RYDER CUP SCOT HITS OUT AT THE SNAIL'S PACE PLAYERS

 STEPHEN GALLACHER SAYS SLOW 

PLAY IN GOLF IS AKIN TO CHEATING

FROM TODAY'S SCOTTISH DAILY EXPRESS
By JOCK MacVICAR
Stephen Gallacher is calling for a crackdown on slow play in golf.
Only 24 hours after world No 1 Rory McIlroy hit out at the pace of some players, Gallacher tore into those who are risking turning the game into an almighty yawn.

"Certain forms of slow play are tantamount to cheating," said Gallacher before he was made an honorary member of the PGA at the Scottish Region's annual luncheon in Glasgow.
"Guys who know they are slow and get fined all the time but don't do anything about it are putting people off.
"They are certainly putting viewers off. The bit I think that  is akin to cheating is their two paces - when they speed up once they have been put on the clock.
"On the pro tour, you have to make it ruthless and say that slow play is a one-shot penalty. You can't have a monetary thing. In cricket, if a player doesn't meet his over-rate, he's out of a game. We could do that.
"In golf, if you incur two-shot penalties for slow play, you are suspended next week and it might be the Open."
Gallacher continued:
"Apparently the European Tour committee guys talk about slow play every week - but nothing happens.  If you have a field of 156 and somebody hits two provisionals off the first tee early doors, it has a knock-on effect on the pace of play.
"They guy who waits until everybody plays adds about 10min to a round. These days some guys are never ready to play their next shot. The guy who plays third can slow everything up.
"By the time he gets to play, he's not even got his glove on yet. As you get older, you learn. I go out with my mates and go round in 2 1/2 hr. We are always read to play, with the glove on.
"Some guys on the Tour still have to get the glove on and get the yardage books out and you think: 'Are you kidding?'
"Look at putting. Everybody looks at the putt from one side but the third guy in the group hasn't looked and ends up looking at it from four different sides.
"Fields of 156 players don't help. The slightest delay and for the guys at the end of the field, the round can't be completed until early next morning."