Posted on: Friday, June 24, 2005
Singh blasts slow play at Barclays
By John Nicholson
Associated Press
HARRISON, N.Y. — Vijay Singh's temper was a lot shorter than his round.
After taking more than five hours to complete his morning round in yesterday's Barclays Classic, the second-ranked Singh blasted PGA Tour rules officials for allowing slow players to reduce the pace to a crawl.
Singh had little to say about the 3-under 68 that left him tied for second, three strokes behind first-round leader Jim Furyk, choosing instead to rant about the slow play on the hilly, tree-lined Westchester Country Club course.
"Every shot out there on the front nine, you had to wait," Singh said. "You get fed up with it. I don't know if anybody ever withdrew after nine holes for slow play ..."
Under the tour's 2 1/2-year-old policy, players are considered to be on the clock when their group is out of position — defined by an open hole ahead of them. The 10th time a player is put on the clock during the year results in a $20,000 fine. Players are allowed 40 seconds for each shot, and given an extra 20 seconds in some situations such as teeing off first on a par-3 hole.
"If the officials don't do anything about it, then the guys are going to take more time," said Singh, the 1993 and 1995 Westchester champion, who was tied with Kenny Perry, John Rollins, Ian Leggatt, Brian Bateman and Hidemichi Tanaka.
"It's slow. It's always slow here. It's ridiculous," Singh said. "I mean you play a round of golf in five hours and wait on every shot. It's just like the officials are just blind. You don't see one out there. It ruins the rhythm of the play."
