PGA Tour stars call for ‘name-and-shame;’ Jay Monahan delivers on slow play transparency
Justin Thomas speaks to the media ahead of the 2025 Players Championship. | Photo by Cliff Hawkins/Getty Images Commissioner Jay Monahan announced that the PGA Tour will release pace of play data starting next month. Two of the biggest stars in the game, Collin Morikawa and Justin Thomas, called for the PGA Tour to make slow play issues more transparent ahead of The Players Championship. They want names of the offenders. “I think [names and data] should be released. I don’t know why you wouldn’t want it to be released. “What I’ve learned is that monetary fines are useless. We make so much money, and some guys frankly could care less about — I don’t know how much the fines are, but whatever X amount they are, and I think they care more about playing good golf and making sure they make the playoffs and making sure they make, you know, 70, 50, 30. That’s where it hits hard. “And I see no issue with it. I think what is there to hide, right? If you’re slow, you know you’re slow. I mean, if you don’t know, then there’s an issue. To me, there’s no issue with letting it out, right. It’s only going to make things better because then you’re either going to have a target on you, put a little more pressure and hopefully you pick it up, or you get penalized. Like it’s very simple.” Thomas, who admitted to being a slow player himself, echoed these sentiments. “If we put it in the locker room or put it out, which would obviously end up getting out, but nobody wants to be known as that,” Thomas said. “It bothers me, but I’ve talked to many officials about it. I want to know why I’m slow because obviously, the first thing that any slower player thinks is that they’re not slow. I never want to be the guy that gets paired with somebody and that person is like oh, my gosh, I have to play with Justin, he’s so slow, because I know guys that I get paired with that I’m like, oh, my gosh, I have to play with so-and-so, they’re so slow, and it’s not a good feeling because you know you’re going to be on the clock, you know, and that’s not fun.” After Morikawa and Thomas made these comments, PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan announced a new set of pace-of-play guidelines, something golf fans have clamored for for years. These new procedures include releasing names to the public, which should help speed things up. “We will begin publishing speed-of-play-related statistics later this season. We will also begin testing a new speed-of-play policy on the Korn Ferry Tour and PGA Tour Americas, beginning next month on April 14th specifically, which will include assessing penalty strokes for slow play,” Monahan said. “We will be testing range finders at the six tour events between the Masters and PGA Championship. We’re excited to learn more about the impact of increased transparency and accountability through these efforts.” Implementing rangefinders is something that Annika Sorenstam said would not help with this issue. Instead, Sorenstam called for the tour to assess penalty strokes for slow play violations. Maybe rangefinders will change things on the PGA Tour, but ‘naming and shaming’ the culprits should serve as a wakeup call. The slow play police force is only getting stronger. Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Follow him on X @jack_milko.
Commissioner Jay Monahan announced that the PGA Tour will release pace of play data starting next month.
Two of the biggest stars in the game, Collin Morikawa and Justin Thomas, called for the PGA Tour to make slow play issues more transparent ahead of The Players Championship.
They want names of the offenders.
“I think [names and data] should be released. I don’t know why you wouldn’t want it to be released.
“What I’ve learned is that monetary fines are useless. We make so much money, and some guys frankly could care less about — I don’t know how much the fines are, but whatever X amount they are, and I think they care more about playing good golf and making sure they make the playoffs and making sure they make, you know, 70, 50, 30. That’s where it hits hard.
“And I see no issue with it. I think what is there to hide, right? If you’re slow, you know you’re slow. I mean, if you don’t know, then there’s an issue. To me, there’s no issue with letting it out, right. It’s only going to make things better because then you’re either going to have a target on you, put a little more pressure and hopefully you pick it up, or you get penalized. Like it’s very simple.”
Thomas, who admitted to being a slow player himself, echoed these sentiments.
“If we put it in the locker room or put it out, which would obviously end up getting out, but nobody wants to be known as that,” Thomas said.
“It bothers me, but I’ve talked to many officials about it. I want to know why I’m slow because obviously, the first thing that any slower player thinks is that they’re not slow. I never want to be the guy that gets paired with somebody and that person is like oh, my gosh, I have to play with Justin, he’s so slow, because I know guys that I get paired with that I’m like, oh, my gosh, I have to play with so-and-so, they’re so slow, and it’s not a good feeling because you know you’re going to be on the clock, you know, and that’s not fun.”
After Morikawa and Thomas made these comments, PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan announced a new set of pace-of-play guidelines, something golf fans have clamored for for years. These new procedures include releasing names to the public, which should help speed things up.
“We will begin publishing speed-of-play-related statistics later this season. We will also begin testing a new speed-of-play policy on the Korn Ferry Tour and PGA Tour Americas, beginning next month on April 14th specifically, which will include assessing penalty strokes for slow play,” Monahan said.
“We will be testing range finders at the six tour events between the Masters and PGA Championship. We’re excited to learn more about the impact of increased transparency and accountability through these efforts.”
Implementing rangefinders is something that Annika Sorenstam said would not help with this issue. Instead, Sorenstam called for the tour to assess penalty strokes for slow play violations. Maybe rangefinders will change things on the PGA Tour, but ‘naming and shaming’ the culprits should serve as a wakeup call. The slow play police force is only getting stronger.
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Follow him on X @jack_milko.
