I am all for golf etiquette but in this case it has to be the right thing to do? a huge PGA tour & DP world tour player & near Ryder cup golfer walks straight of a playing partners golf ball & the back lash from fans is BIG! DP WORLD TOUR PRO RESPONDS AFTER WALKING IN FRONT OF PLAYER’S PUTT AT BMW PGA!
DP World Tour pro Pablo Larrazabal has responded after video footage went viral of him walking in front of his playing partner Robin Sciot-Siegrist putt during the BMW pga championship at Wentworth!
This is breaking news within the golf industry… i would love to know if you THINK THIS IS ACCEPTABLE?
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33 Comments
What camp are we in? Was the a good or bad move
No class unacceptable
a caddy walked across too, who gives a truck, play on whiners. Hopefully he made his putt afterwards and isn't the one whining, just viewers.
No, rude.
I think it was very bad etiquette, he could have been on the other side and got to his ball from there. Bad move in my opinion, pace be damned!
Doesn't bother me at all. How often would this happen, not going to make/break your round.
It's poor etiquette, the same thing as fellow players needing to be standing still and not making racket while a player in their group is hitting. I don't understand why the whole group is being threatened if it's primarily one player causing the slow play (i know it's a rule, but it needs to be changed). I think the player was wrong walking in his putting line while the ball was still rolling, no question.
The truth is that 90% of these guys play too slow. They do walk to their ball incredibly fast (if you don't realize this, you should attend a PGA match in person – those guys don't mess around walking to their ball from the tee shot whatsoever). BUT the whole decision-making process they go through on each shot is the primary problem. You've got BOTH the caddie and the player referencing books for yardages or whatnot, then they both sit there and ponder who-knows-what and then finally decide on a club, and then the player hits the ball. The time that THIS takes is a major problem contributing to slow play in golf. Not to mention these long bombers, with no real regard for accuracy, once they hit it a fairway or two over, round up officials from the other side of the course to tell them what to do, and then proceed to have a good lengthy discussion with THOSE guys on the ruling before going through a whole process of placing a ball somewhere that's WAY better than they deserve due to some grandstand being in their way.
But perhaps looking at the root of slow play might be a worthy endeavor: what i believe to be the PRIMARY reason for slow play — the prize purses in tournaments alone are utterly staggering. I daresay if i had a generational amount of wealth staring me in the face on a 5' putt, i'd probably be taking more time too 🙂 And maybe simplify the rule book by removing all these exceptions and making them play the ball as it lies being the primary ruling.
Slow play is a plague on the game. Thanks to Pablo for raising awareness of this scourge.
There's nothing wrong with walking across the line of the ball after it has gone past , the player watching it can't affect it after they have hit it !!!
No don’t like what he did regardless of why. If he wanted to get in there quick and see the line he should have stood on the other side of the putt so he didn’t have to walk across the line.
Suspect there was a bit of frustration kicking in there for him to do this as he’s not really a ‘nasty’ player.
Play ready golf far too much silly etiquette wasting time we play a four ball round in under 4 hours when in a society over 5 hours crazy ready golf needs pushing through
Getting any advantage like that is bordering on cheating ,its down to the officials to speed up play
NO, you cannot cross partners line. That is cheating. Speen up between greebs to tees answers the question.
Assuming he did stand behind him when he was taking the putt, I don't have an issue this. As you said, they're on the clock, so every second counts.
This is why I love Ludwig Aderg, he plays straight away, no messing around.
If you are on the clock, throw out the gentleman moves, and play ready golf.
Most golf courses have a time for around of golf us non pro's have to play to with the threat of being thrown off the course. Tour pro's should also have this time limit, if the fail then one solution could be for ever 3 minutes over time 1 shot is added to your score, thus the penalty if financial see who slow play's then.
I agree with you. Especially when on the clock, make an effort to speed up the bits that don't hurt your game: move briskly between shots, try and be ready when it's your go, basically just don't faff about with indecision.
What about the caddie walking across his line too.😂😂
I am totally against slow play. Cannot abide it. However, if he had positioned himself to the left of the putting player, he could have moved in without obscurring the putting players run out. And whose caddy walked across. He came from the left. I see this as a "I am going to speed up while you are still standing back there with your thumb up your ***" . Which I applaud because it clearly is sending a message and his caddy following his players lead. Limit practice swings on the tee box, walk quickly to your next shot with a club selection in mind, and don't fool around on the green. The best putters do not spend 3 minutes checking each putt from 6 different angles. They are studying the green as they walk up, confirm it when they line up and putt. Remember these guys have had practice rounds before the tournament starts.
Etiquette, rule number 1
Agree with this totally.. Too many players taking too long over shots, looking for balls, not playing provisionals, etc. Reduces all the enjoyment of your round once its gone over 4 and quarter hours. I know of one idiot who plays even slower when challenged 🙁
There's no rule about it, just etiquette, so it's a judgement call. It should be kept between the players. He could have told him to hold up. He didn't, so he lost out on seeing the line as the ball came to rest. Maybe he'll speak up or speed up now.
Players walk in behind, but not in front of the player, to see a putt all the time. Being a left to right breaker, I think he should have walked in from the other side, would not have obscured the players view as much.
Good move. Players walk quickly to view the break on an opponents putt all the time. Now, if he had walked in front of the ball and stepped on the line, you have an issue. But the ball had passed on the designated line, and no line was stepped on.
When does a line start to be a line and when does it stop. I always thought that walking across the line was to do with the foot prints. Did no one see the caddie walk across the line in the other direction. Reduce the fields play, one group a whole, earlier start, later finish, that will solve slow play. If slow play continues, then penalty should be first time one stroke, second time three strokes third time disqualification.
Its is not the way to speed up. You don´t block the view of the player. Even the caddie is interfering
Interesting to see one of the caddies walk across the line too – I'm all for doing away with slow play, I just don't think that there's much of an appetite for it at the higher echelons of the game.
Hmm – not sure I see the issue – I mean once the ball is hit the line is gone, it has now moved – you cannot walk across something that is not there now
Also – group penalty for slow play is one of the WORST penalties out there – I was hit with this once because of one guy in our group and I want to beat the crap out of him – cost me a top 10 finish and more than likley made me make a couple more mistakes because I was trying to hurry a few other shots
If he has a point to make about slow play (which I would agree with) why did he not get himself set up at his own ball ready to go, or walk behind the player putting
Pablo came from the wrong side. If he was on the left side and walk across, it would be fine.
Man it was so painful it was so slow especially over the 1st 2 days . Yes the 2 closing par 5s contribute, but there is no excuse for 6 hour rounds, penalties need to be invoked
SLOW PLAYERS SUCK.
I’m with you and Pablo.
Talk about a non issue, on the clock or not, Larrazabal slowly moves in to get a move on it.
The No name who hit the putt basically had a tap in left and could easily have moved a bit to the side to continue to see the line if it was so important. . Did he miss it and use that as an excuse?
Either way The fact they were a hole and a half behind, only makes him that much more of a little …. B…You can fill those gaps.
Rory is right 5 and 1/2 hours is inexcusable. Bad play or not it should not take longer than 4:20 to play competitive rounds.