TGL Match 4 saw Tiger Woods’s Jupiter Links Golf Club edge out Rory McIlroy’s Boston Common Golf in a thriller that went to overtime. Woods’s team earned a tough victory despite a relatively bad day in the office for Kevin Kisner. However, Tiger Woods himself had a moment to forget during the first singles matchup of the game against his arch-rival Rory McIlroy.

On the 10 hole called the Spear, Tiger Woods had the opportunity to sink an 8-feet birdie for the tie. However before he could hit the ball with the putter, the buzzer sounded. Woods was midway through his stroke when the horn sounded, indicating that he took more time than necessary to take the shot.

Woods ended up missing the shot anyway, but the violation caused a stroke to be added to his score. Post-victory, Tiger Woods explained why the violation, a first in TGL history occurred. “Well, normally I slow my heart rate down before I pull the trigger, so dropping my heart rate down sometimes takes a little bit longer than others.”

The 15-time major winner, however, did not shirk away from the responsibility and assumed all the blame. He made sure his teammates knew that as well. “As I told these guys, it’s on me. I should have called time out as I built in my stance because of the time.” Woods stated.

He went on to add that his preparation for the shot took unusually longer than necessary. “But I was dropping my heart rate down like I normally would. It just took too long.” Is this the sign of Father Time finally catching up to one of the greats of the sport?

What was ironic about the whole situation was that Tiger Woods himself was the chief advocate against the pace of play in the PGA Tour. He has talked about the pace of play a lot. He had even advocated certain rule changes to bring about pacier golf.

Woods’s plea for enforcement of stroke penalty

Woods has been a very vocal advocate against slow play for a long time. He had written on his website as far back as 2008, regarding his concerns over slow play. In 2012, after the Players Championship in Florida, Woods had a clear idea of how to address slow play. “If you get a warning, you get the [stroke] penalty. I think that would speed it up,” the Florida resident stated.

He insisted that just a warning will not work and strokes which are considered bread and butter in the game need to be increased so that the players feel the importance of maintaining the pace. “Just straight out, if you get a bad time, yeah,” he stated, adding that “Strokes [are] money.”

He also went on to say that the fines would not work as the prize money is high enough to circumvent the punishment. “I would take the five grand over the 800K,” he explained, as slow play fines were usually $5,000 then, and the prize money tended to be more than 150 times the penalty. “That’s one shot, and that’s the difference. That’s what people don’t realize is that one shot is so valuable out there.” Woods clarified his thoughts on the matter.

The age-old issue needs to be addressed

In 2019, Woods added more context to the slow pace of play on the PGA Tour. He explained that it has been a cause for concern in the sport of golf for a long time and so far it has not been addressed properly. “We’ve been fighting [slow play] for, God, ever since I grew up watching the game,” the PGA Tour pro said.

He also said that the major onus is on the leading group to set the pace. Their delay could force the rest of the groups to bunch up and inadvertently take more time than necessary. “We can only go as fast as the group in front of us goes. It’s important that the first group goes out and sets the pace, because as you know, the times get slower as you go on, and if the first group goes out slow or has rulings, hits the ball bad, it just logjams everyone behind them.”

Tiger Woods brings back his earlier idea

In 2020, GOLFTV posted an #AskTiger segment on their Facebook page and one fan asked Tiger Woods his thoughts on slow play and the means of fixing them. “I think that the easiest way to fix slow play is when you get your first bad time, a shot is added to your score. That’s a huge incentive because it costs guys lots of money and they are going to play faster.” Woods stated, clearly sharing the same sentiment, he had 8 years ago at the Players Championship.

And it is not just Woods who is vehemently against the slow pace of play. Recent instances at the Farmers Insurance Open have made fans bring more focus to the issue. Several prominent personalities, like Dottie Pepper, have also given their take. Maybe, a TGL-style shot clock could be the answer. Either way, things need to change. And change fast!