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10 Slowest PGA Tour Players (Who’s Boring To Watch?)

Slow golfers on the PGA Tour can be painful to watch, and even with the PGA’s efforts to speed up play by creating a ’40 second shot clock’ similar to the play clock in the NFL, some players on the PGA Tour still slow the pace down.

Watching golf on TV is deceptively fast as the coverage doesn’t show every shot or the processes or time the players take to set up their shots before making the swing. It seems that the game flows pretty quickly – so who are the slowest PGA Tour Players?

1. JB Holmes

At 40 years old, JB Holmes has had some success on Tour, but he has an established reputation for being a slow player. Jokes abound that you could build a metropolis in the time it takes him to complete a round, but he has also struggled with a wrist injury of late, which has only exacerbated his already slow pace of play.

2. Jordan Spieth

Spieth is a top-class golfer who didn’t have issues with his pace of play in his early days. However, after a massive slump in form between 2019-20, which led to him falling outside the world’s top 50, the Texans’ pace of play has dropped significantly from tee to green mainly because he now takes longer setup time to play drives and long irons that, during his slump, caused him so much trouble.

Luckily Spieth is superb at putting. He regularly makes 20-foot or more putts and misses next to nothing from inside 10 feet which allows him to pull back time.

3. Ben Crane

Throughout his playing career, Ben Crane was notorious for slow play. At the 2005 Booz Allen Classic, Crane’s mind-numbingly slow pace got to his playing partner, South African Rory Sabbatini. After finishing the 17 th , Sabbatini became annoyed with Crane’s slow speed of play and walked off the green to the 18 th, leaving Crane to finish the 17 th alone.

There have been numerous occurrences where playing partners have left Crane on the green to finish and walked to the next tee; Crane’s career ended with his retirement in 2010.

4. Jason Day

Australian golfer Jason Day had surgery to repair an ongoing back injury which kept him off the course. Upon his return to the PGA Tour, Day’s slow pace due to this persistent injury has resulted in him being rated as the 4 th slowest player on the PGA Tour.

He will take advantage when a playing group is not on the clock, and despite criticism over his slow pace, he focuses on the shots at hand and isn’t bothered by them.

Although he was ranked #1 in the world for a time, so it would not have been easy to level slow play concerns then, but now well out of the top 10, his slow pace continues to be a problem for playing partners.

5. Kevin Na

Kevin Na is known for being meticulous and precise with this game, and while this may result in better scores, it does slow down his pace during a round. He tends to take more time to get comfortable before making a shot, and this process has brought him to number five on the slowest PGA Tour players list.

I can remember waiting for an age for Kevin to tee off on the par 3, 12th at Royal Birkdale in the British Open while he waited for a blustery crosswind to ease. He must have addressed the ball and backed away at least three times!

In fairness, though, Kevin Na has worked on improving his pace over the last few years, much to the relief of his fellow PGA Tour players.

6. Bernhard Langer

There isn’t much this German player hasn’t done in the game, and he commands great respect at all levels of the Tour, except for his pace of play. Another player with a reputation for precision, he has been known to take five hours to play a round that most would finish in four.

He has had numerous run-ins with the organizers over his slow pace during his career; not all were friendly, and some even believe he is the slowest player ever on the PGA Tour.

7. Bryson DeChambeau

Aside from his somewhat abrasive attitude, Bryson does not endear himself to playing partners due to his unusually long pre-shot routine and his use of data in the form of charts and notes on each hole to determine the line and type of shots required.

This is because DeChambeau has taken the scientific aspect of golf to another level. Even though he is undoubtedly one of the longest hitters ever to grace the game, his slow pace of play is not always appreciated.

One thing about hitting the ball far is when you hit it offline, it tends to take much longer to find it, and this is another reason that DeChambeau makes this list of the slowest PGA Tour players.

****Update, as of summer 2022, DeChambeau is now contracted to the LIV Tour. Maybe this new Tour’s ‘shotgun starts’ will speed up his play!

8. Patrick Cantlay

Another great player, Cantlay’s precision play, has led to some superb victories. Still, like other players with a slow pace, his skill has not always been appreciated by playing partners and TV crews alike, with many joking that you could have breakfast in the time he takes to play.

The main reason for his slow pace is that he needs to look at the golf hole, assess the line, and approach a good number of times before actually making a shot. This all works out well when he hits it where he wants to, but not great when so much time is taken only for the ball to be struck offline!

9. Andrew Loupe

The PGA’s time clock or shot clock of 40 seconds was designed to speed up play, and while this is plenty of time for most golfers to get through their pre-shot routines, some players take decidedly longer, and Andrew Loupe is one of them.

He has been known to take a minute or more to set up and hit a shot, and when you add all of those minutes up in a round, the result is on the slowest PGA Tour players list!

10. Tiger Woods

Tiger’s inclusion in this list is only due to his current recovery from leg surgery after a car crash in 2021 left him in hospital with serious leg injuries. Post-recovery rounds have seen one of the fastest players being forced to slow down as his recovery progresses, contributing to his slower pace of play.

There is no doubt that Tiger will return to a faster pace of play if his wounds heal, but whether he will be back at his quickest remains to be seen.

Now that we have the top ten slowest players on the PGA Tour, let’s look at some of the causes of slow pace in PGA events and what the PGA is doing to improve the overall rate of play.

The PGA’s ‘Speed Up Play’ Initiative

We need to understand a little more about the pace of play, the pace of play rules, and why so many players don’t play at the regulated pace. We will also examine what action the PGA is considering to speed up play.

A standard rule in golf is ‘you must keep pace with the group infront’ to create a flow and speed on the course, whether pro or amateur. Having to wait for slow groups ahead of you is frustrating and can upset your own ‘game pace,’ thus causing you to lose concentration and have a poor round.

The speed-up play rules mean that you can only hit so many shots per hole, and once you reach that limit, you must pick your ball up and score accordingly, usually ten shots on a par 5.

‘Ready play’ is also common, which means players can play out of turn regardless of who is closer to the hole as long as it’s safe to do so. This is useful if players are on opposite sides of the fairway and have little chance of interfering with one another shots.

While this is mainly aimed at weekend golfers, time restrictions are imposed on professionals. Groups are monitored by the referees and informed if they are thought to be playing too slowly. If they fail to heed this ‘friendly’ warning, they are put ‘on the clock’ and officially timed.

If they do not improve, the tournament officials will be informed, and the players will be punished accordingly. Penalty shots could be added to their score, which could have financial implications if a player fails to make the cut.

How Is The Pace Of Play Determined?

While the golfer only has a maximum of 40 seconds to play each shot, from address to release, the pace of play is determined by how long it should reasonably take to complete a round of 18 holes. Some mitigating factors can slow the game down; we will look at those later.

The slowest players on the PGA Tour are on that list because they take the longest to complete an 18-hole round.

The average PGA Tour player can complete a round in about 4 hours, even less if favorable conditions. If the weather is playing ball and the course is playing well, with the greens not very fast and hole positions in good positions, a PGA Tour player can finish a round in 3.5 hours or better.

For a group of PGA players, it would take 10 minutes to play an average hole, with Par 5s taking a little longer and par 3s being shorter. So taking that into account, you have about 180 minutes over an 18-hole course which is around 3 hours.

Take into account a few minutes here and there for a friendly chat and some refreshments or looking for balls (occasionally), and the average time is between 3.5 and 4 hours.

What Can Make PGA Tour Players Play Slowly?

There are several reasons that some players will play much slower than others. Injuries, time over setup, assessing lines, hazards, and their pre-shot processes are all reasons that could contribute to slow play.

PGA Tour Players Will Play Slowly If They Are Injured

As we saw with Tiger returning from his significant leg injury, golfers carrying injuries will play slower as they are protecting their damage and so will take more time to get to the ball – in the case of a leg, hip, or back injury.

These types of injuries also mean that their time over the ball will be longer, so crouching over putts or setting up for drives, approach shots, pitches, and chips will eat away the shot clock and lengthen the time taken to play.

Most pros have a pre-shot routine that they execute on each swing, and if they are injured, this too can take longer as they may have to adapt their swing to accommodate the injury.

Wiggles, Waggles, Faffers & Step-Aways

This can drive players, commentators, and fans mad, which is when players ‘overdo’ the bits before they step up and hit the ball.

There seems to be an idea that because they are pros, they can take all day if they want, and even though there are penalties for slow play, they aren’t often enforced, especially when there is a lot at stake.

How A Player’s Mental State Can Slow Down Their Golf Game

In high-stakes events and tournaments , players experience high stress levels, where their mental strength comes into play. Confident players won’t second-guess their club choices and shot types before playing and will generally maintain a good pace of play through the round.

Of course, there may be a few shots in the round where they need to reassess the shot and club selection based on weather conditions, hazard risks, and hole difficulty, but because they already have most of the course data at their disposal, they don’t slow the pace down.

However, players who struggle with confidence tend to overthink every shot, drive, and putt. They will exceed the play clock by some margin – add all that time up, and you can turn a three-hour round into a five or six-hour round, which will not be very popular!

Standing over the ball, they will fuss and faff and reset while they deal with the negative thoughts and doubts and if they do this on every shot played, it will make them slow and certainly make their playing partners less than happy.

See also: How Many Players Are On The PGA Tour?

Final Thoughts

Numerous factors contribute to slow play, and while some, like the wind and weather, are unavoidable, other elements, such as a long pre-shot process with resets and more than a few practice swings, should be policed by the PGA and penalties levied at players that slow the game’s pace down excessively.

Of course, concessions will always be made for players struggling with injuries common on the PGA Tour. Still, top players like Koepka and McIlroy call for the pace of play to be improved, and until that is done, a slow pace will continue to dog the top level of professional golf.

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5 Ways To Speed Up Play On Tour

Five hour rounds on Tour need to be a thing of the past, here are some ways to speed up play to make golf more exciting for fans...

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Golf's pace of play has been a hot topic in 2019 so far with some social media storms surrounding Americans JB Holmes and Bryson DeChambeau .

Earlier in the year, Brooks Koepka was outspoken on the issue, saying it is "kind of embarrassing" and that "nobody has the balls" to penalise players for slow play.

He also then made comments after playing with JB Holmes at the Open Championship before Bryson DeChambeau was lambasted for slow play during the Northern Trust.

This led the PGA Tour to announcing that they were reviewing their pace of play policy .

So, what can be done to improve the pace of play on Tour? Five hour rounds simply don't cut it in this day-and-age.

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WATCH: 9 Tips To Beat Slow Play

Below, we suggest 5 ways to speed up the action...

5 Ways To Speed Up Play On Tour:

1) Fines - The PGA Tour should impose fines with shot penalties, not dollars. Players obviously do care about money and one or two stroke penalties will really turn players away from taking too long, costing them shots, world ranking points and prize money. As it stands, players will receive penalties for taking over 40 seconds per shot (50 seconds if playing first), but that is only once the group has been put on the clock. The current system of putting a group on the clock and then fining them for further slow play does sound fine, but isn't working in reality. This needs to be refined and groups should be put on the clock sooner.

2) Set a maximum round time - Five hour rounds are doing the PGA Tour and fans absolutely no good, so the only way to get rid of them would be to set maximum round times. I would recommend 4 1/2 hours as a maximum, perhaps this could be trialled one week? If a group fails to reach the turn in 2hr 15mins, they should be warned, and anything over 4hrs 30-35mins should result in penalties for every player in the group. This timing could be increased during high winds or severe conditions but 4 1/2 hours is plenty of time to complete 18 holes.

3) Ready golf - Ready golf is now encouraged by the R&A and at club level, so professionals should also be doing the same. Perhaps some are already doing it, but to keep things moving players should be actively playing out of turn if safe to do so and when the opportunity presents itself.

4) Allow laser range finders - I have seen comments from caddies before that the introduction of laser range finders won't actually speed up play because they'll still be pacing out yardages for the front and back but surely lasers will help a little? Perhaps they won't eliminate the need for a caddie to still do some pacing and other workings-out in their yardage book, but for players who are more feel-based and are perhaps feeling more aggressive, a laser rangefinder will get them their yardage instantly and they'll be able to pull the trigger quicker.

5) Buggy shuttles -  On big, hilly courses where play can be a bit slow, the PGA Tour could operate buggy shuttles from greens to tees (if the walk is long) and tees to fairways. This would save players walking 300 yards a few times a round which would surely quicken play up. Some might say it is unfair and not physically demanding enough for the golfers, but would TV viewers really care about that if it significantly sped up play?

What ways do you think golf can be sped up on Tour? Let us know on our social media channels

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Elliott Heath is our News Editor and has been with Golf Monthly since early 2016 after graduating with a degree in Sports Journalism. He manages the Golf Monthly news team as well as our large Facebook , Twitter and Instagram pages. He covered the 2022 Masters from Augusta National as well as five Open Championships on-site including the 150th at St Andrews. His first Open was in 2017 at Royal Birkdale, when he walked inside the ropes with Jordan Spieth during the Texan's memorable Claret Jug triumph. He has played 35 of our Top 100 golf courses, with his favourites being both Sunningdales, Woodhall Spa, Western Gailes, Old Head and Turnberry. He has been obsessed with the sport since the age of 8 and currently plays off of a six handicap. His golfing highlights are making albatross on the 9th hole on the Hotchkin Course at Woodhall Spa, shooting an under-par round, playing in the Aramco Team Series on the Ladies European Tour and making his one and only hole-in-one at the age of 15 - a long time ago now!

Elliott is currently playing:

Driver: Titleist TSR4

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Ball: Srixon Z Star XV

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Slow Play Still a Popular Topic After the Masters, But Still Without Solutions

• Author: Alex Miceli

HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. — Brooks Koepka didn’t win the Masters last week for many reasons, but one that resonates with players, fans and media alike is the slow play exhibited on Sunday .

The first three rounds were slow, but Sunday’s final round of just 53 players in 27 twosomes—in fine weather—was problematic as some players had to wait and, for Koepka, the wait was a problem.

“The group in front of us was brutally slow,” Koepka said after his final round. “Jon (Rahm) went to the bathroom like seven times during the round, and we were still waiting.”

The group: Patrick Cantlay and Viktor Hovland .

While Hovland may or may not be slow, it was Cantlay who has received most of the criticism from social media.

“I mean, we finished the first hole, and the group in front of us was on the second tee when we walked up to the second tee, and we waited all day on pretty much every shot,” Cantlay said during his press conference at the RBC Heritage. “We waited in 15 fairway, we waited in 18 fairway. I imagine it was slow for everyone.”

Jordan Spieth was once the target of slow-play criticism, but made a point to speed up.

Erick W. Rasco/Sports Illustrated

Maybe not for everyone. Jordan Spieth was 10 shots off the lead starting on Sunday’s final round but his pairing saw little if any slowdown, so why does one group have a fluid round and another has one as slow as if it was playing in maple syrup?

Could it have to do with being in contention versus not or is it inherently that some players are slow and some are not?

Spieth was not always a fast player and when he was becoming labeled with the slow-player moniker, he knew he needed to change as peer pressure made the difference.

“I didn't think it helped me personally,” Spieth said. “But also, I didn't like having that attached to my name. And people do not want to play with me because I was slow. And so I've tried to speed up and have sped up quite a bit since then, and I think that that's something guys should try to do.”

Spieth acknowledges that at Augusta, where you must aim outside of the hole on three- and four-footers, that process takes more time.

Which in turn can slow down play.

Gary Woodland points to features like Aimpoint and the lack of extensive green books as potential issues contributing to slow play.

Aimpoint issues are clear, as it may or may not be a better way to putt but inherently takes more time—and time is the true measure of a slow player.

When the USGA and R&A banned green-reading books, the bodies believed that the essential part of the skill of putting would return.

How Aimpoint does not spit on "essential" is unclear.

“I think it's almost slowed things down because now guys are trying to do it on their own,” Woodland said of the ban. “Which is probably a good thing for the game of golf, but it's just taking more time.”

It seems like a balancing act, finding systems or products that speed up play, but it's a problem when those are looked upon as unfair or not following the essence of golf.

Fines or eventually penalties are the usual way to address slow play, but they're not used enough by rules officials.

“They've obviously talked about a lot of time putting 10 slowest guys up on the board in the locker room, blah, blah. The end of the day, you penalize somebody, nobody wants to get a shot out here, especially when you're playing for how much we're playing for and everything,” Woodland said. “I believe that's the only way to do it. I don't know how else you do it. But I think it's a problem. And I'm not smart enough to figure it out. But I'm looking from the outside and I think penalized is the only way to speed it up.”

As a member of the Player Advisory Council, Cantlay has access to data about slow play that has not been made public.

That data, according to Cantlay, shows that rounds have taken about the same length of time over the last 10 or 20 years.

And while the hole locations, green slopes and wind all lend themselves to slower play at a venue like Augusta National, it ultimately it comes down to one thing.

“I think that's just the nature of playing professional golf,” Cantlay said. “Where every shot matters so much.” 

Ryan Spino, our Executive Editor since January 2022, has been instrumental in shaping The Golf Mine. His vision, backed by a Golf Management MBA and extensive editorial expertise, has expanded our coverage, ensuring that every article upholds our commitment to quality and accuracy in the golfing realm.

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Editors' Roundtable

On Patrick Cantlay, shot clocks and golf's slow-play problem

Kevin C. Cox

There was no shortage of viewers the past two weeks in professional golf. The Masters is annually the most-watched golf event of the year , and the RBC Heritage boasted a loaded field thanks to the tournament receiving the PGA Tour's new "designated" status. However, extra eyeballs means extra scrutiny, as the past two weeks have heightened a recurring complaint with the game: The golf is too darn slow.

That is a key word, “recurring,” for slow-play complaints are nothing new. Yet, the past year of civil war in the professional game has allowed for any and every aspect of the PGA Tour to be evaluated, and one of LIV Golf’s sells to the public is that its product is not as time-consuming as the traditional game. Our Golf Digest editors take a look at the issue and give their thoughts on the matter.

Slow play has been an issue forever. So are recent bouts just a coincidence or sign of a bigger problem?

The problem is metastasizing. Look at the number of early season PGA Tour events in which Thursday and Friday rounds could not be completed even though there were no weather delays. That never happened 10-15 years ago. Everyone has become a tortoise. — Dave Shedloski

It's very hard to know how "bad" the issue has gotten lately. If you believe Patrick Cantlay , the data shows the total time for an average round is staying about the same. Then again, somewhat anecdotally, you see all these stats about how the tour can't get through two rounds of play in two days. In fact, it feels like a lot of this debate is lacking hard numbers, and we're relying mostly on fan experience, like the misery of watching someone stand over a four-foot putt for a full minute, or the sense of slowness on Sunday at Augusta. I do wonder if there's an element of fan culture that demands a more brisk pace, due to shorter attention spans or whatever, and you can see this reflected in things like baseball's new pitch clock or the serve clock in tennis. — Shane Ryan

Remember the 2019 Northern Trust and the slow-play complaints about Bryson DeChambeau, which ultimately led to the Brooks-Bryson feud? Ah, simpler times. The problem—and make no mistake, it is a problem—may not be any worse now than it was then, but it’s certainly not gotten any better. However, I do think other sports embracing ways to speed up their games while golf has stayed pat has amplified the optics of slow play, which is why the complaints may be sounding louder in volume than in the past. — Joel Beall

More From Golf Digest

Patrick Cantlay is bearing the brunt of the slow-play criticism. Is it warranted?

Yes, it's warranted. And yes, the reaction is also a little over-the-top. Though in some ways that goes with the territory. Cantlay is far from the only slower-than-average player on tour, but he's also one of golf's very best players. Top players get more air time and thus more scrutiny. Top players get into contention more, which tends to make them go slower. It's all combined to make him a kind of symbol for a very real issue in golf, which isn't fair to Cantlay. He's an example of a product of the system, not the cause of it. — Luke Kerr-Dineen

On one hand, Cantlay probably doesn't deserve the current level of opprobrium. And the fact that he does heavily reflects the fact that he's so good—if he wasn't in position at Augusta and Hilton Head to be on TV so often on the weekend, nobody would realize how slow he was playing. On the other hand, he is extremely slow, it's no fun to watch, and I think it's more frustration than cruelty driving the criticism. Also, I don't buy the "it's not his fault, it's the system's fault" argument. Sure, he's doing what is allowed under the rules, but just like a Big Ten college basketball coach encouraging his team to play an ugly, physical game that results in final scores in the 40s and 50s, being "within the rules" doesn't excuse someone from contributing to the aesthetic diminishment of his sport. And part of encouraging change, for better or worse, means calling out individual performances. Cantlay has to wear this one. — SR

Someone has to be the poster child. Cantlay is as good a candidate as anyone. Sunday's final group brought into sharp relief how slow Cantlay can play paired with Jordan Spieth, who isn't fast but is faster than Cantlay, and Matt Fitzpatrick whose process should be part of an instructional video for junior golfers. Fitz, the U.S. Open champion, knows how to pull the trigger with little or no delay when it's his turn, and his victory at Harbour Town proves that a deliberate method isn't needed to win. — DS

Cantlay is as painfully slow as a kidney stone, and that he’s not apologetic about his pace doesn’t help. But this is also selective outrage; Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods were slow, and Jordan Spieth is no road runner. If fans like the player in question, there’s a bit of latitude allowed, and unfortunately for Cantlay, he’s not in that echelon of popularity to receive such leniency. — JB

Major League Baseball introduced a shot clock this season to speed up play. Should the PGA Tour consider a similar implementation?

The DP World Tour tried this at a tournament in 2018 and it was considered a unqualified success. Why was it just a one-off experiment? By the way, technically, a shot clock already exists. It's just not something the public sees, and but there is little penalty for violating it. The real question is, should a shot clock with hard and fast policing and penalties be instituted? Easy answer is yes. But, of course, this is a complicated issue. — DS

I'm skeptical of the shot clock in golf because I can't wrap my head around when the clock would literally start. Every pre-shot routine is slightly different, and there's a teeing-order in golf that isn't there in baseball. Plus there's the whole walking-between-shots issue, and the fact that some players have bad holes, which will naturally slow things up. The pitch clock works in baseball, but golf will need to find its own unique solution. — LKD

Pitchers are adjusting to the pitch clock, and baseball is more fun to watch. Tennis players adjusted to the serve clock, and now if a match takes five hours, it's because it's an epic fight, not because Djokovic is taking a minute between serves. In short, yes, assessing serious penalties and implementing a shot clock so it's not some vague subjective judgment is the way to fix this. That said, at a time when the tour is catering to its stars because they fear LIV defections, good luck getting them to implement something that potentially annoys those stars! — SR

Shot clock aside, what can the tour do to speed up pace of play?

Adopt the AJGA's system for its junior golfers, which has figured this out through a system of checkpoints, color-coded warnings and penalties. It's also a system most of these players have played under before. No need to reinvent the wheel here; we're asking players to play golf a tiny bit faster—and there's already a proven system that does that. — LKD

Fire all sports psychologists who convinced golf professionals that they have to institute a "process" before they can hit a shot. Granted, it wouldn't hurt if they stopped tricking up the setups to combat distance and simply cut the rough, stopped putting pins three feet from edges and slowed down the greens a bit. But in the end, too many players have been convinced that a deliberate pre-shot routine is mandatory to hit a quality shot. If that were true, slow play wouldn't be a problem, because it would be all fairways and greens all the time and everyone would fly around the course. — DS

The tour could release wild dogs to chase slow players, or maybe shoot the offending players with a mild tranquilizer dart that makes golf slightly more difficult for an hour or so. In all seriousness, no, a shot clock and real-deal penalties are pretty much the only way to solve this. Half-measures won't do it, because unless there are real stakes, the slow players aren't going to change. — SR

I would like to revisit the wild dogs suggestion, as it would finally put to rest the “Are golfers athletes?” debate. … That said, I do think there’s something to green speed and pin location being at the heart of this. When we followed DeChambeau around the 2019 Tour Championship to see why his rounds were taking so long, putting was the main culprit. Fix this element—less severe pin spots, slower green speed—and the issue may be alleviated entirely. — JB

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Titleist ProV1 for slower swing speed

By craniac76 July 26, 2013 in Golf Balls

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I know ProV1 balls are commonly used by PGA Tour players. Those players have an amazingly very fast swing speed above 110 Mph. But does the ball fit to slower driver hitter like me? My driver swing speed is around 93 to 96 Mph.

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[quote name='craniac76' timestamp='1374879530' post='7546570'] I know ProV1 balls are commonly used by PGA Tour players. Those players have an amazingly very fast swing speed above 110 Mph. But does the ball fit to slower driver hitter like me? My driver swing speed is around 93 to 96 Mph. [/quote] Yes, absolutely, without a doubt. You have more than enough club head speed. Give them a go, you will love the control on approach and short game shots. I will bet you will not notice any difference in length off the tee.

Ping Rapture V2 Ping G15, four wood Callaway X hot pro 20* hybrid Ping G25 - 4 to PW Callaway X tour 50*' 54* & 58* Scotty newport

Fourmyle of Ceres

I use them all the time with my 90mph (absolute max) clubhead speed. They fly just as far as any ball on the market, hard or soft, and they spin just enough to not bounce forward with a 7-iron nor spin backward with a wedge. Excellent performing ball for "our" type of swing.

A ball has no idea what your swing speed is. If you swing 90 mph and hit it square it will do as good as any ball made. Same with the Pro vIX. The balls have just a little slight differences. Little different feel. Both the best balls money can buy.

GilmoreHappy

It depends. If you pick the ball instead of trapping it, you probably wont get as much spin. The way you strike the ball makes a difference.

If you pick the ball hitting an e6 you'll get less spin than trapping the ball hitting an e6. Likewise for a Pro V1 or any other ball. For any given swing, any given club, any given weather and course conditions a "Tour" ball will consistently spin more than a low-spin "high handicapper" ball. Regardless of clubhead speed, handicap or any other non-sequitur than the marketers through into the equation. The people who need cheaper, lower-spin balls are not high handicapper. Nor are they people will low clubhead speed. They are people who want a) a cheaper ball and/or b) a ball that does not spin. Compression is a red herring, it is RELATED to spin performance but the spin performance is the thing that matters, regardless of the number that shows up on a compression tester. Buy the ball that fits your budget and that spins the way you like. Same for a +2 handicapper who hits it 300 yards as a 22 handicapper who hits it 180. There are balls for (almost) every budget that spin a lot, spin a little or spin somewhere in between. And they all go about the same distance on a well-struck shot. And none of them is going to magically make you banana slice go straight (for that you need a little Vaseline on the driver face).

I played Friday night (late in the day). Long story short I got to hit a lot of balls on the course. ProV1 was 5-7 yards off the driver shorter than Velocity and So-Lo.No comparison in feel. No comparison in spin/feel around greens. You want raw distance and 5,7,even 10yds matters that much then get a true distance ball. If you want less expensive there are many choices. You want feel, control, spin and consistency then you want ProV1 or ProV1x. I will say this. If you slice ProVs will only exaggerate that slice. Hey, the ball don't swing the lumber.Not being an a**, but if you loose a lot of balls ProVs might not be for you. They are very expensive. I use the 'practice' ones quite a bit. Wish the 2013s would show up, but they don't make them on purpose. LOL.

inthefairway

The Prov1 is also commonly used by non PGA Tour members and your swing speed is like many that use the prov1 and enjoy it. Give it a try and I believe that you will really enjoy it!!!!!

I have an 80mph or less swing speed and I play the ProV1 as suggested to me by the pro at my local shop. Best advice i've gotten in awhile. I always went for the lower compression balls thinking I needed them with my swing speed, but the ProV1 is as far as any of the lower compression or distance balls I have tried. The difference is that I can actually get this ball to stop on the green where a distance ball bounces over the green because of the lack of spin.

I'm a woman wih a driver ss around 85mph. ProV1s feel good off of all of my clubs and I love them around the greens. I try other balls often, but come back to these and I love the 2013 version. They are more durable than the last version. I like Callway Blacks too, especially around the greens as they just stop dead for me, but a solid wedge will cut them.

PING G425 9º Driver w/Mitsubishi C6 Red PING G25 3W & 2 Hybrid 17º Epon AF-302 4i-PW w/ TT XP 95 Miura K Grind 52º (TT XP 95), 56º & 64º (TT DG Spinner) Bettinardi Tour Stock BB34

I don't want to say the Prov 1/1x is the best ball in the market right now and will continue to be so for the foreseeable future...but they are, sorry - (btw i ain't a fanboy, sort of...) point being, everyone has different priorities especially slower swing players, me included. some courses i just want the ball to go straight and long. i don't care about anything else, i rather be hitting an 8-iron than a 7-iron into a tucked pin. More often than not the Wilson Duo seems to fit that bill and yes these balls do go further than a Pro V1, by 3 - 5 yrds i venture...Most course that allow you to spray the ball typically have flatter greens, shorter/less penal rough, so once again the pro v1 short game spin advantage vs a duo is not going to be that different. rather than trying to fit the ball to your swing speed, do a quick analysis of what is more important to you and consider the trade offs. but more critical, consider what type of courses you play. at my home course, i have to use something like a Prov 1x or Zstar XV because a non urethan ball just doesn't cut it, especially when i am hitting into tier greens or tricky pins, i need the extra control and consistency that these "tour" balls provide.

Taking a lesson the other day. I ask my pro ( who is NOT a Titleist staffer) "do you think I should go to another ball now that my ss is slower?" (88-90). It wasn't that he said "Why?" It was the way he said it. Then he asked me, " is 5,6,7 yards really that important to you?" I've tried a lot of balls and in the end I always end up back with the ProV. Straight, dependable shots that land softly are way more important than distance.Hell, I've hit range balls further than some so called 'distance' balls. I've said this before,no offense, if you're budget conscious there are better values. ( although Prov 'practice balls' are around $26.00), If you loose a lot of balls, well, $4.00 a pop is tough to swallow. If you think a ProV is not for you, won't help your game you need to try one. Seriously.

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Moscow City Golf Club

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Phone: +7 495 921-28-55 , Fax: +7 499 147-62-52

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2024 Masters predictions: Nine trends from the last decade to help pick this year's green jacket winner

Augusta national is the only course to host a major every season, which is a relevant factor in a predictive model.

It's here and it's beautiful. The 88th Masters has arrived with 89 players beginning the week dreaming of slipping on the green jacket. These aspirations are still alive and well before the first tee shot is hit at Augusta National Golf Club, the annual host for the year's first major championship.

Unlike the PGA Championship, U.S. Open and The Open, the Masters returns to the same venue each year. While there are some small tweaks to the course here and there, the core of Augusta National has stood the test of time with those who have solved the riddle once before generally having the answers year after year.

It's why Phil Mickelson, without a semblance of form, finished runner-up to Jon Rahm in last year's tournament at 52 years old. It's why his final-round 65 was the best final round of his Masters career in his ... *checks notes* ... 30th appearance. It's why old-timers like Fred Couples and Tom Watson have also made early charges in their 50s. It's why you can never rule anyone out at first glance.

Course knowledge is required, but it is just one part of this equation. While the ghosts of past Masters champions pop up on the leaderboard every now and then, only those truly comfortable with all facets of their game will have the staying power to see it through until Sunday evening. A player doesn't just fall into winning the green jacket (just ask Dustin Johnson), he often trends towards it and peaks at the precise right time (you can also ask Johnson about this).

Watch all four rounds of the 2024 Masters starting Thursday with  Masters Live  as we follow the best golfers in the world through Augusta National with  Featured Groups , check in at the famed  Amen Corner  and see leaders round the turn on  holes 15 & 16 . Watch live on  CBSSports.com , the  CBS Sports App  and  Paramount+ .

Let's take a look back at the 10 most recent winners of the Masters and identify what trends exist as we attempt to whittle down the field of 89  players to pinpoint this year's champion.

1. What's your age again?

It has been 38 years since a 46-year-old Jack Nicklaus donned his sixth green jacket and captured the last of his 18 major championships. Nicklaus became the oldest winner in tournament history with the win. Over the last 10 years, the average age of the winner has been a shade under 31 even with champions like Dustin Johnson (36), Sergio Garcia (37) and Tiger Woods (43). Since Johnson's win in 2020, the last three winners have all been under the age of 30. Mickelson threatened last season with his runner-up finish, but it is safe to assume that if you're over the age of 46, you probably aren't winning.

Eliminated: Fred Couples, Zach Johnson, Phil Mickelson, Tiger Woods, Vijay Singh, Mike Weir, José María Olazábal

2. Maybe  don't  remember your first time

Only three players have ever won the Masters in their first attempts: Horton Smith in the first Masters, Gene Sarazen in 1935 and Fuzzy Zoeller in 1979. While a debutant has not won in 45 years, there have been a number of close calls in recent memory with Jordan Spieth (2014), Sungjae Im (2020) and Will Zalatoris (2021) threatening. With such a large class and names like Wyndham Clark and Ludvig Åberg trending, there is a chance this streak comes to and end this year. But, until then …  

Eliminated : Wyndham Clark, Ludvig Åberg, Akshay Bhatia, Nicolai Højgaard, Austin Eckroat, Eric Cole, Denny McCarthy, Stephan Jaeger, Jake Knapp, Nick Dunlap, Peter Malnati, Grayson Murray, Matthieu Pavon, Adam Schenk, Ryo Hisatsune, Lee Hodges, Santiago de la Fuente (a), Christo Lamprecht (a), Neal Shipley (a), Jasper Stubbs (a)

3. It's a steady climb

They say Augusta National is an acquired taste. One may not understand the nuances the first or second time around, but once there is a game plan, all that's left on the table is execution. Seven of the last 10 Masters champions had at least one top-five finish in their Masters careers before donning the green jacket with all 10 having previously collected a top-40 result.  

Eliminated:  Max Homa, Cameron Davis, Kurt Kitayama, Adrian Meronk, Erik van Rooyen

4. What have you done for me lately?

Each green jacket winner since 2014 has notched a top-15 finish on the PGA Tour or DP World Tour in a stroke-play event over the calendar year leading up to the Masters. Seven of those had already entered the winner's circle on the year -- see Rahm in 2023, Scheffler in 2022, Johnson in 2020 and Spieth in 2015 -- while eight had found a spot on the podium in the form of a top-three result. We'll use that same top-15 cutoff point for LIV Golf events as well.  

Eliminated: Rickie Fowler, Stewart Hagestad (a), Viktor Hovland, Tom Kim, Camilo Villegas, Bubba Watson, Danny Willett, Gary Woodland

5. Major-championship pedigree

There have been a number of first-time major winners who have broken through at Augusta, but none have come without some prior experience on a comparable stage. Eight of the 10 most recent Masters champions had at least a major runner-up result already to their name with all 10 having a T6 finish or better. In the year prior to winning, four of the last 10 collected a runner-up finish in a major championship while nine had a top-15 finish. 

Eliminated:  Byeong Hun An, Sam Burns, Ryan Fox, Adam Hadwin, Si Woo Kim, Taylor Moore, Joaquin Niemann, J.T. Poston, Nick Taylor, Sahith Theegala

And just like that, we have eliminated 50 players … 

6. Let's get technical 

Strokes-gained data can be a beautiful thing. In the calendar year leading up to their respective Masters coronations, all 10 champions were averaging at least +0.67 strokes gained per round with the mean of the group coming in at a whopping +2.17. Only four players in the world are currently averaging more than +2.00. 

It was not Rahm (+2.75), Scheffler (+2.50) nor Spieth (+2.38) who boasted the most impressive metrics ahead of their victories, rather it was Watson (+3.02) and Johnson (+3.91) who eclipsed the three-stroke hurdle. A couple past Masters champions and one major name will unfortunately be leaving us here.

Eliminated: Keegan Bradley, Thorbjørn Olesen, Luke List, Min Woo Lee, Sungjae Im, Sepp Straka, Justin Rose, Charl Schwartzel, Patrick Reed, Brooks Koepka

7. Speak softly and carry a big stick

Off-the-tee numbers are the most predictive indicator of success in the world of golf; the best golfers in the world currently are the best drivers of the ball in the game. The same rings true at Augusta where the last 10 winners were averaging at least +0.60 strokes gained off the tee per round in the calendar year of their victory. Patrick Reed was the low man of this group with +0.14 strokes gained off the tee per round, which will allow a couple names to slip by. 

Eliminated: Lucas Glover, Brian Harman, Tyrrell Hatton, Cameron Smith

8. Iron it out

Augusta National caters to some of the best iron players in the world (like Woods). Over the last three months, Scheffler has been the best in this category (+1.57 strokes gained approach per round), while a number of big names have struggled with their scoring clubs. The past 10 winners were averaging a minimum of +0.40 strokes gained approach per round -- a bar some historically strong approach players haven't come close to sniffing.

Eliminated:  Collin Morikawa, Emiliano Grillo, Harris English, Matt Fitzpatrick, Russell Henley, Jason Day, Jordan Spieth, Tommy Fleetwood, Patrick Cantlay, Jon Rahm, Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau

Who will win the 2024 Masters, and which longshots will stun the golfing world?  Visit SportsLine now to see the projected leaderboard, all from the model that's nailed 10 golf majors, including last year's Masters and Open Championship .

9. There needs to be a Plan B

Stuff hits the fan during major championships, and the Masters is no different. More times than not, there will be some sort of turbulence over the course of 72 holes, and a player's short game will be tested. Whether it was Scheffler's chip-in on No. 3 in the final round of 2022 or Danny Willett's up-and-down on the 71st hole in 2016, an around-the-green presence is required in some shape or form. This is where some popular names simply fall short of the +0.20 strokes gained around the green clip from the prior 10 winners. 

Eliminated:  Rory McIlroy, Shane Lowry, Will Zalatoris, Cameron Young, Corey Conners, Adam Scott

So where does that leave us?

From a field of 89 golfers, only seven — Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele, Hideki Matsuyama, Justin Thomas, Tony Finau, Chris Kirk and Sergio Garcia — remain. I'll admit that I am very surprised by a few of these!

Scheffler, Schauffele and Matsuyama were always going to be shoo-ins; you probably don't need me telling you that. Thomas is interesting in that he will have a brand-new caddie on the bag and most of his good play came earlier in the year, similar to Kirk winning at Kapalua in the PGA Tour's season opener. Finau is finding his groove and Garcia just lost in his second playoff of the year on LIV Golf, but neither has been super reliable with the putter.

Let's just put it this way: If you gave me a fair price on Scheffler, Schauffele and Matsuyama versus the field, you'd have my attention.

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PGA Tour pros hit the ugliest – and prettiest – shots you'll see Sunday at 2024 Valspar Championship

W ithin 30 minutes during the final round at the 2024 Valspar Championship a pair of PGA Tour players hit the best and worst shots you'll see from professionals.

First up was Robby Shelton.

Coming off his best season as a professional in 2023, the 28-year-old has been slow to start in 2024 and entered the week off a pair of missed cuts. He played his way to the weekend at Innisbrook Resort's Copperhead Course in Palm Harbor, Florida, and on Sunday hit a shot he won't soon forget. Shelton made an albatross on the par-5 14th hole after he sunk his approach from 258 yards out in the fairway.

This thing was a laser-guided missile destined to find the hole.

https://twitter.com/PGATOUR/status/1771965658072219679

And then there was Peter Malnati, who has made headlines in recent weeks for his thoughts on the future of the PGA Tour and his touching reason for why he uses a yellow golf ball . In contention for his second win on Tour and first since 2015, Malnati found the fairway and pulled a hybrid from the bag for his second shot on the par-5 5th hole. With 291 yards to the cup, Malnati hit one of the uglier non-shanks you'll see from a pro. You can't quite call it a top because the ball somehow still went 172 yards, but he sure didn't catch it clean.

Even the broadcasters were confused about what they had just seen.

https://twitter.com/PGATOUR/status/1771972418925432978

Professional golfers: sometimes they do the unthinkable and other times they're just like us amateurs.

This article originally appeared on Golfweek: PGA Tour pros hit the ugliest – and prettiest – shots you'll see Sunday at 2024 Valspar Championship

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Guest Essay

The Most Famous Golfer at the Masters Is Black. Why Aren’t There More Players Like Him?

By Peter May

Mr. May is a former sportswriter for The Times and The Boston Globe and the author of “Changing the Course: How Charlie Sifford and Stanley Mosk Integrated the PGA.”

When the Masters Tournament commenced on Thursday, featuring 89 competitors, there was exactly one Black golfer in the field: the one we all know, Tiger Woods. Beyond that, the field for the 88th Masters didn’t look all that different from the previous 87.

This is not what Charles Sifford envisioned when he and Stanley Mosk, the attorney general of California, fought to integrate the Professional Golfers’ Association of America. Sifford, who is often referred to as the Jackie Robinson of golf, became the first Black P.G.A. member in 1964 after a decades-long fight to join the organization that had, for much of its history, stated in its charter that it would admit only golfers “of the Caucasian race.”

Sifford blazed a trail for talented Black golfers such as Lee Elder, Calvin Peete, Jim Dent, Jim Thorpe and, of course, Woods. But 60 years later, their stories of success are still exceptions. The P.G.A. remains woefully inaccessible to Black golfers and has made only marginal and inadequate efforts to diversify its ranks. According to Golf Digest, fewer than 1 percent of the P.G.A.’s 29,000 members are Black. The P.G.A.’s tournaments and its professional golf shops need to take concrete steps to look more like the America they purport to represent.

In 2014 the P.G.A. identified diversity and inclusion as “foundational principles” but, in practical terms, that has meant little more than the occasional golf camp or clinic at a public course in a Black neighborhood. The P.G.A. recently partnered with the Advocates Professional Golf Association, which was founded in 2010 to diversify the game, and together they will host 18 tournaments this year. But the P.G.A. must do more to lead the way in action and by example, promoting inclusion at every level. Until private country clubs, elite prep schools and Division I golf programs actively recruit and train Black golfers, Sifford’s legacy will remain unfulfilled, and the game will continue to be dominated by white players.

For the decades that Sifford and other Black golfers fought to become P.G.A. members, they dealt with bigotry, death threats and countless humiliations while simply trying to play golf with and against the best players of the era. Because the P.G.A. had explicitly codified racial discrimination in its bylaws, Black golfers not only couldn’t compete as PGA Tour members; they also couldn’t find jobs in P.G.A.-affiliated pro shops — which, until the 1950s, had been the traditional route golfers took to join the P.G.A. The P.G.A. continually thwarted the efforts of Black golfers, abetted by star players who failed to speak up for inclusion.

The battle to integrate professional golf stalled until Mosk, enraged by Sifford’s exclusion from the P.G.A., threatened to sue the association to prevent it from holding its segregated tournaments in California. Several other state attorneys joined Mosk in the fight, and their resolve forced the P.G.A. to eliminate the Caucasians-only clause. The removal of what Mosk called “this obnoxious restriction” paved the way for Sifford to become a full-time member.

But Sifford’s breakthrough did not open the gates to Black players. Fifteen years after Robinson broke baseball’s color line, Black players represented over 10 percent of Major League Baseball rosters. Yet decades after Sifford’s breakthrough there were still only a few of Black golfers on the pro tour. The Masters waited an unforgivable 41 years from its inception before inviting a Black player to participate, when Elder broke the color barrier in 1975. Even after Sifford won two PGA Tour events, the Masters refused to invite him to its tournament. Sifford never set foot on the grounds of Augusta National Golf Club.

Little has changed. The 2022 Masters featured just three Black players , which was a record high for the tournament. There were no Black golfers last year in the United States Open, and this year’s Masters features only Woods — who has publicly credited Sifford with making his career possible, calling him “the grandpa I never had,” and named his son Charlie in Sifford’s honor. But Woods, who is 48 and oft injured, can no longer play a full schedule, which means there are only two Black golfers today who play professionally with any regularity. One is Cameron Champ, a three-time PGA Tour winner. The other, Harold Varner III, is no longer a member of the P.G.A., having joined the Saudi-backed LIV tour.

There are currently efforts to promote diversity in golf, such as the Charlie Sifford Memorial Exemption at the Genesis Invitational, which sets aside a spot in the tournament for a golfer of color every year. Why not introduce such an exemption at every P.G.A. tournament? The P.G.A. should also be funding more programs to develop young Black golfers, as well as interest in golf among Black athletes. This year, the basketball star Stephen Curry — who funded the revival of the golf program at the historically Black Howard University — will be honored at the World Golf Hall of Fame induction ceremony with the Charlie Sifford Award for advancing diversity in golf. The P.G.A. should follow Curry’s lead.

Sifford lived long enough to see significant change in the world. He saw Woods become the dominant player in golf. He saw other sports integrated in ways that once seemed unthinkable, including baseball in 1947 and, later, tennis with the rise of Arthur Ashe and Althea Gibson and the emergence of Venus and Serena Williams. In 2004, Sifford became the first Black person inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame and, in 2014, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Barack Obama.

But when Sifford died in 2015 at age 92, he had yet to see a truly integrated P.G.A. Were he alive today, he’d still be waiting.

Peter May is a former sportswriter for The Times and The Boston Globe and the author of “Changing the Course: How Charlie Sifford and Stanley Mosk Integrated the PGA.”

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Corales Puntacana Championship, Round 1: How to watch, live scores, tee times, TV times

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Round 1 of the Corales Puntacana Championship gets underway Thursday from Puntacana Resort & Club’s Corales Golf Course. The Full-Field Additional Event is played alongside the RBC Heritage. Nicolai Højgaard headlines the field a week after his strong showing at the Masters.

Here's everything you need to know to follow the action.

HOW TO FOLLOW (all times ET)

Television:

• Thursday-Friday: 8-10 a.m. (Golf Channel)
• Saturday-Sunday: 3-5 p.m. (Golf Channel)

Special programming alerts:

• Sunday: 2-3 p.m. on CBS

Monday qualifiers

Inside the Field

Purse breakdown