After the first TGL match, New York Golf Club members were asked if any TGL rule could be realistically translated to traditional golf.
“Shot clock, no question,” Rickie Fowler said.
Two weeks later, Justin Thomas, who played his first TGL match as a member of Atlanta Drive GC, was asked if the timer could effectively and fairly be implemented on the PGA Tour.
“It's tough,” the two-time major champion said. “Look, this is my 10th year on Tour. I’ve been on the (Player Advisory Council) a lot of years. We've talked about pace of play all 10 years.
“The thing is you have to make such drastic changes for it to be noticeable. Pretty much a lot of the conversations end the same way; it’s like, what are we trying to accomplish here? Are rounds going to be 12 minutes faster? Are they going to be 20 minutes faster? It's hard to realistically make a big enough difference where people are like, ‘Wow, this is great, rounds are only three hours now or three and a half hours instead of five.’ You know what I mean? It's really hard to make that big of a change.
On Tuesday, Thomas sent a letter to Tour members, asking players to give more access to the media and its TV partners, writing “to better connect with fans and keep building on the momentum.”
Pace of play also has been a hot-button topic for many years on Tour. The final group during the final round of last week’s American Express at PGA West took over five and a half hours to finish, though they were playing in threesomes.
Speeding up the game might increase interest, but Thomas said that might be difficult to do and appears more bullish on other avenues, such as broadcast improvements, to boost viewership.
“Look, there definitely could be some things here and there that are done,” Thomas said, “but it’s also—I think there's, like, a Fan Forward survey that the Tour does with fans. They like harder golf courses, they like watching us play difficult places but they want us to play faster, so those two don't go together. You've kind of got to pick and choose your battles.
“But yeah, I guess we'll see. I’m sure we're all hopeful, but at the end of the day it’s like, ‘What are we trying to accomplish?’
As for how Thomas would like to tweak the TGL, which is three weeks into its existence, he didn’t hesitate with his answer.
“I’d probably go back in time and not watch Billy (Horschel) do the "Dirty Bird" dance if I could,” he said, “because I will never be able to get that out of my mind.”
Added Horschel: “Etched in there for life. As I said, it wasn’t going to be pretty. I was going to make a fool of myself. But it’s not the first time and won't be the last time.”
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Justin Thomas Says Shot Clock on PGA Tour Would Be Hard to Implement .