Earlier in the week, the PGA Tour announced that it was to vote on proposals following a PAC-led examination aimed at making the circuit more competitive and compelling.
The PGA Tour published a comprehensive 23-page Executive Summary following the announcement, which detailed precise plans to address pace of play problems.
At first glance, some of the proposals appear counterintuitive, including a reduction in the fines issued to players for breaches of the Pace of Play Policy.
For example, if the proposals are voted through on 18 November, from the 2026 season players will no longer risk fines solely as a result of Timings, Bad Times and Excessive Shot Times during the Majors.
For reference, per the existing policy, “Bad Times apply when a player exceeds the applicable time to play a stroke when being timed. The player will be given a bad time and informed by the referee as soon as practicable”.
Meanwhile, “Excessive Shot Times apply when a player exceeds: a) 120 seconds for the first player in a group to play a stroke, or b) 100 seconds for subsequent players in the group to play a stroke.”
More generally, those who are fined for Bad Times will see it reduced from $50,000 to $10,000, with those guilty of Excessive Shot Times seeing the fine halved from $10,000 to $5,000.
But how would such a move speed up the pace of play? That’s something that led to speculation on social media, with popular X account Monday Q Info one of the first to query it.
HOLY SHIT. THEY ARE ADJUSTING THE PACE OF PLAY TO GIVE THE PLAYERS….MORE TIME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AND THE FINES….LESS!!!!!!!!!😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/VvXKAAL298October 29, 2024
Among the replies was the Golf Channel’s Brentley Romine, who suggested the added leniency could give officials more ammunition to impose fines when the policy is breached.
He wrote: “The way I look at it is reducing the fines might make officials MORE likely to impose penalties/fines, so could be a positive thing,” before adding: “If they are telling the players, hey, we are giving you more time in these areas, and then the players still get bad times, then officials now have even more justification to start docking shots.”
the way I look at it is reducing the fines might make officials MORE likely to impose…
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