PGA Tour to revisit pace of play policy after slow play controversy dominates Northern Trust

The PGA has confirmed that it’s looking into the idea of expanding its pace-of-play policy following the controversy stemming from the recently concluded Northern Trust.

Patrick Reed walked away from the competition as its winner but his victory has been somewhat overshadowed by talk of slow play coming from fans over social media, as well as tour pros.

Bryson DeChambeau is the man at the center of the controversy, with video footage of him taking what seemed like an excessive amount of time over two of his shots having surfaced on social media. And the current conversation has prompted tour officials to look into the matter and address players who take what can be considered too much time before hitting their shots.

“We are currently in the process of reviewing this aspect of pace of play and asking ourselves, ‘Is there a better way to do it?’ ” the PGA Tour’s chief of operations Tyler Dennis said on Sunday. “We think technology definitely plays a key role in all of this and we are thinking about new and innovative ways to use it to address these situations.”

DeChambeau has since hit out at critics, claiming that there were mitigating factors surrounding both of the shots in question.

“When people start talking to me about slow play and how I’m killing the game, I’m doing this and that to the game, that is complete and utter you-know-what,” he said on Saturday. “That’s not fair.”

The California native has reportedly sought an audience with Brooks Koepka after both Koepka and Rory McIlroy criticized him.

As things stand , the tour’s pace-of-play policy only deals with golfers whose groups have dropped out of position during the rounds. Players are considered to be on the clock when the above occurs and are given 40-50 seconds to get their shot off. Failure to do so within the allotted time can result in a bad time. The initial bad time gets them a warning, and a second results in a one-stroke penalty.

Players receive fines for a second bad time during a season plus every bad time that comes after. A fine can also be levied for each time a player is on the clock after the 10th time.

Dennis says that every player will be provided with a pace-of-play report courtesy of the tour’s ShotLink technology so they could see exactly where adjustments need to be made.

Meanwhile, DeChambeau finished the Northern Trust in the 24th spot while Reed led all chasers for the No.1 spot. The former is 33/1 to win next year’s PGA Championship with Bet365, who has the latter at 66/1. A Bet365 free bet could be taken advantage of at Freebets.co.uk and new customers stand to benefit from some great offers.

The aforementioned bookmaker has Koepka as the favorite at 8/1 and is offering odds of 9/1 on Dustin Johnson. McIlroy is 10/1 while a resurgent Tiger Woods has odds of 12/1 attached to his name.

William Hill is offering bets on the competition’s race win margin. The bookies have 5/2 odds on 1 shot, 3/1 on a playoff, 10/3 on four or more shots, 7/2 on two shots and 9/2 on three shots.

With regards to slow play, PGA Tour Player Advisory Council member Justin Thomas says it’s been a long-standing problem that has been talked about at every meeting. “Until something’s done, it’s very, very hard,” he laments. “We talk about it every meeting – what we can do to make it better. It’s hard to make it better, but fair.”