“Please pair him up with Cantlay!” – Fans react to Brian Harman holding up the Rory-Brooks-Hideki group with slow play at US Open 2023

Brooks Koepka had an annoying experience at the 2023 Masters when a group ahead of him played very slowly during the third and fourth rounds. He encountered the same problem at the 2023 US Open.

After playing a shot on the seventh hole, American golfer Brian Harman held up Rory McIlroy, Brooks Koepka, and Hideki Matsuyama for more than 20 minutes during the second round.

The NUCLR Golf shared the news on their Twitter account:

"Brian Harman held up the Rory, Brooks, Hideki group for 20+ minutes while he tried to get relief after he hit a poor shot. He ended up making double bogey. Brooks recently said they should ‘start stroking guys’ for slow play, maybe he’s right?"

Fans flooded the comments section, suggesting Harman should pair up with Patrick Cantlay, who drew harsh criticism for slow play at the Masters in April.

One user commented:

"Please pair him up with Cantlay!"

Another wrote:

"If they start “stroking” guys for slow play, every round will take 7 hours and everyone will be dehydrated and exhausted."

Yet someone slammed Koepka and commented he should learn etiquette playing on the golf course.

After the conclusion of the second round of the 2023 US Open, Brian Harman settled in 12th place likes with Denny McCarthy, Justin Suh, Ryutaro Nagano, Dylan Wu, Gary Woodland, and Charley Hoffman.

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“I would start stroking guys"- Brooks Koepka asked for a penalty for slow play

During the Masters, Brooks Koepka was irritated by Patrick Cantlay's slow game. He addressed the 'slow play' topic prior to the start of the 2023 PGA Championship, asking that officials should impose a stroke penalty on sluggish golfers. Koepka said:

"I mean, yeah, it's never quick. I was talking about it when I was on the PGA Tour too, so I'm not afraid to talk about it. There's a lot of guys out here that take their time. I think it is a problem. Technically in the rule book it says you have 40 seconds to hit your shot. I think that's what it is. If you are taking over, technically you're breaking the rules, right? So, I don't know."

“I would start stroking guys. If you are going to take that long, you have to get stroked. There are certain circumstances where the wind switches, something like that, it's understandable, but taking a while is I just think unnecessary,” he added.

It is pertinent to note that for the third round of the US Open, Brooks Koepka will pair up with Mackenzie Hughes and will start the game at 12:34 pm ET on the first hole while Brian Harman will start the game at 2:29 pm ET alongside Justin Suh.