Luke On Kapalua Debacle: "Slow play is killing our sport"

Jonathan Wall notes a nice mini-spurt of frustrated tweets from World No. 1 Luke Donald after watching the rude behavior of various leaders at Kapalua. Here are the tweets in reverse order:

Comments

[Benjamin$$$$]

Until there is a direct link between slow play, and fewer benjamins in the weekly check, behaviour will not change.

Pretty simple concept.

[Ivan Morris]

They'd play better if they played quicker.

[bonnie banks]

I think Donald is absolutely right here.Players should take responsibility for their actions.

[Sandfly]

Until TIger Woods plays faster, there will be no action taken. He's not the worst, but he is often among them, and despite any rubbish spouted by Finchem in his Hawaiian fright-shirt, the tour tdoes whatever Woods wants -- which includes playing at whatever pace he wants without scoring or financial penalty.

When people look back on this era, from enough distance to be dispassionate, not nostalgic, there will not necessarily be much respect for it. By then Woods' records will have been surpassed, so his dominance in this era will be about as noteworthy as the invention of the walkman. But it might just be remembered as a period in which the game was ruined by equipment out of control, courses destroyed, courses closed, reduction in numbers playing the game, the end of walking on golf courses, and slow play. There will be no mitigations such as greater affordability to a wider-cross-section of Americans, or any diversification of the playing ranks (including Democrats).

[Steve Elling]

Of course, Luke offered these comments from a seaside vacation spot, because he skipped the event.

[johnnnycz]

Good point Benjamin$$$!!!

That...and players refusing (or unable to do so because of too many sessions with a ports psychologist?) to start planning their next shot while their playing partners are hitting is a big reason for slow play. At the Pro level...IMO they should be playing "ready golf"...in other words BE READY TO PLAY WHEN IT'S YOUR TURN!!! It's not rocket science after all.

[Press Agent]

Actually johnnnycz, "ready golf" typically refers to a game where you play your shot if you are ready, regardless of whether it's your turn or not.

[Stiggy]

The best idea I have seen is from Peter Kostis.
Set a time by which the last group must be finished and if not achieved the Prize Money is reduced by a percentage.

The players will not like that and will ensure the slow players do not cost them money.

the players all know who the slow ones are, peer pressure is the best way to make this work.

[Hodenfield]

"Peer pressure"??? On the PGA Tour?

[Stiggy]

Hodenfield,
A few stand up arguments in the players dressing rooms would go a long way to making players speed up.
The players wont be too happy if the usual suspects are costing them money

[Anteater]

Sandfly = early clubhouse leader for Inane Post Of The Year.

[FWIW]

Luke did his part to speed up play at Kapalua by NOT SHOWING UP. I agree with all his slow-play points, but another thing hurting the sport is top guys unwilling to support the season opener.

[rb]

Sandfly=early clubhouse leader for most intelligent and truthful post of the year.

[No longer Used to be Former S & T Convert]

If TV announcers would mock and deride slow players it could fix the problem. Currently TV producers do everything to hide how slow these guys are by waiting until Furyk has back off his putt twice before putting a camera on him.

If TV would show a stopwatch and play jeopardy music while Byrd goes through is two minute routine the players would respond. If Faldo would say "Webb is getting ready to hit, you folks have time to go to the fridge grab a beer and do your taxes before he pulls the trigger" he may try to change. If Kelly would say "Kevin Na is on the tee, lets see how far we can get through Hey Jude's na, na, na na chorus before he hits" Kevin may get serious about speeding up.

Public humiliation will work, everyone agrees slow play is bad, TV needs to publicly humiliate the slow ones. There will also be a trickle down effect to the weekend golfers.

Sophie Gustafson recommends paint ball guns, which I like as well, as long as it ties into public humiliation.

[Jeremy]

The only part of Sandfly's post that was germane to this discussion is that Woods is one of the slowest players in the world, and he's been allowed to get away with it his entire career.

[Ky Laffoon's Ghost]

@S&T: LOL! I had wondered about Furyk's change in pre-pre-pre shot routine on putts. Are you telling me they just cut to him after the false starts? If so, kind of like how they work extremely hard to obfuscate when the boys are playing "lift, clean, and cheat." You almost never see them actually pick up the ball or put it back down...you might think they have something to hide.

[Brad]

Although I had a good chuckle S & T, there is a large vein of truth in your post.
Peer pressure is good, but very few things in life are as effective in getting someones' attention than being publicly humiliated or mocked

[Grant]

S&T, that's gold. But it starts at the top and they can't target Crane & co if they don't do Tiger as well.

[lloydcole]

I can't believe Luke was watching.

[NC Phyllis]

Nothing to add sadly, S&T took the words right out of my mouth (only funnier than I could be). Why isn't Johnny "I sometimes say things that get players mad and I don't really care" Miller leading the charge.

[johnnnycz]

S&T: Thank you for that post...LOL.

Press Agent: I am fully aware of what "ready golf" is...and at the Tour level...those guys should instinctively know by now when it's their turn to play and thus start to prepare for the shot in advance...not start their 8-step mental pre-pre-shot routine only when the caddy plops the bag down.

As a teacher...I show pre-shot routines to my students...even a beginner can see how convoluted some of those routines are. O'Hair, Crane, Na, and the usual suspects. On the positive side of the coin are Cabrera, Sneds, Glover, DLIII, Fowler, Mcllroy, etc...Cabrera being my favorite to watch how he steps up to the ball and pulls the trigger the same every time.

[Tighthead]

The only time someone went crazy about slow play was Rory, playing with Crane. Rory may be an ass, but that was a power move. Of course, Rory was ridiculed for it, and I recall Azinger in particular calling him out.

[rb]

"If Kelly would say"...please, don't bring her into this....please.

[elf]

Golf.com did a post timing players at last year's Bay Hill, shockingly one of the guys they timed was Tiger. He was right in the middle of the pack & a couple ticks under the 45 second PGA time limit. He takes virtually the same amount of time every time too (both on puts and full shots), lots of other players varied more. If you watched last year (at Fry's for instance) once Cantlay (who is brutally slow) wasn't in the pairing, his group practically zipped around the course, and often ended up waiting.

The idea that Tiger is slow is a myth. It comes (I think) from the fact that on high pressure shots and putts, he will sometimes slow himself down. And that's just a smart way to deal with pressure. There is a huge diff though between doing that occasionally, and doing it every shot (and even still it's not Byrd or Simpson slow).

The legendary major winner who was slooow, the much beloved Mr. Nicklaus

[golfboy]

did EVERYBODY miss the part where he said "the slow players don't realize they are slow?"

if he truly believes this, what's he waiting for?

just freakin TWEET them with the info

great, the first shack column i comment to this year contains both tweeting and kelly, just shoot me

[golfboy]

did EVERYBODY miss the part where he said "the slow players don't realize they are slow?"

if he truly believes this, what's he waiting for?

just freakin TWEET them with the info

great, the first shack column i comment to this year contains both tweeting and kelly, just shoot me

[Mike T.]

S&T,
That's some good stuff there. Thanks.

[A3]

Jesus plays fast and that is a fact. He told me so during my last round of golf, which I may add I shot a blistering 86 without his help.

[rb]

"TV needs to publicly humiliate the slow ones."

Agree on the public humiliation and monetary de-stimulation...J. Miller has dropped several hints directed to the turtles of the tour...but don't hold your breath waiting for the other Golf Channel kiss-ups to say anything...they don't have the quills. As for Faldo, there was never a slower player in golf history than his Highness so anything coming from him would be laughable. Plus you can't understand what he's saying anyway. I say, Occupy Ponte Vedra! Occupy Orlando!

[LeeWatson]

Donald should worry more about winning a stroke play tourney of merit and getting his caddie some proper shorts and socks. Focus inward, not outward Mr Frosted Tips.