‘Complete crap!’ – Major champion rips into PGA Tour

The PGA Tour’s proposal to limit field sizes in a bid to accommodate slow play has caused quite the stir in recent days. 

More than a quarter of PGA Tour events were unable to complete a round before darkness this season due to glacial play – and the US circuit has sought to address that.

But rather than clamp down on this perennial issue with severe penalties, the tour has instead prioritised reducing tournament fields from 156 to 144 and 132 to 120.

The idea behind the move by the PGA Tour’s Player Advisory Council (PAC) is to make the tour more streamlined and competitive, while also enabling play to finish with fewer numbers in fields.

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Meanwhile, changes to the Pace of Play Policy will actually include reducing punishments. The fine structure for ‘Bad Times’ will reduce from $50,000 to $10,000, in addition to reducing ‘Excessive Shot Times’ fines from $10,000 to $5,000.

The raft of changes, if approved by the PGA Tour’s Policy Board, will be enforced at the start of the 2026 season.

But not everyone is impressed – and not least Lucas Glover.

The former US Open champ has torn into the PGA Tour for failing to deal with the most “selfish” golfers on the circuit.

“A slow golfer is a selfish person,” Glover told the PGA Tour Radio. “They affect the people they are playing with. They affect the people behind them. For you weekend warriors out there, you’re not good enough to be slow. Tour players, yes, you do affect the players you play with and those behind you. That’s a selfish act so speed up.

“But the fact that the tour is hiding behind the guise of slow play… is the only way a do it to limit these fields under this ‘ more competition’ thing. That’s complete crap. How about speed up play? How about, have a better policy?”

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Glover is adamant that hitting players’ scorecards is the only way to root out the worst slow play offenders.

“Everybody says if you’re going to complain have an answer. Alright, I’ve got an answer,” he added.

“Bad Time? You get a shot. Two Bad Times? You get another shot. Add a shot to your score. All of a sudden, guess what. ‘I made the cut on the number.’ Oh, guess what? I had that Bad Time. I got a shot and I didn’t make money this week. Guess who’s going to speed up? That person.”

The last time shot penalties were issued for slow play on the PGA Tour was for the team of Brian Campbell and Miguel Angel Carballo at the 2017 Zurich Classic.

Ben Parsons joined bunkered as a Content Producer in 2023 and is the man to come to for all of the latest news, across both the professional and amateur games. Formerly of The Mirror and Press Association, he is a member at Halifax Golf Club and is a long-suffering fan of both Manchester United and the Wales rugby team.