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Adam Scott believes the new rules have made the sport a “laughingstock;” Happy to be a martyr in the fight against slow play
The modernized rules of golf have come under fire from a number of Tour professionals already this year, and Adam Scott is the latest man to join the list of disgruntled pros unhappy with the changes.
Speaking to the New York Times, Scott criticized the USGA and R&A’s rule changes, saying “They’ve just written more gray areas into the game that were not necessary.” The Australian singled out the new drop rule which forces players to drop from knee height as opposed to shoulder height, a rule which will make Scott think twice before taking a drop in 2019 without the consultation of his caddie or a rules official, in fear of violating the new regulation.
Another rule change which Scott discussed was the ability that players now have of leaving the flag-stick in the hole while putting – a rule which Scott believes will change the art of putting entirely.
“To be honest it almost changes the whole aim of the game. It’s to hit the pin, not hole the putt. It takes speed out of your head so much. It even takes some reading of the green out.”
For Scott, officials are changing too much too fast causing detriment to the sport which he believes is now becoming the object of ridicule.
“We haven’t had a lot of changes in golf in the history of the game, and we’ve had a lot recently — rules changing weekly in some cases — and it’s crazy. I think we’re becoming the laughingstock.”
The former Masters champ recently spoke to the PGA Tour’s chief of tournaments and competitions Andy Pazder, who he told that he was willing to be penalized for slow play if it would help fellow professionals speed up. Concerning slow play, Scott believes the lack of penalties enforced, as well as the absence of financial ramifications, is at the core of one of golfs biggest issues.
“Make me the victim. I’ll take the penalty. The only way it’s going to work is if you enforce it. There’s a big media fuss, a big feeling that we play slow, and we do, but the tour is an entertainment business and a big money maker for a lot of people. Until sponsors and TV tell the commissioner you guys play too slow and we’re not putting money up, it’s a waste of time talking about because it’s not going to change.”
Scott, who is in the field this week at the Genesis Open, further emphasised his frustration at the lack of action concerning slow play in the game, stating
“We’ve seen too many years, too much complaining about it. And zero action about it.”
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This week last year, I found myself praying to the weather goddesses and gods that Rochester would be spared their wrath over the next seven days. The 2023 Oak Hill PGA Championship (that was slated for August when the contract was signed) was on the horizon, and I wanted my region to show well. Things turned out fine, with all four seasons making an appearance, a PGA Professional (Blockie!) stealing hearts, and a proven champion in Koepka (although I was pulling for Viktor.)
This year, no concerns. Louisville will shine this week at Valhalla, but we’ve matters to consider before we look to four days of coverage this week. Nelly did not win on the LPGA this week, so who did? The PGA Tour held two events in the Carolinas, and Tour Champions celebrated a major event in Alabama. Four noteworthy events to run down, so let’s head to RunDownTown and take care of business.
LPGA @ Founders Cup: Rose blooms
There was a sense that Rose Zhang might have a role in the 2020s version of the LPGA. After winning everything there was in amateur golf, she came out and won her first tournament as a professional. That was last May and, let’s be honest, who among us thought it would take 12 months for Zhang to win again? Rhymes with hero, I know.
This week in New Jersey, eyes were on Nelly Korda, as she made a run at a sixth consecutive win on the LPGA circuit. Korda ran out of gas on Saturday, and that was just fine. Madelene Sagstrom and Zhang had turned the soiree at Upper Montclair into a battle of birdies. Gabriela Ruffels came third at nine-under par. No one else reached double digits under par but Sagstrom and Zhang. They didn’t just reach -10…they more than doubled it.
Sagstrom had the look of a winner with five holes left to play. She was three shots clear of Zhang, at 23-under par. The Swede played her closing quintet in plus-one, finishing at 22-deep, 13 shots ahead of Ruffels. That performance we’d anticipated from Zhang? It happened on Sunday. She closed with four birdies in five holes to snatch victory number two, by two shots. Spring is a lovely time for a Rose in bloom.
Take a look back at hole No. 1… @rosezhang is living life on the edge ? pic.twitter.com/o6z6SK7TRA
— LPGA (@LPGA) May 12, 2024
PGA Tour @ Wells Fargo: Rory the Fourth is crowned in Charlotte
Xander Schauffele is a likable lad. He has an Olympic gold medal on his shelf, and a few PGA Tour titles to his credit. Even X knows that even par won’t get much done in a final round unless conditions are brutal. They weren’t brutal at Quail Hollow on Sunday. X posted even par on day four. It kept him ahead of third-place finisher Byeong Hun An but gave him zero chance of challenging for the title.
Paired with Xander in round four was the King of Quail, Rory McIlroy. The Northern Irishman had previously won thrice at the North Carolina track, and he was champing at the bit to gain some momentum on the road to Louisville. While Xander scored increasingly worse along the week (64-67-70-71) McIlroy saved his best round for the final round. Thanks to five birdies and two eagles, McIlroy ran away with the event, winning his fourth Wells Fargo by five over Schauffele.
HOLE-OUT EAGLE FOR RORY!!!
He now leads by SIX! pic.twitter.com/UE49lwfwNC
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) May 12, 2024
PGA Tour @ Myrtle Beach Classic: a little CG won the inaugural week
It always seemed odd that the PGA Tour had zero stops along the Grand Strand each season. This week’s event seemed odd in that the golfers played the same course each day, and there were zero handicaps involved. Most events at Myrtle Beach involve hundreds of amateurs at dozens of courses, with all sorts of handicaps.
The Dunes Club is a Robert Trent Jones Sr. course, down toward Pawley’s Island. It claims what used to be considered an unreachable, par-five hole, the watery 13th. Nothing is unreachable any longer, including a 22-under par total for a six-shot win. Chris Gotterup, a former Rutgers and Oklahoma golfer, played sizzling golf all week and won by a sextet of shots. Gotterup opened with 66, then improved to 64 on Friday. His Saturday 65 sounded a beacon of “come get me,” and his closing 67 ensured that second place was the only thing up for grabs.
Chasing the podium’s second level were a bunch of young Americans. In the end, Alastair Docherty and Davis Thompson reached 16-deep, thanks to rounds of 64 and 68 on Sunday. They held off six golfers at 15-under par. The victory was Gotterup’s first on tour and should be enough to get him a Wikipedia page, among other plaudits.
Leader by SIX!
@ChrisGotterup | @MyrtleBeachC pic.twitter.com/TVdA6ZPYc4— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) May 12, 2024
PGA Tour Champions @ Regions Traditions: Vindication for Dougie
Doug Barron, if I recall correctly, was suspended by the Powers That Be, way back in 2009, for testosterone. He was naturally low in the hormone, so he took supplements. This did not sit well with certain admins, so he was put on the shelf for 18 months. Not cool.
In 2019, Barron came out on the Tour Champions. He won in August. The next year, despite the craziness of Covid, he won again. Barron hit a dry spell for a few years. He kept his card, but accrued no additional victories. In late April, Barron showed serious signs of life, with a t2 at Mitsubishi. This week in Birmingham, he jumped out to a lead, lost it, then gained it back on Saturday. With major championship glory on the line, Barron brought the train into the station with 68 on Sunday.
Stephen Alker, the man who could not lose just two years ago, gave serious chase with a closing 63. He moved up 11 slots, into solo 2nd on Sunday. He finished two shots back of the champion. Two shots ain’t much. Cough once and you drop a pair. Third place saw a three-way tie, including last year’s winner (Steve Stricker) and runner-up (Ernie Els.) Despite the intimidating presence of the game’s greats, however, Doug Barron had more than enough of everything this week, and he has a third Tour Champions title to show off.
At the @RegionsTrad, all champions receive a green bike.
Doug Barron decided to take a victory lap ? pic.twitter.com/bEzENMjZwv
— PGA TOUR Champions (@ChampionsTour) May 13, 2024
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Editor’s note: This is an excerpt from a piece our Andrew Tursky originally wrote for PGATour.com’s Equipment Report. Head over there for the full article.
The timing of Lowry’s putter changeup was curious: Was he just using a Spider putter because he was paired with McIlroy, who’s been using a Spider Tour X head throughout 2024? Was Lowry just being festive because it’s the Zurich Classic, and he wanted to match his teammate? Did McIlroy let Lowry try his putter, and he liked it so much he actually switched into it?
Well, as it turns out, McIlroy’s only influence was inspiring Lowry to make more putts.
When asked if McIlroy had an influence on the putter switch, Lowry had this to say: “No, it’s actually a different putter than what he uses. Maybe there was more pressure there because I needed to hole some more putts if we wanted to win,” he said with a laugh.
To Lowry’s point, McIlroy plays the Tour X model, whereas Lowry switched into the Tour Z model, which has a sleeker shape in comparison, and the two sole weights of the club are more towards the face.
Lowry’s Spider Tour Z has a white True Path Alignment channel on the crown of his putter, which is reminiscent of Lowry’s former 2-ball designs, thus helping to provide a comfort factor despite the departure from his norm. Instead of a double-bend hosel, which Lowry used in his 2-ball putters, his new Spider Tour Z is designed with a short slant neck.
“I’ve been struggling on the greens, and I just needed something with a fresh look,” Lowry told GolfWRX.com on Wednesday at the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship. “It has a different neck on it, as well, so it moves a bit differently, but it’s similar. It has a white line on the back of it [like my 2-ball], and it’s a mallet style. So it’s not too drastic of a change.
“I just picked it up on the putting green and I liked the look of it, so I was like, ‘Let’s give it a go.’”
Read the rest of the piece over at PGATour.com.
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Tommy Fleetwood has been attached to his Odyssey White Hot Pro #3 putter for years now. However, this week at the Wells Fargo Championship, we did spot him testing a new putter that is very different, yet somewhat similar, to his current gamer.
This new putter is a TaylorMade Spider Tour X head but with a brand new neck we haven’t seen on a Spider before. A flow neck is attached to the Spider head and gives the putter about a 1/2 shaft offset. This style neck will usually increase the toe hang of the putter and we can guess it gets the putter close to his White Hot Pro #3.
Another interesting design is that lack of TaylorMade’s True Path alignment on the top of the putter. Instead of the large white center stripe, Tommy’s Spider just has a very short white site line milled into it. As with his Odyssey, Tommy seems to be a fan of soft inserts and this Spider prototype looks to have the TPU Pure Roll insert with 45° grooves for immediate topspin and less hopping and skidding.
The sole is interesting as well in that the rear weights don’t look to be interchangeable and are recessed deep into the ports. This setup could be used to push the CG forward in the putter for a more blade-like feel during the stroke, like TaylorMade did with the Spider X Proto Scottie Scheffler tested out.
Tommy’s putter is finished off with an older Super Stroke Mid Slim 2.0 grip in blue and white. The Mid Slim was designed to fit in between the Ultra Slim 1.0 and the Slim 3.0 that was a popular grip on tour.
- Check out the rest of our photos from the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
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Grizz01
Feb 16, 2019 at 7:36 pm
I concur to some degree. I think tournament play they should have to take the pin out. For everyday players, especially on the weekends. If you want to leave the pin in, leave it in with no penalty. Speed up play, and use that score for your handicap.
Scott Ivlow
Feb 22, 2019 at 11:48 am
The problem with your tournament play argument is what qualifies as a tournament? But a dumb rule change having 2 different rules makes make no sense. If a a pro player wants to leave it in they should be allowed to do it under the USGA rule. There is no single advantage to making a putt with the pin the hole. Just because a player might aim at the flag there is no guarantee that the ball will go into the hole anyway. Leaving it a golfer will still be making a risk of hitting it and not go in the whole.
Greg Marthaler
Feb 15, 2019 at 3:29 pm
Dropping from the knee and putting with the flagstick in don’t improve pace of play. The way to speed up play is to institute ready golf, ban the yardage/green books, use lasers. Eliminate pros calling in rules officials simply to make a drop. If a player is slow (JB Holmes, Ben Crane) assess them a 2 shot penalty. The warning comes on the 1st tee, before the round starts.
Sparky
Feb 15, 2019 at 1:25 pm
Where were all the complainers during the rule review period? USGA gave us a ton of time and explicitly invited comments. Quityer bitchin.
In a year everyone will be used to it and we’ll be fine. Jeez.
YouAreWrong
Feb 15, 2019 at 12:32 pm
100% spot on.
Church!
John Barrett
Feb 15, 2019 at 12:25 pm
Watching reruns of the wonderful world of golf, I noticed way back during those times that the pros like Byron Nelson on longer puts, putt with the pin in. So I don’t know what the big hoopala is regarding the USGA going back to this rule. Dropping from the height of the knee, means that the ball will less likely move more than the allotted distance from the point of contact with the ground and therefore eliminating multiple drops plus dropping from the knee will less likely result in a bad lie because a ball will drop with less speed and more likely quickly come to rest.
James Flynn
Feb 15, 2019 at 12:14 pm
When a stroke difference could be worth 500k, I’d take my time too.
Matt
Feb 14, 2019 at 7:23 pm
Adam Scott is my favorite golfer and he is way off the mark on this.
JohnnyNight
Feb 14, 2019 at 5:01 pm
OMG..!! LOL..!! For Adam Scott, the golferwho used a telephone pole for a putter to call anything in golf a disgrace is THE JOKE OF THE CENTURY..!! The guy made the sport look like an activity for the weak and weak minded as he attempted to hole out 6 inch putts with his TELEPHONE POLE..!! And this from what appeared to be the most physically fit man on the tour…
Deano
Feb 14, 2019 at 5:05 pm
“Telephone pole for a putter” – nailed it.
And couldn’t agree more. I laughed out loud reading his comments. He’s an embarrassment.
Travis
Feb 14, 2019 at 5:07 pm
You’re an idiot please never post again.
Fah Q
Feb 15, 2019 at 3:26 am
You too
BernieMadoff
Feb 15, 2019 at 7:57 pm
You too.
ChipNRun
Feb 14, 2019 at 1:50 pm
——————
Quoting OBESITY
“Golf is the perfect vehicle to fight obesity by making everybody walk who can, except for those who are truly handicapped and have a license indicating so.”
——————
Some golf courses are set up so most people use pull carts; only a handful of riding carts.
But, you must realize that for some golf is a sport among others. One guy I know also works out at the gym and runs in charity 10Ks. He says that golf is recreation – he takes a cart because he gets his workout elsewhere.
And licensing the old and handicapped? That is great optics for a sport which talks about being “more inclusive.” It’s bad enough golf has done away for anchored putting, which a lot of seniors with back trouble sorely miss.
As for LAUGHINGSTOCK? Let’s not forget about learning curve. Whenever you change the processes of an activity like golf, it takes people awhile to get used to it.
Here in the Midwest, traffic circles – as opposed to t-crossing streets with stop signs – have been around more than a decade. But, some people claim they still find them confusing.
When things change, even if you can show benefits of the change, you always encounter some who oppose it. After a year or two, I suspect we’ll see a retweak of new golf rules points that didn’t work out well. We’ll have to wait and see.
Brian
Feb 14, 2019 at 1:27 pm
Please educate me, but I thought the drop rule meant you could drop it from as low as knee height…not that you had to drop it from knee height.
Travis
Feb 14, 2019 at 5:08 pm
I’m 99% sure it’s knee height and dropping it from higher can result in a penalty. The rule SHOULD be drop it from minimum knee height to maximum shoulder height and be done with it.
KS
Feb 14, 2019 at 9:48 pm
Gee i too thought the new meant to lessen the penalty of dropping, where the knee height is the minimum.
Tartan Golf Travel
Feb 14, 2019 at 11:14 pm
It’s at knee height. Not above or below. Another silly rule brought to you by the morons at the USGA
Scott Ivlow
Feb 22, 2019 at 12:07 pm
I get why people on here hate new knee height ball drop. Like they never seen a golf tournament where a pro drops a ball at shoulder height and the ball rolls from the drop spot both times and then watch the player place the ball. So from knee height the ball has a far less chance of rolling from the drop and still has a random placement than a player’s preffered position like say your standing next a divet or anything doesn’t offer the best lie. Having a placement of a golf ball just gives the golfer the potential to a spot that offers the best lie.
Jordan
Feb 14, 2019 at 1:08 pm
Crossfield recently played with a few of the euro pros. Some tested leaving pin in and felt that it penalized you more than taking it out.
So unless Adam has done testing to back his claim, or some independent body proves that flag in really is statistically a benefit. There isn’t a problem with it.
Shooter McGavin
Feb 16, 2019 at 11:17 pm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mc90UbpJbuM
It is of benefit.
Obesity
Feb 14, 2019 at 12:27 pm
Obesity.
The USGA and the PGA and all the Tours around the world should get together to fight obesity and get rid of carts/buggies.
Know why they won’t?
They’re afraid the courses will lose money and the industry will shrink to half what it is, because they know people are lazy.
Carts slow down play more often than people think, as bad, lazy players don’t even know etiquette.
So that’s another problem they should add to the slow play list, if they want to get serious about making it faster for the amateurs.
Golf is the perfect vehicle to fight obesity by making everybody walk who can, except for those who are truly handicapped and have a license indicating so.
Tom
Feb 14, 2019 at 1:19 pm
I grew up walking 18 holes and playing in less than 2 and a half hours, (with nobody holding us up)….I now often play in a cart (due to bad knees) and play in less than 2 and a half hours (if not held up)….it has nothing to do with carts, it has everything to do with the player!
Obesity
Feb 14, 2019 at 1:22 pm
Your course must be really short and have nobody playing on it.
Liar
Feb 14, 2019 at 11:10 pm
You never walked 18 holes and played in 2.5 hours. NEVER. IF you did, you were playing a par 3 course. I hate idiots that exaggerate for the sake of I’m not sure why. My group is as fast as any players around. All sub par handicaps and we can play in just under 3 hours, RIDING…and that’s flying! I bet people that know you don’t like you.
84425
Feb 15, 2019 at 1:59 pm
Nonsense! I’ve played/walked 18 in under two hours (ok, by myself), but even a three ball should be able to play/walk in less than 3 hours.
Brian
Feb 14, 2019 at 1:31 pm
A round of golf already takes 4+ hours to play when riding a cart. That’s just want I want to do every Saturday and Sunday in the dead middle of 90+ July days…stand in the middle of a golf course for 6+ hours.
If Carts slow the game down, why is my foursome constantly playing through groups of walkers on the weekends?
Steve Shapard
Feb 15, 2019 at 1:22 pm
Agreed. It is the golfer, not the cart. Same golfers in carts can play a much faster round than walking if speed of play is the point. The point being, the same golfers and same level of play. That is also assuming that the cart riders do so correctly and efficiently.
Drives me CRAZY to see guys in their carts sit on their butts, drive from one guys ball, hit it, and then drive to the other players ball, find and hit it.
Not THAT truly does slow the game down and is slower than walking. Unfortunately you see that happen all the time,
Brian
Feb 14, 2019 at 3:08 pm
If I show up to a course and it’s CPO, I almost always get back in the car and go somewhere else.
I walk all the time and frequently play in groups that have carts. I keep up just fine. Straight lines are the fastest way from A to B.
tgk
Feb 15, 2019 at 2:02 pm
77 years old, would love to walk a course but spinal arthritis forces me to ride. Also, the majority of higher end public and semi private courses are designed to use power carts as walking from greens to tees can take 5-10 minutes and many courses need the revenue from cart fees to survive.
Grizz01
Feb 16, 2019 at 7:43 pm
If you can out bench me and out squat me, I’ll start walking. (I know you can’t, I’m in the 99.5%.)
So get to the gym and start strength training… be a real man.
MacAttack
Feb 14, 2019 at 12:07 pm
Watching the guys bend over for a “drop” is a complete joke and if you let these guys putt with the flags in you’re going to see 56-57 in the near future. It’s too easy to make the average pro putt like Tiger from 6-8 feet for par. I find the changes disgraceful.
GARYT
Feb 14, 2019 at 11:36 am
So putting with the flag in is a bad thing yet Adam putts with the flag in
Travis
Feb 14, 2019 at 5:10 pm
Because he knows it’s a distinct advantage that can make him more money. He’s admitting it makes the game easier so when millions upon millions of dollars are on the line then why would he not take advantage of it? He’s just also pointing out that it makes the game look stupid as an aside.
People forget PGA Tour players are only out there to make money. Their lives are not guaranteed. It’s week to week. They have opinions on how the game should be run but priority #1 is their own paycheck and livelihood.
Billy B
Feb 14, 2019 at 10:39 am
The guy that needed the crutch of an anchored putter is complaining about a flag stick “changing the art of putting”. Funny
John O
Feb 14, 2019 at 10:31 am
The exactly knee high drop thing is stupid. Obviously it should have been “no lower than knee height” or just place the damn thing. Pro golfers should still be putting with the flag out – leaving it in should be a shortcut to simplify and speed things up for amateurs.
15th Club
Feb 14, 2019 at 11:18 am
Do you not understand why “no lower than knee height” wouldn’t work? I can tell you. It would allow players to game the process by dropping from as high as they could reach, to cause a dropped ball to bounce and possibly roll to a place were a re-drop, and then a second re-drop, would ultimately lead to the player being able to place it.
The knee height is an easy, sensible compromise to (1) arrange a drop that has some randomness to it, to create a natural lie and (2) reduce (while admittedly not eliminate) the necessity of re-drops when a ball bounds away from the drop point in an unallowable direction or to an unallowable location.
Thanks for asking.
Now; as to golf being made a “laughingstock.” I don’t think so; but nobody is contributing more to golf’s problems than the Tours and touring professionals. The Tour pros on the Ladies tours were the ones going psychopathic with caddies lining them up. The Tour pros were teaching all television viewers what golf looks like at a glacial pace. The Tour pros created the business of green-reading books.
Tour pros: You want to see a “laughingstock”? Look in a mirror. Or just turn on Golf Channel.
Troysii
Feb 15, 2019 at 4:59 am
Why not just make it hip height. Stand up straight, hold arm slightly away from body
15th Club
Feb 15, 2019 at 8:27 am
Because they wanted it lower; for the reasons I suggested. To make drops from a lower height, so as to reduce the number of times that balls drop and bounce or roll into impermissible positions.
What I cannot understand is what is the problem with knee height, in a game where you place a ball on a tee 18 times, and pick a ball up out of the hole 18 times?
I’ve seen the videos where people are trying to mock the Rule, and I don’t get it. They all seem completely ignorant of the point of the Rule change. (They most likely never understood it to begin with; they would have created very different kinds of video demonstrations if they had been serious about attempting to rebut the USGA’s reasoning.)
Doug
Feb 18, 2019 at 9:01 am
Agreed.
Dropping is an art in my opinion. With the old rule, whenever possible, I would try to drop in a spot that would purposely roll too far outside the required area so as to get to place the ball after two failed drop attempts. Of course, it was not always possible to achieve success if the drop area was not ideal. Flat areas made it less likely to happen. So, I would then look for the most ideal place to drop so that the bounce gave me a good chance to get a better lie. But dropping from shoulder height made that outcome more difficult. Now, dropping from knee height can make your chances of getting a decent lie better, but there are still no guarantees, while at the same time, limiting the chances the ball will roll outside the drop zone. The rule is written to address both situations. And it does, regardless of how some people think it looks.
If it were the reverse and the rule had always been as it is now and was then changed to drop from shoulder height, the whole golfing world would be up in arms over that. Everyone would be whining that they can’t get decent lies without getting lucky, or that it takes too long to drop twice, when you know full well that the ball won’t stay where you drop it, giving you the option to place it.
Nobody likes change. Me neither. However, in this case, the drop rule may not initially seem better for pace of play or benefit to a player’s lie, but it is. No matter how funny and awkward it may look.
And when the USGA changes the rule to allow for removing the ball from old divots in the fairway with free relief, I will support that one too. Bet you won’t see too many complaints about that one, except from those who just like to complain for the sake of complaining.
Generally, I think the USGA can be a bit dictatorial and/or overbearing. They may be necessary for high-level amateur and Pro competition, but are certainly not in touch with the average public golfer. I’d characterize them as oblivious to our needs most of the time. So, I am not a big supporter of them. But somebody has to make rules, whether we agree or not. In this case though, I am happy with the new drop rule.