Why U.S. Open Rounds Are Taking (Seemingly) Forever

Joel Beall of GolfDigest.com went out to the 16th hole Saturday to take a sampling of player pacing at Oakmont. Why? Because both those watching on TV and at home are finding it impossible to ignore the pacing, particularly after the best 60 players were not playing any faster than the threesomes from the opening rounds.

It starts with the pace of the greens and the hole placements on spots sporting a lot of break. Players simply can't afford to putt out. Every putt at Oakmont is difficult, even the one-footers.

Then there is the lack of incentive, with the USGA failing year after year to initiate the timing and penalty system in use at other USGA championships. One official told me that had the system been in place, the Spieth-Johnson-DeChambeau grouping would have been docked penalty shots.

Finally, there is the distance players hit, rendering formerly unreachable par-5s reachable, and maybe-driveable par-4s driveable by most of the field (wait until you see some of the 17th hole numbers I'm going to share tomorrow).

Anyway, Beall writes of the Spieth, Levin and Dufner group:

Unfortunately, the group ran into the same issue on the green. Dufner's first putt took 11 seconds, and Levin, even with multiple practice putts, completed his in 19 seconds. On the other end of the spectrum was Spieth, who went to both sides of the line, set up shop behind the ball for 30 seconds before his stroke for a total time of 84 seconds.

Taking an extra 90 seconds on the green seems trivial, but if that duration takes place on every hole, that's 30 minutes behind schedule. And the group was put on the clock on the 18th hole -- the second instance for Spieth this tournament.