It’s no secret PGA Tour pros don’t play fast, but sometimes, things get a little out of hand.
So much so that playing partners appear to take notice.
Such was the case Saturday morning, during the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play Round of 16 match between Mackenzie Hughes and Max Homa.
On the 13th, Hughes had already made par and was waiting on a bridge off the green to the next tee while Homa dealt with a five-footer to tie the hole and stay just 1 Down.
For the next 50 seconds, Homa’s preshot routine took noticeably more time than usual. First, he leaned down to remove some loose impediments on his line. Then he started an AimPoint routine, straddling his line with his feet both facing forward and away from the hole.
The NBC broadcast cut to Hughes, who was waiting on the bridge to the 14th tee for Homa to finish out. A clip of the broadcast made rounds on Twitter, garnering more than 200k videos as of this writing.
After about 45 seconds, Hughes can be seen turning away from watching right as Homa actually strokes the putt. Homa made the putt for the tie but bogeyed two of the next three holes as Hughes closed him out with a birdie on 16 and a 3 and 2 win.
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Pace of play has been a significant issue on the PGA Tour this season as the Tour went five straight weeks being unable to make its 36-hole cut on a Friday.
With Daylight Saving Time starting two weeks ago and this week’s field featuring only 64 players and already whittled down to 16 by Saturday, the light wasn’t as much of an issue. But the context didn’t take away the negative light the video put on Homa.
To his credit, Homa saw the clip and was quick to own up for it Saturday afternoon.
“Got tagged in this. Will work on speeding this process up,” Homa wrote on Twitter while sharing the clip.
As strong advocates of fast play here at GOLF.com, we hope Homa can streamline this in time for the Masters in two weeks.