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The Players Championship 2025
Venue: TPC Sawgrass Date: 13-16 Mar
Coverage: Live vigor and substance commentaries of the 3rd and 4th rounds. Follow and perceive connected the BBC Sport website, app, 5 Sports Extra and BBC Sounds from 19:30 GMT connected 15 March and from 18:00 connected 16 March
While negotiations aimed astatine reunifying men's play grind to a halt, the PGA Tour is taking steps to velocity up play.
Commissioner Jay Monahan's authorities of the national quality conference, earlier this week's Players Championship present astatine Sawgrass, made wide that eradicating dilatory play has go much of a precedence than ever earlier for a circuit that has ever indulged slowcoaches.
But this, the tour's marquee tournament, volition again beryllium played successful the shadiness of the ongoing divided brought astir by the accomplishment successful 2022 of the breakaway LIV tour.
This year's Players volition play retired successful the lack of the reigning US Open champion. Last twelvemonth the Masters victor was missing and successful 2023 determination was nary rubric defence.
This, of course, is due to the fact that Bryson DeChambeau, Jon Rahm and Cameron Smith each play connected LIV.
Their lack from the PGA Tour is felt much keenly this week than immoderate other. The aged statement arsenic to whether the Players is the 'fifth' large is nary longer applicable and volition not beryllium until the crippled reunifies.
Here we person the astir stark imperative for a woody to beryllium done with LIV's Saudi backers.
An agreement, though, is not imminent.
Monahan reiterated that nary follow-up meetings are successful the diary aft the caller White House gathering with the Saudi Public Investment Fund's politician Yasir Al Rumayyan ended without settlement.
"We admit Yasir's innovative vision," Monahan said. "And we tin spot a aboriginal wherever we invited him connected to our committee and enactment unneurotic to determination the planetary crippled forward.
"As portion of our negotiations, we judge there's country to integrate important aspects of LIV Golf into the PGA Tour platform. We're doing everything that we tin to bring the 2 sides together."
Monahan added that portion his organisation has "removed immoderate hurdles, others remain".
In different words, thing has to springiness to extremity the stalemate.
And nary substance however hard the play media tried, the commissioner flat-batted each enquiry arsenic to however that mightiness beryllium achieved.
Monahan does not play verbal 'Bazball'; each non-answer dictated by the delicate quality of golf's future.
Where helium was much forthcoming, was an acceptance - astatine agelong past - that men's nonrecreational play has a occupation with dilatory play. It seems steps are being taken wherever the biggest offenders volition commencement to beryllium named and shamed.
"We've committed to addressing the velocity of play," Monahan said arsenic helium announced moving radical recommendations that volition beryllium implemented to effort to erase 1 of the sport's biggest blights.
"We volition statesman publishing speed-of-play-related statistic aboriginal this season," helium added. From 14 April investigating volition statesman connected the PGA Tour's feeder circuits to enforce changeable penalties connected the slowest golfers.
Monahan besides confirmed that the usage of scope finders volition beryllium allowed astatine tournaments betwixt adjacent month's Masters and the US PGA Championship successful May to spot whether this improves circular times.
"We're listening to our fans and we're responding, and intelligibly this is thing wherever they would similar to spot improvement," the commissioner said.
"I deliberation there's a existent committedness from players crossed the committee to marque definite that we're doing everything that we perchance tin to improve, and these 3 steps are conscionable a start."
This is simply a marked displacement from an organisation that for decades insisted that dilatory play was not a problem. The rival LIV circuit has imposed changeable penalties connected slowcoaches and present the PGA Tour is starting to respond.
"I look astatine this arsenic a precise affirmative development," Monahan insisted.
"I deliberation it's beauteous telling that erstwhile you've got six subordinate directors that beryllium connected our boards, and you've got 16 members of our Player Advisory Council, that there's a batch of shaking of heads and there's an knowing that this is an country wherever we request to improve."
Two-time large victor Collin Morikawa says publishing information that shows which players are quicker than others, thereby identifying the slowest, is simply a bully idea.
"I don't cognize wherefore you wouldn't privation it to beryllium released," said the 2021 Open winner.
"You conscionable person to commencement giving guys existent penalties, whether it beryllium strokes oregon FedExCup (point deductions). What I've learned is that monetary fines are useless."
Morikawa added: "What is determination to hide, right? If you're slow, you cognize you're slow. I mean, if you don't know, past there's an issue.
"To me, there's nary contented with letting it out. It's lone going to marque things amended due to the fact that past you're either going to person a people connected you, enactment a small much unit and hopefully you prime it up, oregon you get penalised. It's precise simple."
Double US PGA Championship victor Justin Thomas agrees that publically revealing which players are the slowest volition person a beneficial effect.
"Nobody wants to beryllium known arsenic that," said the US Ryder Cup star.
"I'm the archetypal to admit I'm connected the dilatory broadside of players. It bothers me, but I've talked to galore officials astir it, similar I privation to cognize wherefore I'm dilatory due to the fact that evidently the archetypal happening that immoderate slower subordinate thinks is that they're not slow."
Fans volition surely invited specified long-awaited initiatives to amended gait of play connected the game's biggest tour.
But those awaiting immoderate benignant of solution that brings the crippled backmost unneurotic are inactive near playing the waiting game.
English (US)