Brooks Koepka is right to call out the PGA Tour’s slowpokes

Three-time major champion Brooks Koepka calls the pace of play in professional golf “embarrassing,” criticism that the governing bodies must take seriously.

Brooks Koepka has had enough with the slow players on the PGA Tour.

Koepka, the No. 2 ranked golfer in the world, was on the Golf Monthly podcast on Tuesday and said the pace of play on tour has become “embarrassing.”

“I just don’t understand how it takes a minute and 20 seconds, or a minute and 15 to hit a golf ball,” Koepka said. “It’s not that hard.”

It’s not a coincidence that Koepka’s comments come two days after Bryson DeChambeau won the Dubai Desert Classic on the European Tour. The notoriously methodical DeChambeau plodded his way through his final round on Sunday. He took more than a minute to putt on the 72nd hole, despite going on to win the tournament by seven shots. Three holes earlier he was clocked at one minute, 45 seconds. In one exchange posted on the European Tour’s social media accounts, DeChambeau takes a minute discussing the air density with his caddie before hitting his shot.

DeChambeau, unsurprisingly, defended himself while in Saudi Arabia for the Saudi International this week. “It’s actually quite impressive that we’re able to get all that stuff done in 45 seconds,” he said. “I think that anybody that has an issue with it, I understand, but we’re playing for our livelihoods out here, and this is what we want to do.”

Under Rule 5 of the new rules adopted by the USGA and R&A this year, players are encouraged to take no more than 40 seconds to play a shot. Deliberate slow play is subject to a one-stroke penalty. DeChambeau was never penalized last week, but Haotong Li lost two strokes when his caddie stood behind him too long on a putt, a violation that cost him almost $100,000.

That inconsistency in applying the new rules is what has players like Koepka finally speaking out. Koepka decries the fact that the governing bodies seem to have a double standard in enforcing their own rules. “Guys are already so slow it’s kind of embarrassing. I just don’t get why you enforce some things and don’t enforce others,” he said.

Koepka does raise an important point. If the tour is going to go after minor infractions like Li’s, or other things like improper drops, then the pace of play regulations must be enforced with the same consistency. If the tours are willing to look the other way while players like DeChambeau go over the allotted time on nearly every shot, the problem will never go away.

As one of golf’s longest hitters, ranking eighth on the PGA Tour in driving distance last season, Koepka is familiar with having to wait on his playing partners. He insists that long players like himself should speed up play, but that’s often not the case.

“It really drives me nuts especially when it’s a long hitter because you’ve got two others guys, or at least one guy that hitting’s before you, so you can do all your calculations, you should have your numbers,” he said.

If the governing bodies are serious about cracking down on slow play, they should take Koepka’s comments seriously. If not, he won’t be the last one to vent their frustrations about the pace of play in modern golf.