The Valspar Championship started on Thursday morning with the likes of Xander Schauffele, Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth involved in a strong field.
One reason the event attracts so many top players is that it takes place at one of the PGA Tour’s toughest venues, the Copperhead Course at Innisbrook Golf Resort.
The tight fairways, elevation changes and thick rough make it an excellent test for even the world’s best golfers and the final three holes especially are frightening.
It has all the makings of an excellent tournament and should be must-see television for golf fans, except for one issue which plagues the PGA Tour at the moment.
- READ MORE: Xander Schauffele did something you ‘just don’t see’ from him on day one at the Valspar Championship
Slow play remains PGA Tour’s biggest issue as Valspar Championship round one suspended
2016 Masters champion Danny Willett, Rico Hoey and Chandler Phillips kicked off the opening round at the Valspar Championship at 7.35 p.m. (ET).
That was the first of 13 groups of three that teed off at hole 1 in the morning session, while another 13 teed off on the back nine at hole 10.
In the afternoon, starting at 12.50 p.m.,13 groups again started on the first hole and another 13 started on the 10th hole.
Given those timings, it would appear inconceivable to golf fans that darkness would become an issue. Yet, at 7.39 p.m., play was suspended for that reason.
The PGA Tour later announced that those who didn’t complete their rounds would continue at 9.00 a.m. on Friday, while the second round would still go ahead as planned at 7.35 a.m.
Now, every golfer can appreciate that weather can sometimes disrupt plans, but the sunset should never be an issue for the Tour unless there has been a prior delay.
That’s just poor planning, or arguably worse, an obvious sign that slow play continues to be a serious problem that needs solving immediately.
Golf fans demand answers to PGA Tour’s slow play problem
The debate about slow play has been rife over the last few months, so much so that even PGA Tour stars, such as Sam Burns and Collin Morikawa, have called for punishments.
And it seems that golf fans are in agreement with that idea, with many complaining about the issue on social media after play was suspended at the Valspar Championship.
One wrote: “You are in late March and players will have a completely different course tomorrow to finish their 1st round. Unacceptable. Start slow play penalties.”
Another commented: “Think you’ve safely established that reducing the field size has had zero impact on pace of play. All you’ve done is let slow players carry on taking ages without punishment whilst also taking away the opportunity for the players that didn’t quite make the field. Well done.”
“Like clockwork,” a PGA Tour fan said. “Maybe if you stop letting guys take 3 drops and wasting 10 minutes every time, you’d have more time to hit shots.”
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