Rory McIlroy complained that the pace of play at this year’s Masters didn’t help him and the PGA Tour has now reviewed its policy in an attempt to address the issue.
The PGA Tour has reviewed its pace of play policy, and its decision is unlikely to satisfy Rory McIlroy, who grew frustrated at this year’s Masters over the length of time it took him to complete holes.
The four-time major winner struggled at The Masters, initially scrambling to make the cut for the major. It took McIlroy six hours to complete his second round, admitting the start-stop nature affected his play, as well as struggles with his swing.
“It felt long, yeah,” said McIlroy at the time. “My golf swing felt horrific for the last six or seven holes, just from sitting around. Especially that 11th hole, 11 it felt like it took an hour to play that hole. Yeah, it was stop and start, hard to get into a rhythm with the conditions and obviously how slow the play was as well.”
The PGA Tour has now reviewed its pace of play policy this offseason following the conclusion of the 2024 campaign. The rules for general PGA Tour events will now be brought more in line with at majors, where McIlroy and other players have voiced concerns the pace is already too slow.
In some cases, fines could be reduced, which won’t be music to McIlroy’s ears. The statement goes on to say that there will be no fine associated with the first two excessive violations.
However, a third infraction would then see a penalty of £3,845 enforced, and any further offences would carry an additional £7,691 charge each. Additionally, The Rules Committee has proposed an “Excessive Average Stroke Time” penalty which can be enforced at the conclusion of the tournament.
If a player has an average stroke time of 12 seconds or more above the field average and plays in all four rounds, a participant can be hit with a retrospective infraction. The news has received mixed reaction from fans, who were eager to see the PGA Tour clamp down on slow play heading into competition in the New Year.
Some feel that the PGA Tour has taken a more lenient stance instead of being harsher on the matter. “Absolutely unbelievable. Give them 4.5 to 5 hours max. If they don’t complete the round they have to leave the course!! That would sort it out!!” one golf fan raged on social media.
Golf players could avoid fines for their first two excessive violations of its pace of play policy
“Don’t they realise it’s killing the viewing pleasure?” another quizzed. A third said: “Pretty crazy. Pace of play is emphasized on every level of public play and golf association/national championship events. Get to PGA tour and it’s the opposite.”
The Sentry is the first tournament of the PGA Tour in 2025 and McIlroy will be hoping to come back refreshed after narrowly missing out on ending his decade-long wait for a major. McIlroy blew a lead at the U.S. Open Championship to Bryson DeChambeau.
McIlroy claimed he got over the heartbreak pretty quickly, though. “I got over it pretty quickly,” McIlroy said during a news conference at the Genesis Scottish Open earlier this year. “The few days after it were pretty tough at times, but I feel like I’ve done a good job of thinking about it rationally and constructively and taking what I need from it and trying to learn from it. But like for the most part it was a great day. I keep saying to people, ‘It was a great day until it wasn’t.'”
