Masters Tournament Faces Increased Scrutiny Over Pace of Play

AUGUSTA, Ga. – The Masters Tournament is set to draw attention to the pace of play this week, following new initiatives by the PGA Tour to enhance speed during competitions. Fred Ridley, chairman of the Augusta National Golf Club, expressed his support for ongoing discussions on the topic of pace during his prepared remarks on Wednesday.

“Playing without undue delay, as the rules and the game’s traditions dictate, is an essential skill of golf at all levels,” Ridley stated. He highlighted the need for professionals to maintain an efficient tempo, recognizing the challenges they encounter during their tournaments. “Respecting other people’s time, including the fans who support the game, is a fundamental courtesy,” he added.

Starting with the RBC Heritage next week, the PGA Tour plans to allow rangefinders for competitors on an experimental basis. Additionally, they will implement stricter measures against slow players, which includes punishing repeat offenders and publicizing average stroke times. The Tour has not issued a slow-play penalty in a stroke-play event since 1995, with only one recent case at the Masters involving Guan Tianlang, who received a one-shot penalty in 2013.

This year’s Masters features 95 competitors, with Davis Riley and Patton Kizzire setting the pace during the first tee time at 7:40 a.m. ET. Ridley expressed optimism that the pair would encourage subsequent groups to keep up the momentum. “I’m not going to tell you that I’m going to be happy with the results, but I think I am encouraged that the PGA Tour is experimenting with some timing procedures that might be more aggressive than we’ve seen in the past,” he stated.

Ridley also addressed concerns regarding the performance of participants in the recent Drive, Chip & Putt event, where competitors reportedly took nearly two minutes on certain putts while using AimPoint techniques. He indicated that changes to pace of play will likely be implemented for the junior event next spring, stating, “It’s interesting, but every phase of the competition has the same length chip and the same length putt, so it’s really not necessary to pace that off. Nevertheless, you will see some sort of time limitations placed on the competition next year.”