Shot penalties are the only answer to the serious issue of slow play plaguing golf

Most sports are speeding up to cater to the modern world, but golf is slowing down and it’s a problem that only has one solution.

The scourge of slow play can only be changed by shot penalties, not post-round fines for cashed-up players, with an admission from Australian star Cam Davis that golf is “definitely getting slower”, hindered by harder courses demanding more from those fighting for limited positions at every event.

But while talk of a shot clock is ringing around events, including this week’s $30m Pebble Beach Pro-Am, major champ Rory McIlroy said officials should steer away from trying to “dumb down” the game to look after spectators and TV viewers before players.

A shot clock is a key feature of the Tomorrow Golf League, the indoor, simulator golf series fronted by McIlroy and Tiger Woods, who became the first player to violate the 40-second time period while standing over a putt this week.

🚨⏰🐅 Tiger Woods with the first shot clock violation in TGL history 😲

pic.twitter.com/xiuw8y1l7M

— NUCLR GOLF (@NUCLRGOLF) January 28, 2025

But McIlroy said the “unique” nature of golf had to be protected.

“Yeah, pace of play’s … obviously the MLB introduced a pitch clock at the start of last season and that seemed to work pretty well,” he said.

“You can try to introduce it, but how’s it governed, that’s a very hard thing to do for every single group on the golf course.

“There’s a lot of things about golf that are very different than other sports, but I think that’s what makes it unique. I don’t think we should try to dumb down golf to appeal to more people. Golf is golf at the end of the day. It’s been this way for hundreds of years.

The early call from @McIlroyRory 😮‍💨 pic.twitter.com/teMXLHg1Hw

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) January 29, 2025

“We want to go out there and shoot the best score possible that we can and try to beat each other. You know, hopefully people find that entertaining, and if not, then I don’t know what to tell them.”

Davis, a two-time winner on the PGA Tour, said harder courses, with every shot crucial to FedEx Cup and world rankings points that players need to elevate themselves, was playing a part.

“It feels like golf is definitely getting slower. I always try to make sure I’m not the problem in groups I play in,” he said as he prepared to pay Pebble Beach.

“So sometimes I find myself rushing if other guys are going slow, I find it affects me to have slower guys around you in behind you or in front of you.

“Times for rounds have gotten longer, but courses are getting harder, pin locations are getting more difficult. It’s taking more time finding our yardages, reading greens because they are getting faster.

Cameron Davis says golf is getting slower. Picture: Gregory Shamus/Getty Images/AFP

“A tournament where someone finishes between five and 15-under par, that place is brutal and it’s going to be slow.”

Davis said the rarely used penalty of taking shots off players would be the greatest deterrent, having felt the pain of losing two shots, and $400,000 in prizemoney, for hitting the wrong ball at The Sentry earlier this year.

“The only way it’s going to get faster is if they get more penal with how they time people,” he said.

“Money is never going to be an issue … there are guys who would take a slow play fine if it means they shoot one shot better.

“It would need to be shot penalties. That thing could cost them winning a tournament and that’s what they are about most. That would speed things up.”