U.S. Open Champion Matt Fitzpatrick has slammed slow play within the professional game while insisting talking about it is like ‘hitting your head against a brick wall’.
The game’s pace of play has come to the fore of the discussion again in recent weeks, with World No. 4 Patrick Cantlay receiving criticism for the time he took to play his shots at the recent Masters Tournament.
The 31-year-old American came under fire from the likes of Brooks Koepka following his slow play at Augusta National, and Fitzpatrick has been keen to highlight the issue once more.
“If you’re in a three-ball, in my opinion you should be round in four hours, four-and-a-half absolute maximum,” said Fitzpatrick, as reported by Sky Sports.
“It’s a disgrace to get anywhere near that. You’re talking five hours and 15 minutes, five-and-a-half hours at some venues and its truly appalling.
“The problem is this conversation has gone on for years and years and years, and no one has ever done anything so I feel it’s almost a waste of time talking about it.
“I have strong opinions, but no one’s going to do anything about it. It’s like hitting your head against a brick wall.
“No one ever gets penalised. I think the last person to get penalised was the young lad (Guan Tianlang) at the Masters in 2013. I think that tells you enough about where people are at with this. It’s ridiculous really.”
Fitzpatrick is teeing up this week at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans alongside his brother Alex.
