Golf Live: Further action against the “appalling” slow play that is now consuming golf talk has been demanded by Matt Fitzpatrick.
After his frustration while playing alongside Patrick Cantlay as he won the RBC Heritage at the weekend, the Yorkshireman has criticised slow play.
Cantlay received criticism for his lethargic performance during the Masters at Augusta for the second week in a row after receiving it from Brooks Koepka.
“It’s a disgrace to go anywhere close to that if you’re in a three-ball; in my opinion, you should be round in four hours, four and a half at the very most. It’s just horrible that you’re talking five hours and fifteen minutes, or five and a half hours at some sites.
“The issue is that this discussion has continued for years and years and years with no one taking any action, so I feel like it’s practically a waste of time to talk about it. Despite the fact that I have strong ideas, nobody is going to change them.”
Despite the PGA Tour proposing a Pace of Play policy in 2020 that will put players who take 45 seconds or longer to hit a shot over a 10-tournament rolling period on an Observation List, slow play penalties remain uncommon on the PGA Tour and DP World Tour.
The 45-second criterion was established after ShotLink statistics, which examined a sample of 14 million shots, revealed that the slowest 10% of Tour players took an average of 45 seconds or more to execute their subsequent shot.
When Cantlay played the par-five 13th hole at Augusta, Viktor Hovland was one of the people who felt particularly wronged because he hit his third shot before his American playing partner had even gotten to the green.
Fitzpatrick continued, “It’s like banging your head against a brick wall. Nobody is ever punished. The young man (Guan Tianlang) at The Masters in 2013 may have been the most recent offender. It should be sufficient to show you where people stand on the issue. Really, it’s ridiculous.
“There needs to be much more done, in my opinion. I truly appreciate referees here; they are wonderful people, but I didn’t see a single one all day. We were waiting for a couple of photos, and I have no idea where they are all hiding. When you’re kept waiting for so long, it can get annoying.”
Fitzpatrick will join forces with his brother Alex at the Zurich Classic this weekend after his triumph in South Carolina.
“We’re very close, I’d think. We are, I would say, polar opposites. He is disorganised, whereas I am. I’m miserable, and he’s pleased. Yes, I think that’s a nice way to say it,” Fitzpatrick responded.
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