While LIV Golf seemed to enjoy a superb event down in Miami, the PGA Tour once again limped through a regular season event as the Valero Texas Open provided little in the form of entertainment with Brian Harman front and centre of things again.
While LIV enjoyed bumper crowds, a good atmosphere and a number of world-renowned stars competing going into the final round, the PGA Tour’s event in Texas lacked star power as many big names sat out ahead of The Masters.
In the end, it was left to former Open champion Brian Harman to clean up and win.
The win was Harman’s fourth on the PGA Tour in nearly 400 events now but to say it was entertaining would be a huge lie.
Harman, of course, won’t care one jot as he gets another win on the board.
But with slow play dominating conversations again in 2025, Harman has come under fire from fans and some golf journalists for what some are calling his ‘ridiculous’ behaviour in Texas.
Golf fans call for Brian Harman to be punished for slow play at the Valero Texas Open
Harman has been named as one of the slowest players on TOUR already and it was little surprise to see him take his time over certain shots in the final round in Texas.
With the win on the line and pressure building, Harman took every minute he could get away with.
However, rather than be lauded for getting it done, Harman drew the wrath of golf fans on social media, who slammed him for his behaviour.
Popular golf commentator Brian Kirschner called for Harman to be penalized in the way of shots, calling his behaviour ‘ridiculous’ on X.
While another fan suggested he has fears of Harman winning The Masters.
“I can’t get the picture out of my mind of this guy getting in contention in the Masters and ruining the weekend.”
In more criticism, one fan suggested Harman makes golf seem a laborious task just to tune into.
“Watching Brian Harman play golf is like a chore. It’s so painful and makes me wants to gouge my eyes out”
While in a major rant, one fan called for the PGA Tour to get rid of Harman completely!
“Can the PGA just get rid of Brian Harman.. guy is so f—— slow and annoying”
And in a bit of a worry for the PGA Tour, one fan pointed out how LIV had managed to show a number of shots before Harman had even hit one.
“Doing the PGA/LIV double screen. For comparison, LIV was able to show 6 shots in the time Harman lined up and hit his chip. It went over the green, and we got another 4 shots after they cut back to Harman again.”
While another suggested that Harman is a problem golf has is general.
“Brian Harman is what’s wrong with golf”
Finally, continuing the criticism, one viewer suggested Harman is simply unwatchable.
“Brian Harman is unwatchable with the waggles and peaking at hole 30 times before he hits the ball“
How slow play continues to plague the PGA Tour
Slow play has been a problem for some time now but there has been an increase in talk over the issue in recent times.
Justin Thomas wants to see changes – despite admitting he’s one of the slower players – while Sam Burns suggested FedEx points be taken off.
“I would say that there’s no reason why you would get four times [warnings] to get a fine for starters,” Burns told the SubPar Podcast.
“I also think fines to a lot of guys doesn’t mean anything. You fine a guy $50,000, he doesn’t really care that much. If you start taking FedEx Cup points away, that’s going to mean a lot more to somebody. If you really want to enforce this pace of play thing, I think it’s a bigger issue than just singled out people.
“The penalties should be a lot more severe than, you know, just a monetary value. I think it should be FedEx Cup points, possibly getting demoted from your tee time category and on and on.”
The PGA Tour is not the only place to have slow play issues though. The LPGA is also at odds with the issue, with Nelly Korda speaking out on the issue last year.
With Harman once again highlighting the issue in Texas, we can expect another busy week of conversation on the subject ahead of The Masters.
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