of them to govern. Responsibility lies with the players and their caddies.

“If u r second to putt, why not read your putt while the player 1 is reading his. 30 secs saved there = 35 mins saved for the round. Ok, my maths a little off but you get the point.

“I could rant all day long, don’t think anything will ever change as the slow players don’t realise they are slow.”

Donald’s comments were picked up by Paul Azinger, the former US Ryder Cup captain, as well as Bo van Velt, a winner on the PGA Tour. “Slow play issue was raised at most player meetings I’ve been to since my rookie year..1982,” tweeted Azinger. “Slow players know how to beat the system currently in place..”

Adding his voice to the debate, American van Pelt tweeted: “(Former PGA Tour player) David Edwards told me as a rookie, ‘slowplay was a topic at my rookie meeting in 72’, I will go with history and say its not going to change.”

Officials on both sides of the Atlantic regularly talk about trying to stamp out slow play, though it is rare for professionals to be hit with punishments that would encourage them to speed up.

In the 2009 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, Tiger Woods and Padraig Harrington were put on the clock by John Paramor, the European Tour’s chief referee, on the 16th hole in the final round after falling more than 15 minutes out of position.

Harrington, who had a one-shot lead as he prepared to tee off, rushed three shots and then watched as Woods hit his third shot to within a foot of the hole. Harrington knocked his fourth shot, a pitch from behind the green, into the water and ended up with a triple bogey, giving Woods the lead he never lost.

“I’m sorry that John got in the way of a great battle, because it was such a great battle for 16 holes,” said Woods afterwards.

Unlike Woods or Harrington, a competitor in last year’s US Junior Amateur Championship, an event run by the USGA, was hit with a penalty after he was found guilty of slow play.

Connor Klein from Colorado aced the fifth hole at Gold Mountain in Washington, but it went down as a birdie. Klein’s threeball had been warned for slow play and, after being clocked again at the fifth hole, they were all docked a stroke. The three players appealed to USGA officials but Klein turned out to be the only player penalised and his score became a 2.

The R&A, which uses walking rules officials with every match to try to help ensure a decent pace of play in the Open Championship, issues advice on slow play on its website.

It states: “Clubs, public courses, resorts and competition organisers have differing views on what constitutes acceptable and unacceptable pace of play, but the fact is that slow play detracts from the enjoyment of the game for many players. Few golfers are heard to complain about play being too quick!

“There is a responsibility, therefore, on all players and administrators to ensure that golf is played at a good pace, and a pace appropriate to the course being played. As a general rule, try to keep up with the group in front.”