Slow play has been a burning discourse since the start of the 2025 PGA Tour season. Unfortunately, several events have been heavily impacted by the issue.
During The American Express, Sepp Straka’s final group took over three hours to complete nine holes, making the coverage unwatchable for viewers at home.
Pace of play also made headlines at the Farmers Insurance Open, and legendary broadcaster Dottie Pepper was critical of what she witnessed at Torrey Pines.
However, the PGA Tour has consistently overlooked the issue. Only three players have been punished for slow play since 1995, with the most recent punishment in 2011. LIV Golf, on the other hand, has dished out three penalties since the league was formed in 2022.
Clearly, more needs to be done.
Sam Burns pitches slow play punishment idea
Dishing out fines has been discussed recently; however, five-time PGA Tour winner Sam Burns believes monetary penalties will do little to prevent the issue.
Instead, Burns believes docking FedEx Cup points would make more of an impact.
“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.”
What the PGA Tour is doing to stop slow play
Burns’ comments come at a time when the PGA Tour is contemplating making changes to combat slow play.
Rangefinders could soon be permitted, which should reduce the time players take to calculate their yardages. Furthermore, a new video review centre could come into force, which will allow officials to respond quickly to rulings.
Usually, log jams and long waits occur whilst players wait for rules officials to arrive at the scene.
In addition to fines and penalties, the PGA Tour is believed to be eager to publicly announce the slowest players as a deterrent in the future.
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