LIV Golf takes indirect JAB at PGA Tour for slow play following suspension of WM Phoenix Open Round 1
LIV Golf seemingly took a dig at their rivals PGA Tour over slow play as they highlighted completing their first round in under five hours.
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PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan has a huge problem to fix (Image via Imago)
On Thursday, one of the most popular events of the PGA Tour kicked off. The 2025 edition of the Waste Management Phoenix Open at the TPC Scottdale in Arizona got underway. The first round though was left in completed as the play was suspended. Their rivals LIV Golf now seem to have taken an indirect jab at them.
In recent weeks, the PGA Tour has been under fire regarding “slow play”. The issue once again came up when commentator Dottie Pepper had a strong reaction to the slow play at the 2025 Farmers Insurance Open.
During the event at the Torrey Pines course, the final group of Harry English, Andrew Novak, and Aldrich Potgieter took 5 hours and 29 minutes to complete the round.
This problem has come up once again at the WM Phoenix Open. The first round of the event was suspended at 6:13 p.m. due to darkness. This suspended play will now resume at 8:15 a.m. on Friday morning.
While the Tour had the WM Phoenix Open going on, the LIV Golf kicked started their 2025 season on Thursday. The Saudi-backed tour played under the lights in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and finished the first round after 4 hours and 24 minutes.
In a post on X, they would highlight this, thus taking an indirect swipe at their rivals, where events go beyond 5 hours.
From start to finish. ⏱️#LIVGolfRiyadh pic.twitter.com/On0ezBLVCv
— LIV Golf (@livgolf_league) February 6, 2025
LIV Golf does have some different rules though. First of all, the numbers of players in their field is significantly lower than the PGA Tour. The other major rules are their passage of play policy and the shotgun start. Golfers are required to hit their shots withing 40 seconds of their turn.
4x PGA Tour winner Charley Hoffman writes open letter to players over slow play
The slow play has become a massive problem for the PGA Tour in recent years. While the tour is trying to find ways to implement a fast passage of play, players themselves have to take some actions. 4-time PGA Tour winner Charley Hoffman recently wrote an open letter to players regarding the slow play issue.
In the open letter shared by Sean Zak of Golf.com, the 48-year-old urged his fellow tour members to step up and help in solving this issue. He also added that they need to take responsibility for their actions.
We’ve taken a lot of heat over the past few weeks about slow play. And yeah, it’s an issue-for our fans, for us as players-cutting down field sizes will help, but only by a few minutes a day. As players, we still need to make a concerted effort to speed up… We all need to take responsibility to be ready when it’s our turn to play and having the awareness to realize that we are out of position and speed up even before the rules official shows up.
Charley Hoffman wrote in an open letter
Another letter was sent to PGA Tour members this evening, now from Charley Hoffman:
— Sean Zak (@Sean_Zak) February 3, 2025
– Addresses pace of play “heat” Tour received
– critiques Aon Swing 5 implementation
– “Many of you keep saying you want to play fewer events, yet you still find time for TGL, Race to Dubai…” pic.twitter.com/cVora8Qai6
Hoffman, a 19-year-veteran on the tour, is playing in the WM Phoenix Open this week. In the first round, he shot a score of 2-over 73 and is currently T92 with one birdie and three bogeys.
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Vinay Dave
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