Johnson Wagner tells the PGA Tour what they must do if they actually want to tackle slow play problem

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One of the main problems the entire golfing world appears to be dealing with right now is the pace of play, with slow play one of the biggest bugbears of fans and many players.

The PGA Tour have been considering a number of proposals ahead of the 2026 season, with the issue of slow play apparently one of the key motivating factors behind the potential changes. Field sizes are set to be reduced, while the number of players who automatically keep their cards is set to come down from 125 to 100.

The idea appears to be that those are on the PGA Tour receive better opportunities than those around the cut line at present. But they have also made the argument that it should help tackle slow play.

However, some are not convinced.

Johnson Wagner suggests what is likely to happen with slow play on the PGA Tour from 2026

Matthew Fitzpatrick has accused the PGA Tour of hiding behind the issue of slow play. And speaking on Golf Channel, Johnson Wagner admitted that he does not believe that the problems with slow play are going to improve in the slightest with the changes.

“If you want to do something about slow play, then create a policy where you actually penalise players who play slow. Now you’re just going to give them a bigger buffer zone, there’ll be more spread out time between tee times. It’ll be 13 minute intervals, so now players can play as slow as they want,” he said.

“I completely agree with you, this is a decision that’s been made by top players holding powerful positions on the PGA Tour policy board, and I don’t blame them. If I was a top player, I wouldn’t want to play against as many people as 156 anyway.”

Slow play not just an issue for the PGA Tour

The PGA Tour is certainly not alone in having issues with slow play. Charley Hull went viral at the weekend for suggesting that she would strip players of tour cards on the LPGA if they are penalised for slow play on three occasions. Her comments came after her final round at The ANNIKA lasted the best part of six hours.

The PGA Tour reducing field sizes may improve the likelihood of completing rounds on the right day, and you can imagine that the tour would then declare victory on the scourge of slow play. However, that would obviously not tell the full story if rounds are taking a similar length of time.

Clearly, something had to be done. But it very much appears that many are unconvinced that slow play is indeed at the heart of the proposals which have sparked such strong debate.