Scottie Scheffler, Ben Griffin and Lexi Thompson fuel ongoing slow play debate

The PGA Tour in March shared that it was working on ways to curb slow play. Tour commissioner Jay Monahan, during a presser ahead of The Players Championship, spoke about making new sanctions which could include the revealing statistics of the offenders to control the pace of play. This came after he openly admitted slow play was an issue ‘worth tackling’.

While this move wasn’t in place this weekend at the Memorial Tournament, champion Scottie Scheffler was among players who got warned for slow play during the Jack Nicklaus-hosted contest’s final round. According to the CBS telecast, the leading twosome of the PGA Championship winner and Ben Griffin received a warning for slow play. This came while the eventual champion was leading Griffin by 3 strokes.

Interestingly, LPGA icon Lexi Thompson was also on the receiving end of criticism for her pace of play this weekend. The 30-year-old, who failed to make the cut at the US Women’s Open, received flak online for slowing down her group. However, the 11-time LPGA winner clapped back at her critics with a strong note detailing her side of the story.

Two days after her exit from the major, Thompson shared a post on Instagram, dubbing it a week that fell short of her expectations. She went on to address the “huge talk” regarding the pace of play. She defended herself by stating that her group were “never out of position/warned/ or on the clock”. Interestingly, she admitted to being slower than her playing partners, however claimed it never led to pace problems. She accused the critics of basing their takes on “pictures and little clips” and asked to get “the facts right”.

It is pertinent to note that the two incidents, Scheffler receiving a warning at the Memorial and Thompson’s lash out at criticism on her pace of play, has once again fueled the ongoing slow play debate.

For the unversed, several players, including two-time major champion Collin Morikawa, have already openly slammed the big tours’ current pace of play policies. The ace golfer suggested “giving actual penalties” for slow play. He criticize warnings and monetary fines and dubbed them “useless”.

---

Jay Monahan’s plan to stop slow play

The pace of play debate continues months after PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan revealed plans that include the naming and shaming of offenders. He said the officials were “committed to addressing the speed of play” and said the circuit will “begin publishing speed-of-play related statistics” for the public.

However, Monahan didn’t directly comment on whether the punished players’ names would be shared with the public.

Speaking ahead of The Players Championship in March, Jay Monahan said, as quoted by The Guardian:

“We’ve committed to addressing the speed of play. To that end, I’m excited to formally announce these recommendations from our player-led speed-of-play working group. We will begin publishing speed-of-play related statistics later this season. We will also begin testing a new speed-of-play policy on the Korn Ferry Tour and PGA Tour Americas, beginning next month, which will include assessing penalty strokes for slow play…

This is not done so from the standpoint of negativity; there’s also a really positive element to this. They’re celebrating the players that are playing faster and improving, and at the same time there’s giving players the information that they need to have to be able to improve in the eyes of not only how they’re competing but also in the eyes of our fans.”

Monaham revealed that the PGA Tour’s Player Advisory Council was committed to curbing slow play. However, little changes have been implemented two months since the comments.

Interestingly, Justin Thomas openly backed the idea of posting the names of slow players in locker rooms as a solution. He admitted to being ‘on the slow side of players’ and said it ‘bothers him’. He said no players want to be ‘known as a that player’ and thus would work for improvement.