Accused PGA Tour slowpoke: I'm getting better with my pace of play
PGA Tour star Tom Kim - who has been accused of playing far too slowly - says TGL's shot clock is helping him make improvements.
Rising PGA Tour star Tom Kim says TGL's shot clock is helping him improve his pace of play.
Kim is unquestionably one of the best players in the world but, despite all of his talent, has been accused of playing far too slowly so far this season.
The 22-year-old was called out by NBC's commentators during the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am a week after LPGA hall of famer Dottie Pepper broke ranks and implored PGA Tour golfers to 'have more respect'.
Even legendary caddie Billy Foster called out Kim during the Phoenix Open coverage on Sky Sports.
Foster said he had 'fallen asleep' on Matthew Fitzpatrick's bag on occasions waiting for Kim to play his shot.
Kim has acknowledged that he has problem and believes that TGL's shot clock is helping him improve and 'break the mental barrier'.
"It's nice, you know I think I'm comfortable [with] the shot clock," he told reporters after Jupiter Links' defeat 6-3 defeat to The Bay.
"I struggled with pace of play, you know, due to a lot of fighting with some mental stuff but it's getting a lot better.
"Torrey [Pines] was a really good week for me. My pace of play really improved, starting from the Waste Management, too.
"So it's something that I'm working on. It helps when, you know, I feel like over the shot clock here, it's like I know I'm comfortable over it so I know I'm not struggling with it.
"It's just a matter of going out in tournaments and consistently doing it and beating that mental barrier."
Watch his explanation here:
Tom Kim has been working on improving his pace of play.
— GOLF.com (@GOLF_com) February 26, 2025
When asked about playing with a shot clock at TGL, he talked about why his play slowed down and how he has worked on improving his pace the last few events. pic.twitter.com/LAZdk31KcL
The PGA Tour insist they are taking pace of play seriously, but some have suggested that only by stroking players will things improve.
Meanwhile, the LPGA Tour have introduced a new pace of play policy.
Under the new policy, players can be fined for exceeding their allotted time by one to five seconds.
LPGA Tour players will receive a one-stroke penalty for being six to 15 seconds over and a two-stroke penalty for being more than 15 seconds over their alloted time.
World No.1 Nelly Korda hailed its arrival earlier in the month.
"I like it," she said. "I think that the way to change it is to just toughen up the rules."
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