PGA Tour goes after pace-of-play issues with DMDs allowance in mind - Report

The PGA Tour has been dealing with slow play for quite a while now. Last year, the tour limited fields based on daylight to speed up play. While that decision received mixed reviews, it seems like the tour is now taking another initiative to speed up play.

On social media platform X, Dan Rapaport posted that the PGA Tour will be testing distance-measuring devices during competition. As per Rapaport, this is one of the many intiatives the tour is taking to address the problem at hand.

The tweet from Dan Rapaport read:

"PGA Tour says they will test allowing players to use distance-measuring devices during competition. One of a number of initiatives to try to speed up play."

You can check Dan Rapaport's tweet below:

Rapaport's tweet was met with an instant reply from two famous names in golf. For starters, Smylie Kaufman replied to the tweet and shared his opinion on the matter. Kaufman said that while this initiative by the tour could speed up play, he also wonders if it's another step into getting the correct yardage.

Like Kaufman, another influential figure who shared his opinion was PGA Tour Champions Pro Steve Flesch. In a a reply to Rapaport's tweet, Flesch wrote getting yardage isn't the problem but that failure of players to be ready when it's their turn among other aspects is the problem.

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PGA Tour pro Michael Kim once suggested a "bad idea" to solve the problem of slow play

As mentioned above, slow play has been an issue plaguing the PGA Tour, and as one can see, the tour is also taking intiatives to combat the same. Last year, PGA Tour professional Michael Kim had suggested what he believed was a "bad idea" to combat slow play.

In November 2024, Kim appeared on The Smylie Show. A video of the same was shared on social media platform X, where Kim was seen suggesting his idea to speed up play. The PGA Tour veteran suggested public shaming is the only way an issue like that could be solved. He said:

"So when you play a PGA Tour schedule, they give you your average time you have spent hitting like a tee shot, second shot, whatever. And it kind of gives you an overall average. And anyone over, you know, let's say if average on tour was 40 seconds, anyone over 42, a legitimate slow player, they have to wear a different coloured bib or like the top 10 slowest guys, their caddies wear a bib. You know, these guys are going to get heckled like crazy. So that's probably a reason why it's a bad idea. Public shaming is the only way we are going to fix some of these guys. I promise you."

Kim is one professional golfer who has spoken about the issue of slow play actively. He also tweeted that slow play isn't an issue confined to only certain individuals after the tour limited field sizes based on daylight to speed up play.