PGA TOUR to begin publishing speed-of-play statistics in 2025

The PGA TOUR will begin publishing select speed-of-play statistics on its digital channels later this year, PGA TOUR Commissioner Jay Monahan announced Tuesday at THE PLAYERS Championship.

The specific statistics that will be published remains to be determined, but the decision comes on the recommendation of a player-led group on speed of play. It is a move that will provide further information and transparency around one of golf’s most debated topics and another example of the TOUR’s Fan Forward initiative spurring the organization to further evolve based on fan feedback.

The recommendation also has been supported by the PGA TOUR Board of Directors and Player Advisory Council in recent meetings, Monahan said Tuesday. Additionally, pace-of-play transparency has been a point of emphasis in fan feedback gathered through the TOUR’s Fan Forward initiative – a data-driven, audience-centric approach to delivering what fans want.

“We're listening to our fans and we're responding, and clearly this is something where they would like to see improve,” Monahan said Tuesday. “It's easy to identify the problem. It's a little bit harder to find the solution, just given the depth and breadth of everything that goes into pace of play. But we are committed to finding the right solutions and making progress on that front.”

Public pace-of-play information will provide fans further information about the competition, providing context of how players adjust to various shots and conditions at different points in a tournament, said Billy Schroder, the PGA TOUR’s senior vice president competitions special projects. The information will identify the fastest players and highlight the intricacies of movement across the course, as well as other insights.

Players asked Tuesday about the decision also hope that public-facing data will hold players accountable for their speed of play.

“I think (pace-of-play information) should be released. I don't know why you wouldn't want it to be released,” Collin Morikawa said Tuesday. “I think after talking to some guys, I think you just have to start stroking guys and giving guys actual penalties, whether it be strokes or FedExCup. What is there to hide, right? If you're slow, you know you're slow. I mean, if you don't know, then there's an issue. To me, there's no issue with letting it out. … It's only going to make things better because then you're either going to have a target on you, put a little more pressure and hopefully you pick it up.”

Publishing of speed-of-play statistics was among three central recommendations announced Tuesday from the player-led Speed of Play Working Group. A new speed-of-play policy will be tested on the Korn Ferry Tour, beginning at the LECOM Suncoast Classic and running through the entirety of the season, as well as for the entirety of the PGA TOUR Americas' season.

Under the new policy, players will receive a one-stroke penalty for a bad time and a two-stroke penalty for a second bad time. Additionally, distance-measuring devices will be allowed at the six PGA TOUR events between the Masters and PGA Championship, as well as three consecutive Korn Ferry Tour events (the LECOM Suncoast Classic, Veritex Bank Championship and PGA Riviera Maya Championship). Distance-measuring devices are already permitted on PGA TOUR Americas and PGA TOUR Champions.

“It's just finding the fine line of improving it and making sure that it's improvement that's needed, while not jeopardizing the game,” Justin Thomas added. “Nobody wants to be known as (slow). I mean, I'm the first to admit I mean I'm on the slow side of players. It bothers me, but I've talked to many officials about it, like I want to know why I'm slow because obviously the first thing that any slower player thinks is that they're not slow. … But as long as we’re making strides, then I’m for anything.”

Pace-of-play statistics will be treated as competitive statistics, Schroder said, in line with the approach of other major professional sports leagues that publicize information like fouls, errors and penalties.

“What we’re looking into is to find a better way and a data-driven way to tell a more complete narrative about competitive-related pace of play statistics,” Schroder said. “The NFL can find out who is the most penalized player, or a player who had the most errors in baseball. Other sports are much more transparent with all competitive-related data, not just certain competitive data.”

The specific statistics for publication will be determined later, Schroder said, in conjunction with the PGA TOUR Player Advisory Council and Subcommittees. The launch date is to be determined as well.

“People have been talking about publishing pace-of-play statistics for as long as I can remember, and we still have work with the technology itself, and delivering more live statistics, so it’s not like just flipping a switch,” Schroder said. “We have a lot of work to do in that, but we also have more work to do in designing what the stats look like and how they tie in performance and how they tie in the golf course, and what exactly it is that we would be publishing. I can’t say what the end statistic is going to look like. Could it be average shot times? Yes, if we decide to go down that road. But there a lot of other ways of which to publish this data that we need to flush out.”