Golf fans and players have been calling for slow-play penalties to be implemented, and the DP World Tour has apparently listened to them.
A young potential star was handed a costly one-stroke penalty during the first round of the BMW Australian PGA Championship in Australia on Thursday.
Denmark's Jacob Skov Olesen, the 2024 British Amateur Champion through DP World Tour Q School, makes his professional debut in the Tour's 2024-25 season opener , he was punished.
It took the 25-year-old 130 seconds to sink his approach shot into the 10th hole, well above the 40 seconds it takes for players to hit the ball.
Earlier this week, LPGA star Charley Hull said she believed “ruthless” penalties for slow play were needed.
“Listen, if you have three bad times, it's a kickoff penalty every time,” Hull said. “If you have three, your travel card will be lost immediately. I'm sure this will cause a lot of people to snap up and they don't want to lose their travel card.
“It kills the slow pace, but they'll never do that.”
Englishman Matt Fitzpatrick also took to social media this week to criticize the poor enforcement of slow play rules.
He's so right, it's sad that every year there is talk about pace of play and nothing is done 😴 https://t.co/gvFNCQHHwQ
— Matt Fitzpatrick (@MattFitz94) November 19, 2024
For the DP World Tour to enforce the tournament so quickly after many stars spoke out on the issue is likely a sign that the major tours are listening to their players.
