Brooks Koepka will play for the first time since the CJ Cup in South Korea when he tees it up in the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship this week. Picture by GETTY IMAGES

WORLD No. 1 Brooks Koepka is keen to add a Rolex Series title to his already impressive CV, as he makes his comeback from a knee injury at this week’s Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship after missing last month’s Presidents Cup.

The four-time Major winner returns to Abu Dhabi Golf Club for the third time – having secured a top-10 finish at the venue two years ago – for the first of eight Rolex Series events on the 2020 Race to Dubai.

The American is competing for the first time in three months, after withdrawing from the Presidents Cup squad to have knee surgery.

Koepka, who claimed his his first US Open at Erin Hills in 2017, said: “These Rolex Series events are where you have more emphasis on winning. It’s what you want to win.

“The players that are playing in this event are obviously really good – some of the best players in the world. That’s why I think everyone’s here.

“You want to play in the best events you can and win them,” added Koepka, who spent three years playing on the Challenge and European Tour before earning his card on the PGA Tour with a fourth place finish in the 2014 US Open at Pinehurst.

“I love this place, it’s always fun to get back to. The golf course is really good. I feel comfortable here and hopefully play well this week, said Koepka, who claimed three wins on the Challenge Tour in 2013.

“I’m just excited to hit balls,” said Brooks, who has had to to miss nearly three months golf after damaging his kneecap at the CJ Cup, in South Korea, in October.

“In Korea I re-tore it, and the kneecap had moved into the fat pad. That’s excruciating. It’s a lot of pain. It’s not fun,” said Koepka, who first injured his knee back in March – but still managed to win his second Wannamaker Trophy at Bethpage Black, less than two months later.

He required stem cell treatment after the Tour Championship at East Lake, in August, before hurting it again on the PGA Tour’s Asian swing.

He pulled out of the trip to Australia for the Presidents Cup three weeks before the biennial event got under way – handing his spot to Rickie Fowler.

“Last year, there wasn’t much practise. I just couldn’t do it with my knee. I couldn’t get on my left side,” said the Florida State University graduate.

“Couldn’t squat down in a bunker. I struggled to get down and read a putt. Thankfully that’s in the past now.

“When you have something taken away from you, I think it makes you appreciate it more,” said Koepka, who has questioned how much respect he was shown after a run that saw him win four majors in just eight tournaments played.

While he admitted his left knee may not be as good as his right for some time still, he is raring to go having only been given the green light to hit balls just before Christmas.

“I mean, I missed competition,” said last year’s WGC FedEx St Jude Invitational winner.

“Even when I got the green light, I just didn’t know whether it was going to feel right – whether you’re going to be the same, how is it going to feel.

“I missed showing up to an event, preparing for something, because I haven’t had anything to prepare for. Having three months off, it’s not fun.”

This week’s event sees the European Tour’s new tougher regulations aimed at tackling slow play come into effect including a key revision to the four-point plan previously announced in August.

Players will be now be given an immediate one-shot penalty for two ‘bad times’ in a tournament rather than for two ‘bad times’ within a round.

Koepka was an outspoken critic of J B Holmes in particular at Riveria, last year, after the pair went head to head in the Sunday shootout, which Holmes won.

“I think it’s a good thing,” he said about the new four-point plan, which will target the “worst offenders” in terms of slow play.

“I think the game’s changing and I think the rules need to kind of change with it.

“It’s got to evolve as we evolve, the courses evolve and technology, everything like that.

“They are trying to make the game a lot simpler. We’re on our way to making it easier to understand for the fans at home, the players.

“It’s very clear-cut what’s going to happen and very clear-cut what you need to do,” said Koepka, whose last win in a regular European Tour event came in the 2014 Turkish Open.

The Florida ace, who won both the US Open and USPGA back-to-back in 2018 and 2019 respectively, is joined in the field by compatriots Bryson DeChambeau and Patrick Cantlay.

DeChambeau was also a member of Tiger Woods’ winning Presidents Cup team.

He is also targeting a maiden Rolex Series victory this week, and “The Scientist” has form in the desert after capturing his first European Tour win in Dubai last season.

DeChambeau, who has been criticised for taking too long with his very methodical pre-shot routines, is focusing on adding to his sole European Tour win in Dubai, in 2019.

“For me, having this be a Rolex Series event and having it be this important, it’s fantastic,” said DeChambeau who won four times in the States in 2018, and has recently bulked up his physique.

“Every tournament I play in, I still go in with the mind-set that I’m going to win and do my absolute best to win.

“It’s a great preparation for the rest of the year. It’s going to tell me what’s going right and what’s going wrong, and I’m going to try to bring my ‘A-game’ to every single event that I play.

“Playing globally, being a part of global golf, is definitely on my list. I want to be able to say that I can win worldwide, which I’ve done.

“Now I won last year in Dubai. I want to win multiple times, and I also want to grow the game globally.”

Cantlay determined to become player on the world stage after Fowler’s tips on Abu Dhabi

MEANWHILE, World No. 6 Patrick Cantlay is competing in his first European Tour event outside of the Majors and World Golf Championships.

The University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) graduate is also keen to build his reputation as a global player with victory in Abu Dhabi.P

Cantlay, who made his debut in America’s Presidents Cup win against Ernie Els’ International team, at Royal Melbourne, in December said: “I think it’s important to play all over the world, not only just for growing-the-game purposes.

“But I think it’s good as a golfer to see different places and get comfortable playing all over. I think that’s part of it.

“The European Tour and the PGA Tour play more of a global schedule, especially in the last decade,” added the two-time PGA Tour winner.

“I don’t think that’s going to change. I think it will continue to be more of a global game, and we see that with the World Golf Championships,” said Cantlay.

“I think it’s all good, and it’s good to play in different places and experience different cultures and see what the world is like.

“I talked to Rickie Fowler. He said he enjoyed his time here. Obviously he won – he told me how great a list of champions this place had, kind of needling me a little bit.

“I’ve heard a lot of great things about the event,” added the 27-year-old, who was on the losing USA team against Great Britain and Ireland in the 2011 Walker Cup.

Cantlay lost both his singles matches to Scotland’s Michael Stewart and Ireland’s Paul Cutler but beat Wentworth’s Steve Brown, the recent winner of the Portugal Masters, in the Saturday foursomes at Royal Aberdeen.

But his Presidents Cup debut will be more memorable after the rookie claimed three points in his five matches as the USA won 16-14 after a fightback in the Sunday singles.

•For first round tee times in the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship click here.

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European Tour chief referee John Paramor (left) and Andy McFee who led the trials of the new pace of play timing system at the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth, in September

EUROPEAN Tour players who record two bad times in a tournament – instead of in the same round – will now face an immediate one-stroke penalty, tournament chiefs announced today.

The European Tour’s new tougher regulations aimed at tackling slow play come into effect at this week’s Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship.

The beefed-up four-point plan – announced back in August – will see the worst offenders on slow play targeted by referees and hit by penalty which will affect them immediately – not with a fine implemented after the event.

The immediate one-shot penalty will be handed out for two “bad times” in a tournament – rather than for two “bad times” within a round in a key revision of the rules originally announced five months ago.

It means additional powers for referees to target slower players starting at this week’s Rolex Series event at Abu Dhabi Golf Club.

But players on the clock will get a “time out” which will allow them to notify the referee they wish to take an extra 40 seconds because of the difficulty – or special circumstances – for a particular shot.

If they are the first player to play in a group that is officially “on the clock” they will get an extra 10 seconds to play their shot, and could still request the extra 40 seconds by using the time out.

But any player wanting to use the extra time must clearly signal their intention to a referee before the initial 40-second allowance runs out.

And they can only apply the time extension to one shot in any one round of golf, the European Tour said this week.

A reduction in the time allowance for “in-position players” to play shots also comes into force this week – alongside increased fines for players who are regularly placed “on the clock” throughout the season.

The fines start at €3,500 for their first bad timing offence after their first official warning in any one season – and they rise incrementally for each subsequent offence, the European Tour has warned.

Further fines exist, depending on the number of times in total each season a player is “put on the clock.”

European Tour players have also been required to undertake an education programme since the four-point plan was announced last year.

European Tour chief referee John Paramor said: “The tougher measures which come into effect in Abu Dhabi empower our referees to more effectively target slower players.

“Changing the regulation for an immediate one-shot penalty to now be triggered by two bad times in a tournament – instead of a round – will force slower players to consistently ensure they play within timing regulations.

“This is part of our wider, robust policy to tackle slow play but our fundamental advice to all players remains consistent – they should be ready to play when it is their turn.”

The European Tour’s four-point plan, announced back in August, continues to put the European Tour at the forefront of pace of play management in the professional game.

It was introduced following a mandate from the European Tour Tournament Committee to take firmer action against slower players.

Edoardo Molinari caused a storm on social media by shaming the players dubbed the slowest on Tour by releasing a list of fines for slow play, which started a wider debate.

The new four-point plan focuses on key areas:–
•Regulation
•Education
•Innovation and
•Field sizes.

A new ‘pace of play’ timing system utilising the latest technology was tested at the BMW PGA Championship, at Wentworth, in September, with a further trial taking place in Abu Dhabi this week.

The intention is to roll the system out across a number of events in 2020, providing referees with the precise times for every group through every hole to make sure that no gaps are missed.

On-tee displays linked to the system will also provide the players instantaneous information on their position in relation to the group in front to try to avoid the chances of a one-stroke penalty being dished out.

Field sizes at fully sanctioned events will be reduced from 156 to a minimum of 144 – so long as all entered players in Category 18 (the final 116-132 on the 2019 Race to Dubai) and above make it into the tournament.

The last point will create space for referees to push groups over the Thursday and Friday rounds, while larger starting intervals will be built into play on Saturday and Sunday to create a better flow between groups.

KEY CHANGES TO PACE OF PLAY POLICY

• An immediate one-stroke penalty will now be applied on the second “bad time” in a tournament. It was originally announced in August as being applicable to a second “bad time” in a round.
• Players who exceed time limits (see below) while being monitored will now incur a bad time and it will count towards the one-stroke penalty.
• A player can call a “time extension” for any stroke ONCE in a round. This will add 40 seconds to the allowance for the stroke in question. If players wish to use this, they must make this clear to the timing referee BEFORE they exceed the allowance they have for the stroke in front of them. Referees advise a verbal call or clear signal which they will acknowledge.
• Referees have also been mandated by the Tournament Committee to focus on the players who are regularly taking too much time, even if they are ‘in-position’. The “in position” time limits have been reduced (see below). A breach of those limits will incur a “monitoring penalty” but they will NOT count towards the one-stroke penalty in a tournament, recognising the significance of being in position. A single monitoring penalty or single bad time in a season will not result in any sanction, but each one after that will incur ever-increasing fines starting at €3,500.
• The fines for the number of times players have been timed during the season have also been increased

OVERVIEW OF TIMING ALLOWANCES
Out of position
When players are out of position their time allowance is 50 seconds* for the first to play, 40 seconds* for second or third to play. A one-shot penalty will be applied after two bad times in the tournament.

In Position
The time allowed to play a shot when being monitored in position (previously double the out-of-position times above), will be reduced by 15 per cent, from 100 and 80 seconds down to 85 and 70 seconds respectively for first and second/third to play. Referees have been told to be proactive in targeting regular slow players for in-position timing.

*The existing principle of allowing an extra 10 per cent on the 40 and 50 second limits will be maintained by referees, recognising human differences can occur in starting timing. A player will be assessed a “bad time” if he has a third time after the 10 per cent allowance.

European Tour referees sit R&A rules exam

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Chief executive Keith Pelley says the European Tour has been leading the fight on slow play in the game of golf over the past four years – and intends to toughen its stance for 2020. Picture by GETTY IMAGES

EUROPEAN Tour chief executive Keith Pelley writes about the controversy over slow play on the European Tour and explains why the Tournament Committee and the board have decided to take firm action for the 2020 season.

MANY issues have affected the game of golf since I became chief executive of the European Tour – but none have been as recurrent as the topic of slow play.

It is the discussion that dominates dinner tables at tournaments and it is one of the main sources of frustration at all levels of the game. Rightly so, I might add.

While the intensity of these conversations occasionally diminishes, it is never long before it reignites, and I watched with interest the recent social media debate which flared up in the United States.

For us, the issue came to a head earlier this year when one of our senior players, Edoardo Molinari, posted on Twitter a list of players, who had received bad times and fines up to that point during the 2019 season – in a bid to “speed things up.”

I spoke to Edoardo shortly afterwards, and while I didn’t necessarily agree with his chosen method, he was entirely right to confront the problem and it prompted a discussion at the next tournament committee meeting, held at the Betfred British Masters, in May.

Thankfully, our Tournament Committee shared Edoardo’s belief that enough was enough, and they were prepared to make some hard decisions, accepting the need to be more punitive.

“We have the most aggressive monitoring policy in our sport, and we have issued shot penalties, but the past four months showed us finally that the time had arrived when players were willing to take a tough stance and we applauded that.”

European Tour chief executive Keith Pelley – on the problems of slow play

At that meeting we also determined there is a key fundamental difference between slow play and slow players – this is a key point to remember.

While we would all like to reduce overall round times, it was recognised that this can be impacted by several factors such as weather conditions and course set up, while for full field events, the sheer number of players on the course at the same time will always limit the pace of play.

Slow players, on the other hand, have become increasingly prevalent and problematic in our game in recent years – to the extent that we risk fans, both core and casual, switching off if we don’t do something about it.

The European Tour has been at the forefront of the assault on slow play for the last four years.

We have the most aggressive monitoring policy in our sport, and we have issued shot penalties.

But the past four months showed us finally that the time had arrived when players were willing to take a tough stance and we applauded that.

Slow play became a critical issue because our players wanted it to be. That moment was the door opening and the mandate we were given at May’s tournament committee meeting empowered our operations and rules team to present stronger, more robust recommendations.

We took a formal proposal back to the next Tournament Committee meeting at the Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open last month.

And following some fine tuning over the past six weeks, we yesterday publicly announced a four-point plan focusing on regulation, education, innovation and field-size reduction where appropriate.

This concrete strategy is more targeted towards slow players and more penal, including an immediate one-shot penalty for two bad times in a round and increased fines for players consistently ‘on the clock’.

I’m confident it will have a meaningful impact on combating slow play AND slow players, which is a more complex task that you might think.

Although superficially solving the pace of play conundrum would seem like an easy fix, golf’s biggest challenge remains the size of our arena, as an 18-hole golf course is equivalent to almost 90 football fields, with 156 players dotted around it.

Timing every player, on every shot, every week is a monumental, and costly, challenge.

We must also consider the complexities of policing more robust timing rules.

European Tour chief referee John Paramor and senior referee Andy McFee (right) discussed the problems of timing players with Keith Pelley

I recall our senior referee, Andy McFee, saying to me that timing is an art not a science.

He rightly posed the questions: “When do you start the clock? Is it when a player gets to the ball? When do you start timing the first player in a group?

“And how do you let them know you’ve started timing as they can’t tell unless there’s a visual clock on every single hole?”

These are all interesting points, however, I stress we are not using the challenges of the sport as an excuse not to tackle what is now golf’s biggest issue.

Another thing we have learned from studying this whole issue, is that playing slowly is habitual.

Most players aren’t taught to play the game slowly, it’s a practice they acquire, and one we have to try to reverse.

Our Shot Clock hole during the recent innovative GolfSixes Cascais in Portugal showed that players were ready and already thinking about their shots before they got to the ball.

They didn’t have the chance to second guess themselves, or overload themselves with information, and their performance benefitted as a result.

Our players have shone a spotlight on this topic and this is now the lightbulb moment for our sport.

But it is incumbent on all of us involved in golf to act.

The main Tours and four Major Championships have begun dialogue, but as the most powerful entities in global golf, we have to be united and consistent in fighting this battle if it is one we are to win. 

I do believe that with technology advancements down the road, there will come a time in the very near future when we will be able to time every player, on every shot, on every hole.

Until we are all ready from a technology perspective, our four-point plan has decisive, concrete action on how we can combat this issue right now.

•Read more about the European Tour’s four-point plan on combatting slow play here.

In 2019, there have been outbursts by Brooks Koepka who singled out J B Holmes for taking too long to play his final round of the LA Open at Riviera, while Bryson DeChambeau has also been attacked on social media for taking too long to play his shots.

The list of players who were timed for slow play by the European Tour in the first four months of 2019 released in a tweet by Edoardo Molinari condemning the problem, which Keith Pelley has taken up with the players representatives and acted upon

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The European Tour is bringing in its own four-point plan to tackle slow play in 2020 after changes to the Rules of Golf earlier this year were aimed at speeding up play.
Graphic USGA/The R&A

THE European Tour has announced a concrete four-point plan aimed at tackling the issue of slow play in professional golf.

The plan, which will be implemented at the start of the 2020 season, was approved by the European Tour’s Tournament Committee in July and fine-tuned over the past month.

It will focus on four key areas: regulation, education, innovation and field sizes.

Key to the regulation changes will be a player only having to breach the time allowances twice in a round to incur a one-shot penalty.

In addition, there will be significantly increased fines for players who are regularly placed ‘on the clock’ throughout the season, alongside reduced times for players to play shots.

European Tour chief executive Keith Pelley said: “We are already at the forefront of pace of play management in the professional game, but after being mandated by our Tournament Committee to be even firmer in dealing with this issue, the time was right to take these additional steps.

“I believe the plan we are implementing for the 2020 season will bring about meaningful change that will make golf even more enjoyable for the players and our fans, whether they are at the course in person or watching on television.”

In addition to the regulation changes, and in a bid to foster meaningful mindset change amongst players, education will also be key to the European Tour’s proactive plan.

All players will now be required to pass an interactive rules test as part of their conditions of membership, while new members will be allocated a dedicated referee to educate them on pace of play policies at the start of their European Tour career.

Technology will also be embraced with the trial of a new ‘Pace of Play’ timing system at next month’s BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth.

The system will provide referees with the precise times for every group through every hole to make sure that no gaps are missed.

In a ground-breaking development, on-tee displays linked to the system will also provide the players instantaneous information on their position in relation to the group in front.

Depending on the success of the trial of the system and future technological developments in this area, it is something that will looked to be rolled out across a significant number of tournaments on the European Tour, the Challenge Tour and the Staysure Tour in 2020 and beyond.

That will reaffirm the European Tour’s commitment to innovation, Mr Pelley added.

A European Tour spokesman added: “Finally, there will also be a commitment to reducing field sizes where possible, while remaining mindful of providing playing opportunities, as well as using larger starting intervals during the final two rounds of tournaments.”

“It’s time that professional golf does something serious for slow play…5h30min to play 18 holes on a golf course without rough is just too long…way too long! #stopslowplay”

European Tour player Edoardo Molinari on Twitter – April 26, 2019

Tournament Committee chairman David Howell said: “There is no doubt that pace of play is a hot topic in golf and as players we were keen to explore ways to address these issues in various areas.

“We have had some very interesting and robust debates in the process of agreeing the new initiatives,” added the five-time European Tour champion and two-time Ryder Cup player.

“But with a combination of education, deterrents, technology and modifications to the fields, we believe we have arrived at a set of fair and proportional measures to improve the experience for everyone involved in the game.”

The move follows Edoardo Molinari’s recent outburst naming and shaming players fined for slow play on social media.

He tweeted: “It’s time that professional golf does something serious for slow play…5h30min to play 18 holes on a golf course without rough is just too long…way too long! #stopslowplay”

The tweet by Edoardo Molinari in April which sparked the controversy of fines for slow play on the European Tour… he said he would name the worst culprits if his first post was retweeted 1,000 times…. which he did 24 hours later

1. New regulation
When players are out of position and either being monitored or timed, a one-shot penalty will be incurred after two bad times – currently a player would be “monitored” and if he breaches the time allowance (50 seconds for first to play, 40 seconds for second or third to play) he will then be “officially timed.” He would then have to infringe on two more timings before being given a one-shot penalty. Players will, however, have the option to request one time extension per round, giving an additional 40 seconds to hit a shot on such a request.

In-Position timing, introduced at the same time as monitoring, has been strengthened. The time allowed to play a shot when being monitored in position (currently double the out of position times above), will be reduced by 15 per cent, from 100 and 80 seconds down to 85 and 70 seconds respectively for first and second/third to play.  Referees are instructed to be proactive in targeting known slow players for in position timing.

Fines for consistently slow players who are regularly officially timed during the season will increase significantly. For example, a player who is timed 15 times in the 2020 season will have to pay £26,000 in fines as opposed to £9,000 this season.

2. Education
All new members will be assigned a dedicated referee to help educate them on pace of play at the start of their European Tour career

As part of retaining their membership, every member will be required to pass an interactive online rules test with this being implemented for existing members towards the end of the 2019 season and all new members early in the 2020 season. This will be repeated every three years for existing members.

Regular educational videos will be produced by the European Tour’s social media team on key rules and pace of play policies and shared with the players throughout the season in an effort to avoid unnecessary rulings and ensure they better understand the Pace of Play policy.

3. Innovation0
A trial pace-of-play system will be conducted at the BMW PGA Championship from September 19-22. It will provide referees with the times for every group through every hole to make sure that no gaps are missed.

As part of this system, and in a ground-breaking development, on-tee displays on a minimum of three holes will provide groups with their position in relation to the group in front.

4. Field sizes
Field sizes at fully sanctioned events will be reduced from 156 to a minimum of 144 so long as all entered players in Category 18 (the final 111-125 on the previous season’s Race to Dubai) and above make it into the tournament. That will create space for referees to push groups over the Thursday and Friday rounds.

Larger starting intervals will be built into play on Saturday and Sunday to create a better flow between groups.

The list of European Tour players who were guilty of repeatedly bad timings released by Edoardo Molinari on Twitter in April 2019 – only two were fined, including Louis Oosthuizen

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