Bryson DeChambeau shares pace-of-play solution after being put on clock at 2025 British Open

USA Today

21 hours ago

PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland — Bryson DeChambeau was put on the clock on Saturday during the third round of the 153rd British Open at Royal Portrush Golf Club. And he has an idea on how rounds at professional golf events can speed up – start timing players.
'I think it would be more fair towards everybody. If somebody is playing slower, the guy can go up to him and say, 'Hey, man, you're over par with your time.' All you do is you just time them for every single shot. He gets there and puts the bag down, and how long it takes him to hit that shot and how long it takes him to walk to the green. It's not rocket science,' he said. 'I hope there's a better system out there at some point in time.'
DeChambeau was criticized for his pace of play earlier in his PGA Tour career. Fellow LIV player Brooks Koepka took him to task for his snail-like pace. He's made strides to improve his pace. On Saturday, DeChambeau was timed on the 17th hole after hitting his tee shot.
'Understand we were struggling with pace the whole day. I was moving my butt as fast as I could. Greens were really tricky. I was trying to read them right,' DeChambeau said. 'We just kept losing time. Unfortunately on the 16-17 exchange, you've got a downhill drivable hole you can play pretty quick if you get in the right spot. They did that, and we just lost more time to the group in front of us, and they put us on the clock, which is unfortunate.'
DeChambeau blamed his pace of play on being deliberate with his putting routine.
'But when it comes to iron shots, off the tee, I'm pretty fast. It's like D.J., he's really slow on the putting greens, and then he's incredibly fast on his full swing shots, second shots into it,' DeChambeau said, citing Dustin Johnson.
DeChambeau said he believes timing players is the solution that would make the biggest difference. 'If you start penalizing individuals for consecutive over (bad times) – taking too much time. I can tell you, first two rounds it was out of control what I saw.'
With the opening two rounds at Portrush played in threesomes and threatening the six-hour mark, DeChambeau wasn't the only one to express disappointment with the pace of play at the Open.
'I do think it's ridiculous; the pace of play has been a combination of the way the golf course is, reachable par-5s and all that normal stuff. But it starts with the players as well and starts with the rules officials,' Matt Fitzpatrick said on Friday.
He declined to offer a solution, but DeChambeau pitched one that has been discussed for years.
'You time how long someone takes individually, and then you separate that from the other person playing. You start/stop on him the whole entire thing. It's one way. I'm not saying it's the answer. I'm definitely not somebody that has the most experience or knowledge on it. If somebody has a different way of monitoring it, I hope they make it.'