Matt Fitzpatrick says slow play is "like hitting your head against a brick wall", calling for referees to take more action after further criticism of Patrick Cantlay's approach at the RBC Heritage; Watch the Zurich Classic of New Orleans this week live on Sky Sports Golf
Wednesday 19 April 2023 08:05, UK
Matt Fitzpatrick has called for more action to be taken against the "appalling" slow play currently dominating discussion within golf.
The Yorkshireman's criticism of ponderous play comes after the frustration he endured while playing alongside Patrick Cantlay on his way to victory at the RBC Heritage at the weekend.
Cantlay came under fire for the second week running having been subject to backlash from Brooks Koepka for slow play during the Masters at Augusta.
"If you're in a three-ball, in my opinion you should be round in four hours, four-and-a-half absolute maximum - it's a disgrace to get anywhere near that. You're talking five hours and 15 minutes, five-and-a-half hours at some venues and its truly appalling.
"The problem is this conversation has gone on for years and years and years, and no one has ever done anything so I feel it's almost a waste of time talking about it. I have strong opinions, but no one's going to do anything about it."
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Slow play penalties are rare on the PGA Tour and DP World Tour, despite the PGA Tour introducing a Pace of Play policy in 2020 that would see players who take 45 seconds or longer to hit a shot across a 10-tournament rolling period added to an Observation List.
The threshold of 45 seconds came after ShotLink data, using a sample of 14 million shots, found that the slowest 10 per cent of players on the Tour averaged 45 seconds or more to make their next shot.
Viktor Hovland was among those notably aggrieved by Cantlay's play at Augusta, taking his third shot at the par-five 13th before his American playing partner had even reached the green.
"It's like hitting your head against a brick wall," continued Fitzpatrick. "No one ever gets penalised. I think the last person to get penalised was the young lad (Guan Tianlang) at The Masters in 2013. I think that tells you enough about where people are at with this. It's ridiculous really.
"I think it's a real issue, way more needs to be done. The thing is I really like referees over here, they are great people, but I did not see a single ref all day. There were a few shots we were waiting and I don't understand where they are all hiding. It does become frustrating when you are waiting so long."
Following his victory in South Carolina Fitzpatrick is now set to team up with his brother Alex at the Zurich Classic this weekend.
"I would say we're pretty close. I think we're polar opposites I would say. I'm organised, he's unorganised. He's happy, I'm miserable. Yeah, that's probably a good way to put it really," said Fitzpatrick.
"It's a great experience for us, for my parents. I already knew I was going to have two great weeks at Augusta and Harbour Town, two of my favourite weeks of the year, and then obviously this as an additional just makes it even better. I'm just excited to get going. I know the golf that you can play is high level, and I think if I can keep my form going and we can gel well, you never know what might happen."
Watch the Zurich Classic of New Orleans throughout the week live on Sky Sports. Live coverage begins on Thursday from 4pm via the red button on Sky Sports Golf, ahead of full coverage from 8pm.
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