"Five hours 20? I thought that was actually pretty quick."

John Huggan on day one at the Solheim Cup, where pace of play was unprecedented.

Three of the four post-lunch matches, in fact, exceeded the prescribed -- and incredibly generous -- time of five hours and 20 minutes. It wasn't pretty but it was definitely ponderous. A huge factor in the slowness being the much-criticized need of so many players to have their caddies line them up for both full shots and putts. It is surely time for that time-consuming and often-pointless practice to be outlawed.

Still, none of the above was bothering the visiting side or captain Rosie Jones even a little. Down for most of the day in both series of matches, the Americans found their collective putting touch at just the right moments to leave the home side wondering how their lead is not at least three clear points. Pressel for one was unrepentant at the time it had taken to get around.

"Five hours 20 (in reality it was 11 minutes more)? I thought that was actually pretty quick," she said with a remarkably straight face.

Golf Channel kindly continued to cover the event even as it ran into the window of the Tour Championship. The ladies will likely not be so fortunate if they keep this up on the weekend.