Martin Dempster: Bryan shoots 69 in hour and 28 minutes

Take a bow Wesley Bryan,'¨for showing that top-'¨level golf doesn't need to be played at a snail's pace for someone to score well.

Wesley Bryan hits his tee shot on the fourth hole during the second round of the BMW Championship.

Out on his own in the final round of the BMW Championship, the FedEx Cup event won by Marc Leishman at the weekend, the American scooted round in an hour and 28 minutes and shot 69 – his best effort of the week at Conway Farms in Illinois.

That’s five minutes per hole and was helped by Bryan, a winner on the US circuit earlier in the year in his rookie season, holing some tap-ins with his wedge and also 
saving time by removing the pin and replacing it himself rather than waiting for his caddie to do so. By the time Bryan finished, the group behind hadn’t yet reached the ninth hole and even his wife needed the use of a cart to get from hole to hole as she tried to keep up with him.

No-one is saying that’s the pace the game has to be played at all the time. However, having watched an amateur take an eternity over shots in a club match at the weekend – it was painful the time he was taking – the sport badly needs more examples of Bryan’s story to show that the game can be played at a more acceptable pace.