Tour Contender Faces Pace Violation Penalty During Korn Ferry Tour Finals
The Korn Ferry Tour's Nationwide Children's Hospital Championship witnessed a notable incident this week, as Bryson Nimmer was penalized for slow play during the opening round. Before the action commenced, Nimmer was ranked 36th on the Korn Ferry Tour's points list, aiming to advance to the PGA Tour via the Korn Ferry Tour standings. The updated pace-of-play policy, designed to address unnecessarily long rounds in feeder tours, was implemented on the Korn Ferry Tour and PGA Tour Americas in April, but is yet to be enforced on the PGA Tour.
During the round, Nimmer's group was placed on the clock, and a referee began timing each player. On the par-4 18th, Nimmer was given 50 seconds to play his approach shot, while his peers were given 40 seconds. Unfortunately, Nimmer took 68 seconds to play his second shot, which exceeded the allotted time and resulted in a one-stroke penalty.
The updated policy states that the first offense will incur a one-stroke penalty, the second violation of the week will lead to a two-stroke penalty, and three 'bad time' transgressions in one tournament will result in disqualification.
Nimmer started the round at even par, but his bogey on the final hole of his front nine transformed his score to a bogey five. Despite this setback, he managed to score a two-over 73. This left him 11 strokes behind the first-round leader, John VanDerLaan, and two shots outside of the projected cut line.
It's worth noting that at least four players across the two tours have been penalized for slow play since the introduction of the new policy. One of these players was Hunter Wolcott, winner of the Diners Club Peru Open, who was previously penalized for slow play.
The Korn Ferry Tour, as the feeder circuit for the PGA Tour, is dedicated to ensuring a smooth and efficient pace of play. The PGA Tour started publishing pace-of-play statistics at the Rocket Classic in June.
Meanwhile, Neal Shipley, Johnny Keefer, and Austin Smotherman are among the names who have already secured their card for the PGA Tour via the Korn Ferry Tour standings. They will undoubtedly bring their swift play to the PGA Tour next season.
The name of the tournament director who equipped the PGA Tour and Korn Ferry Tour with the updated quick release policy in the spring is not publicly specified. Regardless, the implementation of the new policy is a significant step towards enhancing the pace of play in golf tournaments.
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