Major winner to PGA Tour: Scrap sign bearers and ban (!) Aim Point

Former U.S. Open champion Lucas Glover has laid bare his radical plans to eradicate slow play on the PGA Tour. 

Pace of play has been a hot topic in recent weeks, with groups taking in excess of five hours to complete 18 holes at both the American Express and Farmers Insurance Open. 

Even CBS' veteran on-course reporter Dottie Pepper broke ranks to call out the players directly during the final round of last week's event in San Diego. 

"I think we're starting to need a new word to talk about this pace of play issue," she said. "And it's respect.

"For your fellow competitors, for the fans, for broadcasts, for all of it. It's just gotta get better."

Since Pepper's broadside, several notable figures in the men's game have come forward to offer their solutions. 

Speaking before the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, Rory McIlroy said there were a lot of answers for the Tour's slow play epidemic. 

But he suggested smaller fields - along with tee times being spaced out a little bit more - would make a notable difference. 

He conceded that would 'p--- a lot of people off', though, as it would reduce playing opportunities.

Former U.S. Open winner Glover has become the latest to offer his unfiltered thoughts. 

Last December the PGA Tour's policy board approved a raft of changes and claimed some would have a direct impact on speeding up play. 

From 2026, full-field events played on a single golf course will shrink from 156 to 144 while those on one course before daylight saving time will be reduced from 132 to 120.

"Don't cut fields because it's a pace of play issue," he previously said. 

"Tell us to play faster, or just say you're trying to appease six guys and make them happy so they don't go somewhere else and play golf."

Glover was referencing the measures the Tour took - and continues to take - to prevent more high-profile players from defecting to LIV Golf. 

During the latest episode of his show on Sirius XM PGA Tour Radio, Glover outlined nine changes that could help. 

"Some of them seem small, some of them seem big," he said.

They are:

• Course markings

Glover argued that every sprinkler head should be marked

• Distance measuring devices

Glover said they can only help, adding: "Not everyone will use them all the time but it sure would help given the option."

• Bunker rakers

Every group should have a dedicated bunker raker.

• No honorary observers

"They get in the way," he said. 

• Scrap sign bearers

Everyone has a mobile phone these days

• Ban Aim Point

Glover claimed Aim Point hasn't helped anybody make more putts since its inception on the PGA Tour. 

He said it was rude for players to be up near the hole, stomping their feet. 

"It needs to be banned," he said. "It takes forever."

• Eliminate golf carts

The number one reason why players back off shots on Tour, Glover said, was because golfers could see a cart in their peripheral vision or could hear one nearby. 

• Drop circles

"Every obstruction should have a simple drop circle," he said.  

"If you're up against [an obstruction] or it's in the way, drop [the ball] in the nearest designated area."

• Learn the rules

This is an easy one, isn't it?

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