"PR isn't the PGA Tour's specialty" - Michael S Kim takes a jibe at tour officials over proposed pace of play rules

PGA Tour player Michael S Kim shared his feelings about tour officials this week, in a conversation regarding the new Pace of Play proposals. The Player Advisory Council has recently put forth a number of changes to address slow play from players.

The proposed new Pace of Play policy would include more time allowance, fewer fines, and revised stroke time calculations. Further, it has been proposed that the fines related to timing violations during Majors be revoked. The Rules Committee has also proposed increasing fines for the 10 slowest players under the Average Stroke Time policy to $50,000.

Kim took a jibe after a fan on X highlighted that the proposed changes would allow players more time and lower fines. The golf fan used several laughing emojis alongside.

In response to the post, Kim said players are unlikely to change their pre-shot routines. He said,

"Promise you, no player on tour sees this and is adjusting their pre shot routine for better or worse."

The fan agreed with Kim's comment and said that the new proposals were a mistake, even if they were intended to improve the public image of the Tour. Responding to this, Kim agreed and wrote:

"PR isn't the pgatour's specialty unfortunately haha"

As per the proposed new Pace of Play rules, players with excessive average stroke time will be fined, starting with $5,000 for the third violation and $10,000 for the next one.

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Michael Kim "doesn't love the changes" but acknowledges feeling "threatened" by Tour's new proposals

The changes proposed by the Player Advisory Council to the PGA Tour include a reduction in the field size of various tournaments. As per the proposed changes, tournaments having 156 players would be reduced to 144 players while the 144-player fields would be changed to 120 players.

Further, the exempt status for PGA Tour players would be reduced from 125 to 100. Conditional status would be given to players ranked from 100 to 125 in the FedExCup rankings.

Talking about the proposed changes, Michael S Kim wrote on X:

"To be honest, I don’t love the changes but that’s probably because I feel threatened by the number of cards going down from 125 to 100. It’s my job to improve and continue to get better and make sure I’m not in the situation I am this yr."

However, Kim said that the change is "needed" as slow play has caused many people problems. He said:

"But if I’m looking at it objectively, it was needed. I’m a real believer that our slow play problem is a traffic/too many people problem more so than an actual slow play problem. Getting the field sizes down is a crucial part of that."

Kim said that the newly proposed changes have given the Korn Ferry Tour players a more fair chance to compete on the PGA Tour.

The PAC suggested changes will be reviewed by the PGA TOUR Policy Board on November 18. A Korn Ferry Tour PAC will also review the proposed changes and will suggest any required changes by December. Any changes, if approved, will come into effect from 2026.