Sure, the Miami Open, Strawberry Festival, Ultra Music Festival, and seafood feasts are all great, but honestly, if Florida in March is smiling, it’s for one reason: The Players Championship. There’s certainly a lot to unpack. Like, slow play. Does it make your teeth grind as well? Well, you’re not alone.

The sentiment seems to resonate with 2021 The PLAYERS Championship winner, Justin Thomas. But after playing under TGL’s shot clock, does he feel that it can help here? Thomas doesn’t think so. He agreed that even if such changes are made, the impact might be minimal, with only 12-20 minutes shaved off a round. That’s something but still not enough. Now, he’s back in this conversation at TPC Sawgrass.

Ahead of the first round, Justin Thomas sat down for a press conference, and the conversation eventually shifted to the issue of pace of play. So what does the World No. 9 think about it? “It definitely is. It’s something I’ve said if we put it in the locker room or put it out, which would obviously get out, but nobody wants to be known as that. I mean, I’m the first to admit that I’m on the slow side of players. It bothers me, but I’ve talked to many officials about it because I want to understand why I’m slow. Obviously, the first thing that any slower player thinks is that they’re not slow.”

Justin Thomas continued his previous comment, “I never want to be the guy who gets paired with someone and that person thinks, ‘Oh my gosh, I have to play with Justin; he’s so slow.’ I know guys I get paired with who make me think, ‘Oh my gosh, I have to play with so-and-so; they’re so slow,’ and it’s not a good feeling because you know you’re going to be on the clock, and that’s not fun.” Interestingly, his fellow star golfer, Ludvig Aberg, feels the same way. He said, “When I played, I didn’t want to be the guy that people were waiting for.”

Take a look at Thomas’s previous objection. During a quick interview at Atlanta Drive GC, he was asked who would make the most violations with TGL’s shot clock. His answer? Tom Kim. He isn’t wrong, though. Just this year, Kim’s performance became the subject of ridicule. In his final round at the AT&T, on the par-5 sixth hole, Kim took a long time to line up his second shot. What happened when he finally hit it? It went out of bounds! Kim has accepted his issue, however. Talking about it last month, he said, “I’ve struggled with pace of play due to a lot of fighting with some mental stuff, but it’s getting a lot better.” How was his experience with TGL’s shot clock? “It’s nice,” Kim said. “I think I’m comfortable over the shot clock.” Will we see the change?

But it looks like Justin Thomas’s request is finally being heard. In the latest development, Jay Monahan announced that the PGA Tour will soon start publishing “speed-of-play-related statistics.” These will include both fast and slow players. Monahan promised that this initiative had nothing to do with malice. Is that a solution? Well, that’s for the future to decide. Until then, let’s take a look at what other golfers think about it.

The curse of slow play and the star golfers

The issue of slow pace isn’t new; we have just started discussing it more now. Add to that the lack of a solution, and suddenly it’s not looking good. But hey, talking about it helps. And it’s not just a problem in small tournaments; it happens in the big ones as well. Take the example of the 2023 Masters Tournament. The golfers faced not only wet weather but also slow play! The final round dragged on for hours, forcing golfers like Brooks Koepka to wait at nearly every tee. When it was over, he bitterly remarked, “That group in front of us was brutally slow. Jon went to the bathroom like seven times during the round, and we were still waiting.” Then, the issue shifted to Patrick Cantlay. Today, it’s about golfers like Tom Kim. Clearly, there’s no easy solution.

Similarly, Collin Morikawa also attended The PLAYERS Championship press conference. When discussing slow play, the star golfer took a firmer stance. “I think after talking to some guys, you just have to start penalizing players, whether it be strokes or FedExCup points. What I’ve learned is that monetary fines are useless. We make so much money, and some guys frankly could care less about…” He added that he is confident that the goal is to play good golf, and there should be no issue with sharing a list of slow players. And what if he has made those mistakes? Morikawa said, “People can say I haven’t performed on those Sundays. So what?”

Undoubtedly, fast players hate slow players more than we fans do. What do you think?