Edoardo Molinari Goes Rogue By Outing Peers Timed For Slow Play
Slow play continues to be the Achilles Heel of golf. The pros are snails as are the weekend warriors. They could play faster and do (like when trying to finish on Sunday to catch their planes home). The PGA Tour might talk a big game, but nothing ever gets done. Go to an event in person and you’ll feel the pain of a twosome taking over 4-5 minutes on the green.
The European Tour is gamely trying stricter methods to kick the slowpokes in the ass, but even they aren’t enamored with publicly outing their members.
Except Euro player Edoardo Molinari (yes, Francisco’s older bro). He’s fed up and willing to take the heat by exposing his slower peers. Courage!
It’s time that professional golf does something serious for slow play…5h30min to play 18 holes on a golf course without rough is just too long…way too long! #stopslowplay
— Edoardo Molinari (@DodoMolinari) April 26, 2019
As promised…list of timings as of April 22nd. Next updates list will come out at the end of June!
There are a few usual suspects and a few surprises.
Please retweet and share to speed things up!#stopslowplay pic.twitter.com/VpR65M4Xrb— Edoardo Molinari (@DodoMolinari) April 27, 2019
GolfChannel’s Brentley Romine talked to Tour pro Graeme McDowell for reaction. Sounds like a guy who’s frustrated as well but has already given up.
“I saw his tweet this morning when he came off the course, ‘We need to play faster, blah, blah, blah.’ I get it,” McDowell said Saturday at the Zurich Classic. “I hear where Edoardo is coming from, but he is, what shall we say, flogging a dead horse?
“It’s not a dead horse, but it’s pretty dead. What do you want to do? We can’t get around there much quicker. Is 20 minutes going to change his life? Listen, I like Edoardo, nice kid, but I think he’s just frustrated.”
“Listen, golf courses are long, golf courses are hard, we’re playing for a lot of money, it’s a big business, it is what it is,” McDowell said. “There’s just no way to speed the game up really. You can try these small percentiles, but at the end of the day it’s very hard to get around a 7,600-yard golf course with tucked pins with a three-ball in less than 4:45, 5 hours. You can’t do it.”
“It should be public, you know, name and shame,” McDowell said. “I’m willing to admit I’ve been timed five times so far this year, been put on the clock five times, which is halfway to my 10, which is halfway to a $25,000 fine. I’m aware, but you get in the wrong group on the wrong week and you’re gonna get timed. Henrik Stenson is on six times [according to the list]. Is Henrik a slow player? No, it’s just one of those things.
