Commish Monahan Pledges Tour Return To Miami, Shorter Playoffs

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New PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan sat down with Golf Channel's Rich Lerner at Kapalua, with part one of their chat airing on Monday's Golf Central (part two is set for Tuesday's Morning Drive).

He touches on slow play at the 7 minute mark and the answer isn't encouraging given that he cites the tour's ability to sign off on time for television as a sign that things are okay.

But of more immediate note were remarks on trying to return to the Miami market, but probably not to the president-elect's Trump Doral.

“Like any relationship, we’re committed to finding a way to get back there.”

Monahan said the Tour continues to seek a new sponsor for the Miami stop, which has been a Tour stable since 1962, and that it’s “highly likely” that the circuit would return to South Florida.

But at Trump Doral? Monahan was not that specific.

As for the impact Trump’s presidency...

“We see president-elect Trump as being probably the best golfer to ever sit in office and probably the most golf knowledgeable,” he said. “For the game, that’s a tremendous thing.”

Best golfer to ever sit in the White House? They say the president from Massachusetts was pretty good.

He seemed to lower expectations for a potential PGA Tour schedule ending by Labor Day, but did confirm that if the PGA of America moves its championship to May and all other dominos fall, that the playoffs will be shortened by one tournament.

Monahan said no decisions on possible changes have been made and that the other players in the mix, most notably the PGA of America which would give up its spot as the year’s last major, would need to see the value of a possible makeover.

“It’s not as though we’re going to say this is the schedule, everyone has to adapt,” he said. “Our responsibility is to work very closely with the PGA of America and it’s got to work for everybody.”

Another piece of those changes would likely be a reduction of the number of FedEx Cup Playoff events, from four to three, and Monahan confirmed postseason contraction is a consideration. “If we were to execute the schedule that I just mentioned I think it’s likely,” he said.

Based on sponsorship contracts, that would likely mean the end of the Boston stop, leaving New York and Chicago/Midwest as the two "playoff" events.

Part one here:

Day Opens The Door For New Commish To Attack Slow Play

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New PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan probably took a few aspirin when he saw that world No. 1 Jason Day returned from time off and, unprompted, proudly touted plans to play slower in 2017.

After all, the new Commish has more on his plate than you'd expect given the supposedly great product Saint Finchem left behind. Big picture stuff like trying to fix a confusing schedule, repairing relations with sponsors and keeping FedEx around should be Monahan's first-month priority instead of jumping in on the slow play debate.

But did Day just hand Monahan the perfect opening to attack the slow play problem?

Because of Finchem's many blind spots related to the actual product of PGA Tour golf, none was more perverse and damaging as his desire to see pace of play policies ignored. Finchem prioritized protecting the gentleman's game imagery above the gentlemanly behavior of playing golf at a considerate pace. Finchem never shied from bragging about his players taking hats off and shaking hands for the 18th green cameras.

Slow players? That could be swept under the rug because television wouldn't show someone rudely taking three minutes to play a shot, until they started showing such antics down the stretch because they had no choice. Then a Sean O'Hair or Kevin Na or Jason Day made it apparent how ungentlemanly it is for someone with PGA Tour level talent to take that long to hit a shot, and the Commissioner openly resisted penalty shots.

It is no coincidence that in the nearly 20 years Finchem was in office, the last penalty occurred in his first months on the job and never since. He also worked to undermine the stature of his officials by prolonging contract negotiations and underpaying the unionized force charged with enforcing the rules. And don't think players were oblivious to this neutralization of the referees or the amount of time that has passed since the last penalty (1995).

Even the USGA appeared has bowed to Finchem, implementing its very effective pace of play system at all but the one of its championships. It just happens to be the one where coddled PGA Tour players play: the U.S. Open.

Now that Finchem is retired, the PGA Tour slowpokes' sense of taking as much time as they'd like came flooding out of Day's mouth prior to Kapalua's 2017 season kickoff event. With no fear of being penalized and a rumored $10 million a year from Nike to pay any minor fines, Day made clear he's not going to rush himself.

The full comment:

Imagine a pitcher declaring that he will not throw a pitch until he's ready or a free-throw shooter backing off five times before taking a free shot? The leagues would crack down. 

In an era when no sport can afford to be seen as slowing down, the PGA Tour has shied away from enforcement that might help solve the problem. However, a new commissioner is in town and he's just been given a natural opening to push back.

Monahan shied away from taking a strong stand on slow play in a Q&A at PGATour.com earlier this week, understandably not needing to start his tenure off on a combative foot. Yet Jason Day has uttered comments  far removed from the simple reality that the PGA Tour survives on its entertainment value, not on how it pads Day's bank account. The suggestion he will back off until he's ready made clear Day's entitlement level runs so deep that even his truest believers might not feel sorry to see a PGA Tour rules official stalking him around Kapalua. And Torrey Pines. Or any fairway he pitches his tent upon to indulge himself at the expense of our viewing pleasure.

Slow Play Files: McGladrey Monday Playoff Edition

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Because 2016 apparently never wants to end, the last fall PGA Tour event will continue a sudden death playoff on Monday morning after failing to finish Sunday night. While two holes of sudden death were played and frankly, based on the number of mentions by all about the darkness, the second hole probably should not have been played.

Most telling was Rich Lerner's mention from the booth that the final round threesomes took five hours on what appeared to be an almost wind-free, crisp fall day at St. Simons Island.

If the Golden Bear had been watching, and he almost surely wasn't, but Jack Nicklaus would have heard that number and said, I just talked at the PGA annual meeting about 5 hours as the death knell for our sport.

Yet on Sunday there was Tim Finchem's vision at its most glaringly tired: players seemingly in slow motion, lacking any fear of penalty, taking their sweet time even as the sun was setting. But all was well because hats came off and hands were shaken to reaffirm that this was a (slow) genteman's game. While this provides a the visual that stirs the souls of Finchem's favorite corporate chieftains, it doesn't move a single sports needle and scenes like this reaffirm that golf is for only those with enough free time to return on a Monday morning.

So the RSM Classic wraps up a day late, minus Billy Horschel, who served up a short putt miss he refused to attribute to the dark playing conditions.

Sean Martin at PGATour.com with this from one of the four still in the playoff:

Hughes considered halting play instead of hitting his 11-foot birdie putt on the second extra hole. Norlander said he couldn’t see the hole once his caddie removed the flagstick. Play will resume at 8 a.m. Monday on the par-3 17th hole. They’ll return to the 18th again if the playoff continues."

“People don't know how dark it is right now,” Villegas said. “It's going to be nice and cold in the morning. We'll be back and try to take another trophy home.”

Here is the Horschel miss, for those who were watching something else (most of you)...

 

 

Olympic History For Brazil! First Slow Play Penalty

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You know Victorial Lovelady had to be taking her sweet time if they IGF official on the case, Grant Moir, was going to give the first slow play penalty in Olympic history to a host country participant.

After a dreadful pacing the first day that could be attributed to nerves, a tougher course and the overall slow play problem that plagues the game, players were warned to pick it up in round two. The difference was noticeably early on, but according to Alistair Tait, Brazil's Lovelady did not do enough after a 10th hole warning.

Lovelady, playing in the company of Tiffany Chan of Hong Kong and Swiss amateur Fabienne In-Albon, already had been warned for wasting time on the 10th hole. She was adjudged to have picked up a second bad time for taking too long on the par-4 15th, turning what should have been a par into a bogey.

Lovelady suggested she had to back off some shots because home country fans unaware of golf etiquette were making noise at the wrong times, prompting her to back off.

As Tait notes, some will see inequity given that the men were playing at a consistent 5 hour clip each day, which would seem to put a dent in the traditional player excuse that size of field is the problem. The field is more than half the size of the usual major golf event.

Shoot, even green speed can't be blamed, as the Rio Olympic course surfaces are in the 11-11.5 range, a good foot slower than a typical PGA Tour event or major.

"Will speeding up bring scores down for Spieth?"

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That's the question Jason Sobel's story poses after Jordan Spieth explain why he's trying to speed up. While he's earned a reputation as a slow poke, I would counter that television makes him look slow because he's been spending a lot of time over the ball. Whereas someone who is much slower like Zach Johnson, spends ages making a decision and when television comes to him, we rarely see that.

Anyway, Spieth has heard the criticism from fans and his instructor, Sobel says.

After the second round, Spieth didn't use playing quicker as an excuse. In fact, he credits the process for helping his game.

"The quicker part actually helps me, because then I just get up there and fire away," he explained Friday. "The more I can do that, actually I think the better off [I am with a] kind of gun-slinging mentality, just to go up and hit the way I always have played."

European Tour: Slow Play "Monitoring" Worked

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In the aftermath of Jordan Spieth's monitoring for slow play, I'm still trying to understand how the policy works for a full field event without an official for each group.

But leaving that aside, The Guardian's Ewan Murray reports the European Tour's numbers of successful "monitorings" at Abu Dhabi's HSBC.

In round one, 18 groups were monitored. By rounds two, three and four, that figure had been slashed to eight, four and six, respectively. The message, it seemed, hit home. When Daniel Brooks was issued with a warning on Friday after taking excessive time over a tee shot, he embarked on a run that saw him take 20 seconds or fewer – in one occasion just nine – before hitting.

But as Murray points out, the entire affair seemed silly on a course with slick greens and some of the most obnoxious hack-out rough we've seen in some time.

There are other ways in which golf’s ruling bodies could quicken tournament play. Abu Dhabi is an example of a course with ridiculous rough just a short hop from fairways, which is necessary to keep scoring down because, simply, equipment allows the ball to travel far too far. If that scourge was properly looked at, there would be a knock-on effect and courses could be set up differently.

USGA Pace Of Play Study Moving Slowly But Surely

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My GolfDigest.com report from the USGA Pace of Play Symposium also appears in Golf World. The takeaway: the USGA hasn't dialed in its numbers and presented a definitive white paper in nearly two years. How dare they?

Nope, it's darned exciting, is what it is!

Instead of another golf organization trying to "grow" the game or help operators maximize profits, the effort to study pace of play is morphing into other sustainability efforts with the hopes of a stronger end effort. So while the focus isn't crystal clear yet, the initial data, research and input from some great minds could ultimately make these efforts the best thing the USGA has ever done. Throw in the joint effort with the University of Minnesota to create a golf course lab and we may actually see some progress in the war on short-sighted course management.

Anyway, my overview, with more to come on this year's testing of the flagstick measuring device unveiled last week.

Jordan Spieth Is Introduced To The "Monitoring" Penalty

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I didn't even have a chance to study the European Tour's new slow play policy before the great John Paramor was not only implementing "monitoring", but going after the World No. 1.

Rex Hoggard on Morning Drive explained what happened during round one of the HSBC in Abu Dhabi. And the crew discussed it as well, deciding this is a positive step for golf.

In looking at the policy, the price for a "monitoring" penalty is pretty steep for your average European Tour player. For Spieth? The lost €2,600 probably isn't going to be noticed by Spieth after buying his second home in a year and receiving a nice appearance fee this week.

From John Huggan's report, Spieth took it in stride but also suggested there may be a bit of a loophole in the policy.

“I understand that, if we are being timed and I take too long I get a bad time. I understand the rule,” Spieth continued. “But it doesn’t make sense when we had caught up and were going off the clock. It had no effect on the round. It’s a bit of a grey area. John Paramor was very respectful though. My thing was not to fight it there and go about finishing my round. But I will be asking. I just don’t want to be worrying about it in future rounds.”

From the European Tour's website:

“Monitoring” by referees will take place as soon as a group has been seen to be out of position. All Players will be notified that they are to be “Monitored” but the “Monitoring” will not be part of a player’s record.

• However, any player exceeding the time permitted for a stroke (40 seconds with additional 10 seconds if first to play) while being “Monitored” will be assessed a “Monitoring Penalty”.

• Any player having a “Monitoring Penalty” will be “Timed” from the next tee unless the group has regained its position.

• If a “Monitored” group loses further time, the group or those players within the group who are deemed to be the cause of the delay will be timed.

• If a “Monitored” group fails to gain time, the official will decide whether to continue “Monitoring” or alternatively, commence timing. All players will be so informed.

A “Monitoring Penalty” will have the same status as a “Bad Time” except it will not count towards any golfing penalty.  A player having either two “Monitoring Penalties” or “Bad Times” or a combination, will be fined €2,600 (or the sterling equivalent of £2,000) rising by €2,600 (or the sterling equivalent of £2,000) for each successive “Monitoring Penalty” or “Bad Time”.

Additionally, any player who is seen to have taken twice the Time Permitted for a stroke (80 seconds or 100 seconds if first to play), will be assessed a “Monitoring Penalty” whether the player’s group was in position or not.

Got all of that?

I'm all for speeding things up, but on day one of your most watched event in some time, might be a bit overkill. Especially when the course is setup with absurd rough that does nothing to speed up play.

Reactions To R&A, European Tour Slow Play Agenda

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That's John Huggan's take on news of the R&A making pace of play a focus. As much as distance leaps are to blame, Huggan notes the absurdity of green speed not getting more attention. Then again, Saturday play at The Open was lost to green speed, so that's a tricky subject too.

Huggan writes for GolfDigest.com:

Unbelievably, only once during the two-day conference in the Home of Golf was there any mention of excessive green speeds as an aspect of the game that adds, according to a Danish Golf Union study, “ten minutes to every round for every foot over nine on the Stimpmeter.” And never was the absurd distances leading players hit the modern ball -- and in turn the ever longer walks from greens to distant back tees -- cited as an obviously detrimental factor in pace of play.

Lorne Rubenstein has written and read about slow play for a long time, so he welcomed news of the R&A's focus, but also wondered how much we want to rush through a round.

Slow play has not exactly been something that the golfing authorities worldwide have been quick to tackle, really tackle, or solve. This isn’t because they’ve not studied the problem enough. The subject comes up frequently, and has for many years. The USGA held a pace of play symposium a year ago, when the results of 17 research projects were presented.

But give the R&A marks for getting various people and organizations together to discuss the matter, and, in the process, enjoy some fine claret. As the PGA master pro Denis Pugh tweeted from the conference, “Most enjoyable evening at R&A. Food, wine, and company first class.” Pugh is an advocate of faster play, and his experience informs him that golfers are more successful when, as Gene Sarazen once wrote, they “miss ‘em quick.”

If so many golfers, and not only those in St. Andrews this week, believe slow play is a scourge, well, why don’t they play faster? Are they as bothered by slow play as much as we suppose? Or, is this a case of leading the witness, as in posing multiple-choice responses to a question: “What is hurting golf most? (a) cost (b) slow play, (c) difficulty, and so on.

I think the bigger picture story here, as discussed today on Morning Drive, is the R&A's willingness to let people in the trenches tell their story and to suggest it's time to get more aggressive with slow-pokes.

But as I wrote in Golf World, this is also setting up a battle between Team Europe (R&A/European Tour) and Team USA (PGA Tour/USGA), where Europe is signaling a willingness to crack down and even embarrass some slow pokes. Of course, that is a notion offensive to PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem, who has discouraged the administration of rules in place to deal with slow play. Reason #459 he needs to retire.

Here is Slumbers talking about the conference on Morning Drive with Gary Williams. It's one of the first chances to hear from the R&A's new head man. He comes off very well.

GB&I Captain: Rangefinders Having Detrimental Effect On Players

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Martin Dempster empties his very full notebook from the R&A's pace of play conference with more interesting notes. He added this from the discussion about playing ready golf and the use of rangefinders to speed things up:

“We are always fearful of eroding player skill. We never want to diminish that because it is at the heart of the game,” added Rickman. “But we will look at what the rules can do to contribute to speeding the game up for ordinary golfers.”

He reckoned the “jury is out” on whether or not distance measuring devices have helped in that respect. Nigel Edwards, a two-time winning Walker Cup captain, agreed, claiming he felt they were having a detrimental effect on the development of young players. “They have decreased the course management skills of elite amateurs,” said the Welshman, another of the speakers. “They just zap the distance and fire at the flag. I’d rather see them not used as players are not managing their golf balls around a course.”