PGA Tour veteran: If we did that today we'd be 'total d-----bags'

Jerry Kelly says he sees a notable difference in attitude towards slow play on the PGA Tour compared to his era. 

The topic has overtaken the headlines in golf lately thanks to Charley Hoffman's thoughts that were leaked to the media. 

Elsewhere, Lucas Glover has laid out his eight-point plan to deal with the slow coaches that includes banning AimPoint. 

Rising star Tom Kim was accused of abysmal pace of play at Pebble Beach last week which saw his group put on the clock. 

Former Tour winner Kelly, 58, thinks the circuit will eventually test a shot clock, but doesn't believe it's entirely practical. 

"It may be so subjective when the clock starts," Kelly told GolfMagic in a conversation on Beyond the Clubhouse. "When did your turn start?

"If you went to the bathroom and your caddie was there, are you going to get a a bad time and a shot penalty when your caddie was there and you're sprinting out of the bathroom and trying to hit a shot in two seconds? 

"There are just going to be a lot of instances that are not cut and dried. 

"If you went over to help somebody look for a ball and they drop a ball and hit it really quick, and you're walking back to your ball and you haven't even gone through your process yet, when does that start?"

Kelly said there is simply not enough clarity with the shock clock idea. 

"There's a lot of shady areas when it gets to the timing of it all," he said. 

"So that's why we haven't implemented it and that's why it's so difficult to implement. 

"It's just not as clear as ... okay he struck the ball and it's now your turn, and you've got 40 seconds."

In Kelly's day, golfers wouldn't think twice about confronting the dawdlers.

"I can't stand slow play, to tell you the truth," Kelly said.  

"In my age of guys, we had a lot of players that if you were playing slow, they would come over to you immediately and they would berate you.

"And they would make sure that you knew that it was bothering them. They would let you know, very clearly. 

"As much as it's become a hindrance, I think that guys are thinking that 'I'm in my bubble and you're in your bubble and I'm not going to bother your bubble.' 

"Well, I've popped a few bubbles-there's no question. But that's because I had mine popped a bunch of times."

In today's game, Kelly doesn't see having an unvarnished conversation among players going over well, at all.

"Now if we come up and do that, we're total douche bags, and that's the difference in eras," he said.  

"It's kind of like we expected it back then,. So if there's no accountability amongst our peers other than backroom talking, and talking to an official without talking straight to the guy's face, I think that's where the problems go throughout the Tour. 

"Because if you heard Tiger or Rory or any of these guys going up to multiple slow players, and [say] 'Hey, you know, maybe you could try and speed up a little bit.' And instead saying, 'Listen, you're going to be costing the Tour money soon' and hash it out that way. Real talk. 

"There's nothing wrong with that. That's what's kind of missing right. Now is the [time for] accountability, so they're going to do some things I think beyond rangefinders-which they should."

While players like Glover point to specific routines like AimPoint as cause for slow play, Kelly doesn't mind saying that the slow play issue is here primarily because players aren't getting ahead of how their pre-shot routines play into each hole and the order of play.

"The number one thing that I still see consistently is that they go through their routine after somebody has hit. It's just about being prepared," he said. 

"You can go through a five-minute routine, if you're the last guy to hit, but you really can't go through a five-minute routine when you start when its your turn, and I think that's the most important part of slow play. 

"And if you're a short hitter and you're really slow, then you're going to get penalized coming up here soon."

Has Kelly heard any rumours about what could be on the horizon?

"I just think there's going to be possibly an official with every group at some point.

"And having an individual timer for each group will be important and will be something we'll see. 

"Or an individual timer for each group with one singled out very slow player. Everybody knows who they are. 

"That's where it's going to get to the point where there might be extra scrutiny on individuals, and they might be high-profile individuals, but those are the consequences when you actually ruin somebody else's bubble because you're slow and therefore we need to get inside yours. So I think that's where it is going."

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