Latest news with #LecomSuncoastClassic
NBC Sports
04-05-2025
- Sport
- NBC Sports
Hunter Wolcott wins Tour-sanctioned event despite being first to violate new pace-of-play policy
On Friday, Hunter Wolcott became the first player under the PGA Tour Americas new pace-of-play policy to be penalized for slow play. Two days later, he's a champion. Wolcott, a 27-year-old University of Tennessee product, was leading the Diners Club Peru Open by a shot when he was penalized a stroke while putting on his 16th hole of the day at Los Inkas Golf Club in Peru. According to the PGA Tour, Wolcott took 58 seconds to hit his par putt while being second to play. Under the new policy, players who are put on the clock are permitted 40 seconds to play a stroke in that circumstance while an extra 10 seconds is allotted for certain circumstances, like being the first to putt on the green. If a player exceeds the time limit, they are given a bad time. Previously, one-shot penalties were handed out after a player's second bad time; now, it's after the first. The Korn Ferry Tour also adopted this revised policy starting with last month's Lecom Suncoast Classic, though no KFT players have violated the policy to date. Wolcott went on to finish 36 holes tied for the lead, and he said afterward that while he disagreed with the penalty, he liked the rule: 'It's pretty unfortunate. I do think the rule is good to hurry up slow players. Nothing I can do about it now, still in a good spot. Happy about my game. Adds more fuel to the fire for the weekend.' Hunter Wolcott is a Champion in Peru 🏆 It did indeed as Wolcott completed a two-shot win on Sunday for his first career win on the PGA Tour-sanctioned tour. He double-bogeyed his opening hole before righting the ship on the back nine with five birdies.
USA Today
15-04-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
PGA Tour releases update on efforts to speed up pace-of-play, starting this week
PGA Tour releases update on efforts to speed up pace-of-play, starting this week Change is coming — slowly but surely — to the PGA Tour's pace of play problem. As part of a continued commitment to address speed of play, the PGA Tour and Korn Ferry Tour will test multiple speed-of-play recommendations beginning this week. On the PGA Tour, distance-measuring devices will be permitted at six events over a four-week period, beginning at this week's RBC Heritage and Corales Puntacana Championship and continuing through the Truist Championship and ONEflight Myrtle Beach Classic (May 8-11). Meanwhile, the Korn Ferry Tour, which previously tested the use of distance-measuring devices at four tournaments in 2017, will allow the devices at three consecutive events beginning with this week's Lecom Suncoast Classic. PGA Tour Americas and PGA Tour Champions already permits the use of distance-measuring devices during competition. The use of distance-measuring devices is one of three recommendations from the Tour's player-led Speed of Play Working Group formed earlier this year, which aims to positively impact speed of play in response to survey feedback from the Tour's Fan Forward initiative. Players who elect to utilize a distance-measuring device must ensure the device measures distance only. All other features such as course mapping, club selection advice, and measuring slope, elevation and wind must be disabled before using the device during competition. The penalty for the first breach of this rule is two strokes. A second breach results in disqualification. The second recommendation from the Speed of Play Working Group is a revised Pace of Play Policy that includes assessing a one-stroke penalty for the first 'bad time,' which occurs when a player exceeds the applicable time to play a stroke while being timed. Previously, a one-stroke penalty was not applied until a player received a second 'bad time.' The Korn Ferry Tour will begin testing the revised Pace of Play Policy – which will be in effect for the remainder of the 2025 season – at this week's Lecom Suncoast Classic. PGA Tour Americas adopted the revised Pace of Play Policy prior to the start of its 2025 season. The Tour said data will be collected across the two Tours to evaluate the overall impact on pace of play, which could lead to a new Pace of Play Policy being implemented on the PGA Tour as early as 2026. The Tour previously announced a reduction in field sizes starting in 2026 to help the overall flow of play and better account for events with limited daylight. A third recommendation currently in development is the publishing of pace of play data for PGA Tour members on Tour media platforms. Details on the makeup of the data will be made available in the near future.
