Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry took part in the Optum Golf Channel Games this week and the majority of golf fans really enjoyed the spectacle.
McIlroy and his good friend Lowry were joined by Luke Donald, Haotong Li, Scottie Scheffler, Keegan Bradley, Sam Burns and Luke Clanton for the Golf Channel Games held at Trump National Golf Club in Jupiter on Wednesday.
Golf fans were delighted with what they saw at the Golf Channel Games, with many of the challenges and features appealing highly to the younger generation.
Scheffler’s team ended up defeating McIlroy and his teammates but the result was inconsequential.
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The key takeaway from the Golf Channel Games is that it was incredibly enjoyable to watch.
And if the PGA Tour hierarchy genuinely want to make changes to improve their product, there was one very specific element of the Golf Channel Games that they should be looking to emulate moving forward.
Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry proved why the PGA Tour should make a big change
Brian Rolapp has made numerous statements about his intent to improve the product that the PGA Tour has to offer.
Rolapp insisted the PGA Tour leadership won’t be overly bound by traditions either, when looking to make improvements for the players and the fans.
And with that in mind, there is one very specific change that Rolapp should consider implementing for the 2026 season.
Slow play has been a huge issue on the PGA Tour over the past few years but the problem reached even more worrying levels in 2025.
The PGA Tour have been urged to take stronger action to combat slow play, with the likes of Patrick Cantlay and Brian Harman bearing the brunt of most of the criticism.
Now McIlroy, Lowry and co have given the PGA Tour the perfect solution.
In 2026, Rolapp has to trial out one very drastic change, if he is actually serious about improving the pace of play on the PGA Tour.
The standout takeaway from the Golf Channel Games, in my opinion, was that professional golfers take far too long over the ball.
McIlroy, Lowry, Donald and Li completed one par four hole in just 28 seconds.
While they were all ready and in position to hit their respective shots, the quality of the golf shots they hit proved that not having much time to think about the process can actually be a good thing.
As a result, the PGA Tour should trial shot clocks during one event next season.
PGA Tour shot clock change would make for great television
A certain amount of time should be allotted for golfers to hit their shots.
The first player to hit should be given 30 seconds, then the second player gets 25 seconds and the third is given 20 seconds.
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If any of them fail to hit their shot within the limits of the shot clock, they should receive a one-shot penalty.
How fascinating would it be to watch golfers play with the jeopardy of potentially losing strokes for slow play!
While this probably wouldn’t be possible in every single event, it will be more than worth trying out for one tournament in 2026.
The bottom line is that slow play has plagued the PGA Tour for too long now. Players are becoming slower and slower with every year that passes and, as a result, young players are watching the professional game believing that is how golf should be played.
Without coming down hard on the players who take far too long over the ball, nothing will ever change, and the PGA Tour’s product may well end up being severely damaged.
If the PGA Tour do decide to introduce a shot clock during a regular season event, it would be really interesting to see what the winning score would be, which players thrive and the ones who struggle.
Introducing a shot clock may not be in keeping with the long-standing traditions of the game but it would be genuinely interesting to see whether it would be a feasible tool used to combat slow play.
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