Pro wades in on hot PGA Tour topic: "In America they are dreadfully slow"

English tour pro Eddie Pepperell says introducing a shot clock to the men's game might be the wrong way to combat the slow play epidemic. 

Pepperell is no stranger to offering his unfiltered thoughts on hot topics within the sport. 

Glacial pace of play has long plagued the game but it has been brought back into sharp focus in recent weeks owing to the speed of players at The American Express and Farmers Insurance Open. 

Harris English, Sam Stevens and Andrew Novak took five hours and 29 minutes to complete the final round at Torrey Pines' South course last week.  

Sepp Straka's group took three hours to play 12 holes the week prior and, at one point, were on a single hole for 40 minutes.  

Pepperell told the latest episode of The Chipping Forecast he wasn't sure if introducing a shot clock was worth it for the sake of saving half an hour. 

"I think, to play devil's advocate, I know Justin Thomas was asked about this and he made the point that, you know, the public also want to see the best players play on difficult golf courses," he said. 

"I bemoan the fact that 23-under or however many under won the week before at The American Express - although ironically still taking six hours - he was saying, 'Well, when we play tougher courses it also takes a long time.'

"Torrey Pines [is] obviously a tough golf course in tough conditions. And I know this in my own experience there are some courses on Tour due to conditions and also the layout where you are never going to get round in under five hours no matter how fast you feel like you are playing. It is just one of those things."

Pepperell said it was 'impossible' to achieve four-hour rounds. 

The 33-year-old also warned a shot clock would be 'detrimental' to the product. 

"You don't want players to go up to a shot [or] to rush hitting a shot [and] not caring really too much about the outcome because they are just trying to beat a shot clock or something like this," he said. 

"It's a really difficult thing to get the balance right, I think." 

Pepperell claimed that pace of play is different on both sides of the pond. 

"In my experience playing in America they are dreadfully slow," he said. 

"The DP World Tour do a brilliant job and have clamped down on the slow players."

Last January Pepperell claimed on X that he was aware of one player that paid more than £100,000 in slow play fines on the European circuit. 

He continued: "And they are slow in America, there is no doubt about it. So there is room for improvement 100 per cent.

"But how much can things improve? And is it going to make a huge difference to the overall product? I don't know."

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