Is Jason taking ‘all’ Day?
A few people have been publicly suggesting what some golf fans have known for a while; Jason Day is a slow player.
Jason Day has begun his year on the European Tour in the Middle East. He missed the cut in last week’s Abu Dhabi Golf Championship and has started well at the Qatar Masters this week. But there’s been more talk about his pace of play than his golf.
Day’s playing partner Lee Westwood took to Twitter to give his thoughts on the pace of play during the first round.
To say we are pros and there’s no rough out there and we are supposed to know what we are doing, the pace of play today was a disgrace.
— Lee Westwood (@WestwoodLee) February 2, 2012
Jason Day copping some criticism on Euro Tour for being slow player. He has a very deliberate routine. #bugssomepeople
— Benjamin Everill (@beneverill) February 2, 2012
@WestwoodLee Any truth 2 rumour u guys starting calling Jason Day “Geoffrey Boycott” ??? 😉 #asheshumour
— Benjamin Everill (@beneverill) February 2, 2012
Would anyone really mind if Jason Day ends up becoming the first Australian to win a green jacket by playing excruciatingly slow? No. But as much as we are all loving the golf of Jason Day at the moment, no one should be immune from criticism of slow play.
A Jason Day victory at Augusta would see a whole bunch of Australian kids wanting to emulate his golf game. And if that means playing behind a bunch of kids on Saturday who take five hours to play a round of golf, it may not be a great thing for any of us.
Besides, Rory McIlroy has already shown you can win a major with a quick AND ‘deliberate routine’.
It’s hard to watch Day’s slow play on tv. I could only imagine how rough it must be to play with or in the group behind him….
It’s interesting reading this because a friend of mine went to the President’s Cup in Melbourne last year and said the same thing. It’s great that he has a consistent routine that obviously works for him but I believe he just needs to speed it up a fraction.
AFL players have a limited amount of time to prepare for a kick (after they have marked for example). It doesn’t happen often, but you occasionally see a free kick awarded to the opposition for time wasting. Not that Day is time wasting, but perhaps there should be a time limit on shot preparation with a suitable penalty attached.
Westwood can comment when he has won a major….didnt see him get runners up in two majors last year.
I think we’re all being a bit too nice and politically correct. The vast majority of Pro golfers and club golfers are far too slow. Everyone seems to be ok with the fact that a stableford round takes over 4 hours in good weather these days when years ago over four hours was almost unheard of. There are easy techniques to use to speed up play (for club golfers).
1. When safe, hit when ready i.e. forget the honour on the tee and forget who is furthest away from the hole, if you’re ready, hit it.
2. Stop marking your ball on the green for every putt – you’re allowed to putt out as long as you’re not on anyone’s line
3. When you are around the green, plan your movements so that you leave your clubs between the flag and the next tee and if you need a wedge, take your putter with you so as to reduce the number of trips back and forth to your bag.
4. When approaching a ball on the fairway or in the rough, keep an eye on the distance markers so that you know your distance when you get to the ball rather than getting there and then starting to try and work it out.
5. I could go on but I’m sure you’re all bored
As for the Pro golfers, stop surveying every putt from every point on the compass, stop marking and remarking your ball on the green (particularly the ridiculous lining up of the text or straight lines on the ball with your line which should be outlawed – with the long putter), stop complaining about noise, cameras etc and finally, just get a move on.
Too harsh??
Bring on a shot clock…