The new 2025 schedule, apart from bringing in some record-breaking performances at the event, also brought a long-back issue of golf into the limelight, which is slow play. The last few events saw a furious side of fans as the final rounds of the PGA Tour event took more than 5 hours to complete. Even with the ongoing TGL league, which features a shot clock of 40 seconds. Fans have started to compare it with traditional golf and requested the shot clock to be incorporated into traditional golf as well.

Not to forget, there is a rule for slow play. Rule 5.6b penalizes players for slow play and the allotted time for a shot is 40 seconds. Even though there might not be many instances for the fans, but golfers have witnessed the penalty for slow play. Here are 5 professionals who got penalized for slow play.

Jordan Spieth

The world no.1 in 2016, Jordan Spieth apart from the applause for reaching a career-high also faced a slow play “monitoring” penalty. During the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, Spieth took too long on the putting greens for which he was told that he incurred a monitoring penalty. The new system just went live on Tuesday, while it was in action on the first round of the HSBC Championship, which took place on Thursday.

The incident took place on the eighth green, Spieth’s 17th hole. Sharing for which he said, “It was a bit odd.” However, for the first monitoring penalty, Spieth got away with a warning. If it would have happened again, then $3000 would be the fine that Spieth had to pay for it.

Adrian Meronk

Whether it is the PGA Tour, DP World Tour, or LIV Golf, slow play is a major concern for every league. Even with limited participation of players, LIV Golf also has penalized a hefty amount to a golfer for slow play. Adrian Meronk was playing his second event at the league’s Jeddah event after the league switch. The world no. 50 at that time took extra time on the 18th hole on Sunday, which resulted in a huge deduction as a penalty.

The golfer finished T6 with a 10 under-par score. His finish helped him earn $508,750. However, it could have been $250K more if the shot was played within the desired time limit. Not only this, he also faced a one-stroke penalty. Even though, as compared to his PGA Tour starts, he made $95K more, despite the fine deduction.

Richard Bland

Another LIV golfer faced the drawback of playing slower than the rule book. Richard Bland at the Valderrama Golf Club took 1 minute 50 seconds to hit the tee shot for the 217-yard, par-3 15th hole. The process of his analyzing the yardage, swinging, wearing gloves, and changing clubs got him slammed by the rule book.

The Saudi-backed league also shared about it with a press release. It read, “On the tee of the 15th hole, Richard Bland, who was first to play, received a time of 84 seconds for his first stroke. This exceeded the allotted time per the policy. Bland was immediately notified by an official and assessed a one-stroke penalty. With the one-stroke penalty, Bland’s score of 4 on the par-3 15th hole resulted in a score of 5.”

Jacob Skov Olesen

As per fans, the penalty for slow play is neglected. However, that’s not what Jacob Skov Olesen would think, as he was penalized on his debut. The DP World Tour rookie got a one-stroke penalty during the first round of the 2024 BMW Australian PGA Championship. The 25-year-old took three times more time than the allotted time. With 130 seconds to hit the approach shot into the 10th hole, the golfer faced a penalty for the pace of play.

Glen Day

Slow play isn’t a recent issue for golf, as one of the first penalties was handed out in 1995. Glen Day during the Honda Classic 1995 got penalized with one shot in the third round. Unlike the 21st century where officials warn about it, Day was penalized after 54-hole leader Mark O’Meara complained about it. In fact, the round took longer than four hours to complete. As a result, his score from 71 was changed to 72.

Now with the increasing concern for slow play across the golf world. There might be a chance of seeing the list of slow-play penalties increasing. Even after a long history of penalizing players for the pace of play, with the 2025 schedule starting, the issue is nowhere near the end. What are your thoughts on slow-play issues in golf? Let us know your opinion in the comments section below.