Slow play. One of the ugliest traits in golf.
It could be a Sunday stableford in your local course, it could be the US Open on Sky Sports but no matter where it is and no matter when it happens, the end product will always be the same. Uncomfortable viewing and unenjoyable golf.
The golf was drawn out at the weekend and it was far from exhilarating. The culprit, a 25-year-old Californian.
Playing in the Northern Trust Open at the Liberty National golf course in New Jersey, Bryson Dechambeau took the biscuit. He brought slow play to a whole new level. Had his playing partners looking bored and disinterested. Had spectators counting the birds in the sky and had Sky Sports losing viewers by the second.
This has been his wont for a while. A Southern Methodist University scholar, the NCAA ranks are regularly deemed a hot-bed for painfully slow and deliberate play. And Dechambeau brings it to life like never before. Or you could say puts it to sleep like none of us have ever seen.
Thankfully, he's been called out this time around.
With fellow pros losing their patience, Dechambeau's farcical delays have been latched onto. Someone had to do it.
Because this is no minor inconvenience. It's a blight that can put fellow players off their game, that can ruin a game that's meant to be enjoyed.
An example occurred on Saturday when he stood over a ten foot putt for more than two minutes. Onlookers were nearly relieved when he missed. In the same round, he paced out a 70 yard pitch, taking a lot longer than normally needed to pitch it.
English golfer Eddie Pepperell led the chorus of boos.
"Slow players do this to their playing partners making the game less enjoyable. Problem is, the unaffected single minded twit in this instance, doesn’t care much for others," he tweeted.
https://twitter.com/PepperellEddie/status/1160140841089937413
He wasn't done there, and he has a solution for this time-wasting.
Lee Westwood was similarly peaved.
https://twitter.com/WestwoodLee/status/1160296452385587200
Nor does Ian Poulter enjoy it.
https://twitter.com/IanJamesPoulter/status/1160173433533140993
Luke Donald wants a solution.
https://twitter.com/LukeDonald/status/1160203327499620353
It's the bane of every golfer's life. Dechambeau met the critics head on, saying "when people start talking to me about slow play and how I’m killing the game, I’m doing this and that to the game, that is complete and utter you-know-what," he said.
"When you start personally attacking people on Twitter, it’s like, come on, dude,” he added. “Let’s have some more balls and speak to me to my face about that," he continued.
Don't be that guy.
