I’ve been doing some thinking about the Rory Sabbatini/Ben Crane incident at the otherwise uninteresting Booz Allen Classic.
Strikes me that Sabbatini is on to something here. Crane’s waggle made Sergio Garcia at his prime look like a brisk player. It was painful to watch and I can sympathize with Sabbatini, a fast player who justs wants to hit the ball, find his ball and hit it again. Crane, on the other hand, appears to want to write a thesis about his next shot, so it takes a lot of time and study.
Some have pointed out that Sabbatini broke golf’s sacred etiquette rules. But what about the rule that says you shouldn’t put your partner on the clock because you need to “see the shot?” Crane is a good player and admits he’s got a problem. I’d like him to find a twelve step program to fix the issue.
The reality is that pace of play by PGA Tour pros is one of the factors behind slow play at public golf courses. People think the pros play slowly, analyzing every shot to the nth degree, so I should as well. Ugh.
You can read about Sabbatini and his questionable apology here.
About Robert Thompson
A bestselling author and award-winning columnist, Robert Thompson has been writing about business and sports, and particularly golf, for almost two decades. His reporting and commentary on golf has appeared in Golf Magazine, the Globe and Mail, T&L Golf and many other media outlets. Currently a columnist with Sympatico.ca and Ontario Golf, and a contributing writer to ScoreGolf, his blog, Going for the Green, was launched in 2004. 
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Hurry to your ball, then take your time with the shot…
You’re right. Also, new long drivers add to slow play. 20 handicappers that are suddenly “long” tee it up from the tips “to get their money’s worth” (actual quote”) and take 5 hours + on a daily fee track. These guys either 1) hit it 280, then flub the second shot, chip it over the green and three putt, then put a 5 on the scorecard; or 2) are deep in the woods all day. I played with two such guys in NC recently and they actually made fun of me playing the middle tees…then they looked at the scores after losing by 12 shots and said “well you were one set ahead of us.” Yeah… you’re right, but think it through a LITTLE more…