Peter Williams: Hats off to Sabbatini - slow play is a greater crime

No matter how he plays at the US Open, Rory Sabbatini is my golfing hero of the week. The South African, who has won twice on the PGA Tour, made a very public stand on slow play during the final round of the Booz Allen Classic near Washington, D.C. last Monday morning.

He was with a guy called Ben Crane who has a notorious reputation as a slow player. On the 17th hole Sabbatini, who'd had the misfortune to be paired with Crane for the first two rounds of the tournament as well and who played in the group behind him in the third round, finally snapped.

While Crane was deliberating over a shot to the green, Sabbatini walked ahead, chipped on, putted out, and waited for his partner to finish. I applaud the action. It's sending a clear message to the worst kind of playing partner you can have. Of course Sabbatini copped the criticism, not Crane.

Former PGA champion Paul Azinger, a TV commentator for the tournament, said on air that the South African was "inconsiderate".

The next day Sabbatini, no doubt under pressure from the PGA Tour itself, issued a statement through Tour headquarters, apologising for the action.

Granted, it was a clear breach of golf etiquette which says that in stroke play the player furthest from the hole plays the next shot. However, in stroke play you cannot be penalised for playing out of turn. But Tour officials have the right to impose penalties for slow play and because of Crane's actions, both he and Sabbatini had been put "on the clock", or warned for slow play.

Slow play is the bane of golf at all levels. I remember a time when you were frustrated if a round took more than three-and-a-half hours, and that was in a tournament.

Nowadays, the acceptable time frame on the "pace of play" sheets which are sometimes issued for competitive play in this country, is about four hours, 15 minutes for four players for 18 holes. But Saturday afternoons at a busy Auckland club will produce tales of woe stretching out to five hours.

One reason we've got slower is we take more time over putts. Improvements in turf culture mean greens are faster and more difficult than they were 20 years ago and as we see the pros doing it slowly on TV, so do many of us. Statistics say the pros are not having less putts than they used to and neither are we. So it's just taking everybody longer to complete a hole.

There's not enough education about how to walk a golf course either. Remember the golden rules: your place on the course is behind the group in front and not in front of the group behind - and always be ready to play when it's your turn.

Penalties do exist at all levels for slow play. They range from extra shots and fines for competitive players, to removal from the course for social players. The problem is that penalties are not invoked often enough.

The reaction to Sabbatini's protest against Ben Crane was not unexpected. Greg Turner once played the final round of a tournament in Europe in less than three hours alongside the Englishman Barry Lane.

Both shot par or better. Because they'd played so quickly, European Tour officials later accused them of not trying hard enough.

- HERALD ON SUNDAY