The State Of Pace-Of-Play In 2025

As the 2025 season for the PGA began, there was a change in policy that would directly affect the players.  It was the new pace-of-play rules, or the slow play crackdown, depending on the perspective.  Now that the PGA regular season is over, fans and players can look back and see how it was handled during the tournaments.

Initial Slow Play Crackdown Reaction

Players had mixed reactions to this new policy.  There was plenty of support, due to the games getting noticeably longer, but there was also some doubt about whether it would be effective.  Scottie Scheffler doubted whether it would bring down the times.  He believed that it would maybe shave off twenty minutes at most.  He pointed to the field size as the biggest problem at times.  Both with player count and the size of the field itself.  

First Penalty

The first run of enforcement against slow-play came in the form of penalties.  Shots are being added to a player’s score.  There were penalties already in place, but it was rarely ever enforced.  The first penalty came from the PGA Tour Americas during the Peru Open.  It was one of four that were handed out since the early 90s.  This was big for the Tour, given that it has been so rare, and the player in question took it in stride.  He accepted his fate and didn’t let it get to him.

Tools At The RBC Heritage

Another way the PGA tried to encourage better pace-of-play was by giving players range finders during the RBC Heritage.  This way, players can line up their shots faster.  This one saw some success as it worked out as planned for the players.  With the tools given, the players who used them went noticeably faster as the information they were given was quick.

The Slow-Play Scoreboard Of Shame

A recurring tool used by the event organizers has been a shot clock mixed with a leaderboard of the slowest players.  This was an attempt to shame players into playing faster.  It has seen mixed results.  During the BMW Championship, Patrick Cantlay found himself on the receiving end of these new tools.  He didn’t really care about it too much.  In fact, he didn’t speed up at all.  He didn’t receive a penalty either, just found himself on the board.  This showed that many players who regularly experience this issue require more than just a place on the leaderboard.  

Is The Pace-Of-Play Policy Working?

The most important question is whether it is working at all.  After all that has been done, have the events gotten any shorter?  The answer is, it depends.  The rangefinders were a big help with gathering data.  The leaderboards of shame only work for a few players.  Then, enforcement is spotty.  For 2026, the Tour is taking Scheffler’s words to heart by reducing Tour Card memberships.  Which will help by how math works alone, but has its own critics.  The main criticism of the new policies is that they aren’t being enforced where needed.  Hopefully, the Tour has been taking notes for the season, and the 2026 season will see times go down across the board.