“These players do not respect the rules, they must be sanctioned” A recognized PGA Tour player rekindles the debate on slow play

President of the PGA Tour Player Advisory Council in 2024 and future member of the Player Council in 2025, Camilo Villegas is an experienced, respected and listened to player. On the sidelines of the Sony Open, he spoke forcefully about the slow play that plagues professional tournaments and in particular on the PGA Tour. The Colombian wants the players at fault to be harshly punished and above all singled out.

Camilo Villegas launched into a long tirade against slow play before the start of the Sony Open. The five-time winner on the PGA Tour told a story to reporters to explain how big the problem had become.

“Last year at a tournament in Korn Ferry Tour (the second division of the PGA Tour), there were 156 of us at the start. After playing nine holes, my playing partners and I arrived at hole number 10 where there were two other parties already waiting to play. I sent a photo to the president of the circuit (Alex Baldwin) to tell her that I was going to have breakfast before playing… »

The scourge of slow play has gotten worse with each passing year. In 2024, many tournaments on the American circuit were stopped by darkness during the first two rounds, with the speed of play preventing players from completing their 18 holes on time.

Some complain about the laxity of the authorities in the face of this calamity. According to them, rather than tackling the offenders, the circuits prefer to reduce the field of players.

To stem this phenomenon, the PGA Tour has proposed some modifications to its regulations, such as fines for “excessive average stroke time”.

The names of the offenders should be plastered in the locker rooms with a 30 character and their caddies should be forced to wear fluorescent bibs so that these players are ashamed

A player with an average shot execution time of 12 seconds or more above the field average of players will receive two warnings, then a fine of $5,000 for a third offense and a fine of $10,000 for each offense after .

But Camilo Villegas suggests going further. Much further.

“In my opinion, these guys are breaking the rules. There must be consequences. I think their names should be posted in the locker rooms in font 30 and – Michael Kim (another PGA Tour player) talked about it a while ago – their caddy should wear a fluorescent orange bib on the course. They need to feel bad about having committed an offense. They must feel ashamed. This is not how golf should be played. The Tour will never make such a decision, but I wish they would. We had the courage to make changes last year, so maybe we’ll have the courage to strengthen our policy against slow play a little better. »

The moving winner of Butterfield Bermuda Championship 2023 fully intends to put the subject on the table at the next player council meeting. “ I’m really looking forward to putting my two cents in on this topic, sharing my opinions and making honest proposals to solve the problem,” he concluded.

Slow play has also been singled out very recently by Rickie Fowler. Asked during the debut of the TGL about the rules of this exhibition which could be transposed to the PGA Tour, the American player responded straight away: “Shot Clock”. Players have 40 seconds and not one more to hit their shot on the TGL…