PGA Tour urged to copy the Masters after being told it’s shooting itself in the foot at signature events with ‘nuts’ decision

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While some of the rhetoric may be more encouraging, the reminders that the PGA Tour needs to address the issue of slow play continue to keep coming thick and fast.

Of course, the PGA Tour has come in for a lot of criticism in the early stages of the year. Few will remember the final round of The American Express particularly fondly as it took the best part of six hours to complete.

And there were further issues at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am – even if the problem was not quite as stark as it has been in previous weeks. Tom Kim was one of those who did not rush his shots – despite being the star of TGL just a few days earlier.

It is not a good look for the signature events on the PGA Tour if the final rounds are taking a long time to complete. Ultimately, these are meant to be the flagship tournaments, so the last thing the tour needs to do is use them to put further viewers off.

PGA Tour urged to make significant changes to the signature events amid slow play criticism

And it seems that the PGA Tour has been encouraged to make significant changes to the signature events – which actually involve increasing the initial field size.

Speaking on The Chipping Forecast podcast, BBC journalist Iain Carter explained how the Masters may provide the key to how the signature events should look moving forward.

“It just takes so long when they are playing in three balls. Somehow, you have got to, if you are selling this sport, sell it in two balls during the final round. That is when most people are watching, that’s when it gets a sense of movement, that is when you are going to get bums on seats and get them,” he said.

“That was such a great performance from McIlroy that it deserved the biggest possible audience and because they were waiting all the time for Tom Kim essentially, it just slows everything down. It’s not just the individual, it’s the format. The first fundamentally has to be to come up with a format to make this the best it can be and surely the Strategic Sports Group are saying that to the PGA Tour. I think that is why last week they said all things are on the table are here on slow play.

“They just shoot themselves in the foot and these signature events, because there is no cut, they have to play in three balls. It’s nuts.

“What is wrong for having 100 people in the field for Pebble Beach, so it is an elite field, and having a cut and having 40 to 50 players playing on the weekend, which is exactly what they do for the Masters, which is the most glamorous tournament of the lot and the one everyone wants to watch. I know there are a number of reasons around that but it’s a formula that works.”

Rory McIlroy’s solution to slow play issues on the PGA Tour

There seems to be a real divide regarding what is more likely to address the problem. Obviously, Carter believes that having fewer golfers out on the course will help. Rory McIlroy has also suggested smaller fields will help.

However, that will not necessarily improve the experience for the viewer. If a slow player knows that there are fewer players out on the course, they may feel entitled to take longer over each shot.

Many think shot penalties need to be applied much sooner than they are currently meant to be. And it does feel as if golf will benefit from taking much harsher measures for a while after years of a much more gentle approach.