PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland – After his group fell out of position Saturday at Royal Portrush, Bryson DeChambeau was timed by a rules official as he played his way down the 17th hole.
That, apparently, was just fine with him.
After his third round of The Open, DeChambeau advocated for a more stringent pace-of-play policy that would involve every player being timed on every shot, all round.
“You eventually time everybody for their whole entire round,” DeChambeau said. “Very simple. Nobody wants to do it – people are too scared to get exposed, which I am an advocate for. I’d love to be timed, and I have no problem with that.”
Playing in the sixth group off with Nathan Kimsey, DeChambeau said the duo was “struggling with pace the whole day,” even though each player carded a 68. They were eventually put on the clock after he got up-and-down from a difficult spot short and right of the par-3 16th.
DeChambeau, who has been criticized for slow play in the past, compared himself to Dustin Johnson – a player who is decisive with his full swings but much more “deliberate” on the greens. DeChambeau said he was “moving my butt as fast as I could,” but that the “greens were really tricky” and he was trying to read them correctly. Even though he found himself under the officials’ watchful eye on Saturday, he said he’d been in favor of getting timed on every shot.
Pace of play has once again become a talking point this week, particularly after Rory McIlroy’s marquee grouping in the opening round took five hours and 55 minutes to get around Royal Portrush. There were several reasons why it took that long to play – a difficult course, steady breeze, 156 players in the field, and a course layout with reachable par 5s and drivable par 4s – but DeChambeau said the issue was still “out of control.”
“That’s the way people play,” DeChambeau said. “One day, I hope we can have a better system.”
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