Pace of play on the links is an inexact science, and Bryson DeChambeau didn’t mince words when discussing what he referred to as “out of control” pacing during The Open Championship this weekend.
Speaking after his third round, DeChambeau, whose front nine at Royal Portrush went far quicker than his back nine, proposed a “very simple” solution.
“You individually time everybody for their whole entire round,” DeChambeau said, according to GOLF.com. “It’s very simple. Nobody wants to do it because people are too scared to get exposed, which I’m an advocate for. I’d love to be timed, and I have no problem with that. My putting — I’m more deliberate and take more time on that, but when it comes to iron shots and off the tee, I’m pretty fast.”
Many of Thursday’s rounds loomed around or just went over the six-hour mark. Friday wasn’t much better. DeChambeau got behind the eight-ball on Thursday, shooting a 78 on Day 1, followed by a 65-stroke round on Day 2.
“I can tell you, [the] first two rounds — it was out of control what I saw,” DeChambeau said, according to Sports Illustrated. “That’s the way people play. Long story short, one day I hope we can have a better system.”
“It’s not difficult at all,” added DeChambeau, who is tied for 34th place headed into Sunday.
“I think it would be more fair towards everybody,” DeChambeau said, per GOLF.com. “You know if somebody is playing slower, the [official] can go up to them and say, ‘Hey man, you’re over par with your time.’ All you do is you just time them for every shot — he gets there, puts the bag down, and how long it takes them to hit that shot … to walk to the green — it’s not rocket science. You time how long someone takes individually, and then you separate that from the other person playing. You start-stop on them the whole entire thing.”
Scottie Scheffler has a four-stroke lead on Hao-Tong Li for first place at 14 under par going into the final day of the tournament.
[MORE: Bryson DeChambeau Changes Mindset, Makes Cut at The Open Championship]
The PGA Tour is reducing field sizes for the majority of non-Signature events next spring. The maximum field size will go down from 156 players to 144, and single-course events played prior to daylight savings time will drop to 120 (they’re currently 144 or 132), while events from daylight savings time until the Masters will cap at 132 players.
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