Slow Play Solution: It's Time To Eliminate Playing Opportunities

I see on the Twittersphere that Kevin Na is taking a beating for his Sunday pace at Riviera, but I must say that J.B. Holmes, who played in the last group Saturday, may actually be slower. He definitely is on the greens. But that's beside the point.

The real problem at the Northern Trust Open and other West Coast events: field size in winter.

144 players start the week, and it's been years since the first round actually ended on Thursday. And the last time it happened, as luck would have it, an electronic scoreboard lit up the final green to help guys finish.

Last year at Riviera, they cut the field to 132 players because of the earlier date and shorter days. Play was faster. Not great, but faster.

This year I believe 78 made the cut. With shorter days and television demanding a certain finish time, that means threesomes on the weekend off split tees. There is no answer to this problem, except having a smaller number of players make the cut would help.

Either way, the players have proven they will not speed up voluntarily. The Commissioner has made it clear that he believes a few precedent setting two-shot penalties for slow play are unnecessary.  Therefore, as much as I hate the idea, it's become clear that field sizes must be reduced to speed up play because the players and tour leader won't otherwise do anything about it. Sad, but this is what it's come to.