2 weeks Ago
HILTON HEAD ISLAND — Is it less is more or more is less? Probably both. Players are satisfied, fans are pleased and television peeps are smiling. Chalk up the PGA Tour’s eight-tournament Signature Event series as a win.
It’s not just because of the inflated purses and stacked fields, either. Those are great and all because one indeed feeds the other, and everybody wins. Host communities such as this one invest loads of money, time and heart into an annual tournament.
And the more everyone puts into the RBC Heritage, the more all parties pull out. It’s how you stay relevant for nearly 60 years. But let’s talk about the pace of play.
Consider it an extra benefit from something that — like it or not — was created in a roundabout way by LIV Golf. If there is no LIV poaching players , then there are no Signature Events enticing them to stick around. Chalk it up as something good that came from the split besides more cash for golfers.
A smaller field produces more actual golf, with players paired up rather than in threesomes. Given the quality of the field, it’s kind of like a weekend at a major championship — sans the crushing pressure, smothering overexposure and gloomy sense that careers hang on nearly every shot. Majors, for everyone, can seem heavy.
The Masters is a place you can’t wait to get to and then can’t wait to leave regardless of which side of the ropes you're on. This, however ..
. well, this is all right. And not only because of the Lowcountry vibe that feels like a giant exhale from anxiously holding your breath at Augusta National.
The world’s best gathered at Harbour Town Golf Links have spent the past two days cooking; getting up and down for low scores while also getting in and out of Sea Pines. They’re taking care of business right at the four-hour mark or even a few minutes better. Amazing weather helps, certainly.
Players spend less time mulling over bad outcomes and instead manifesting positive results. See ball, hit ball, chase ball, go home. Electronic rangefinders are also allowed this week for the first time in a PGA Tour event.
Five more tournaments will permit them over the next four weeks to see if they help eliminate time-consuming guesswork. Rangefinders have been in use during the PGA Championship since 2021, though their impact hasn’t really been quantified. No, it’s running with a buddy or frenemy that mainly has the train moving so nicely here this week.
“For the most part it just moves really smoothly,” said Cam Davis, who shot a second-round 66 and is 5 under for the tournament. “So having two balls all week, usually it’s like a reward for the first two rounds going well. But it’s nice to have all four rounds out here, just moving nice and smooth.
” Nice and smooth, for sure. A game chastised as being the best setting for napping is clapping back through this event and the seven others in that exclusive Signature series. Their four-hour rounds (or, in many cases, better) are powerful tools to lure and hold the short attention-span crowd.
The extra get-up-and-go makes it more palatable for viewers who helicopter in and out while switching channels. They might stick around a little longer, lay their eyes on some actual action, and perhaps come back for more. So why can’t we have this every week? Here’s that harsh reminder that this tournament is special in that it has about half as many competitors as usual.
Making it a weekly thing would put lots of guys out of work even if that faster pace is enticing to the game's stakeholders and, of course, its fans. “It’s one of those things that the tour is trying to figure out how we’re going to balance it,” said Brian Harman, who shot a 2-under-par Friday . “I don't think the tour really wants to shrink fields, but we can’t finish in daylight.
Courses get harder every year, guys take longer, and we can’t finish.” Being from nearby Savannah, Harman is the traditional local boy here. He started the month by winning the Valero Texas Open for his fourth career win and first since the 2023 Open Championship.
Harman then finished tied for 36th place at the Masters before rolling to Hilton Head. If he sounded a little saucy, it’s because Harman conceded he’s physically and emotionally spent from that hectic month. Yet, he’s 7 under for the tournament with the prospects of getting deeper into red numbers more likely.
So he must not be too tired. Then again, the vast majority of players have been blistering a nearly defenseless golf course , with 56 of 72 players under par heading into the weekend. Remember: Cuts don’t exist in Signature Events.
There’s no telling what the scoreboard looks like come Sunday, especially if the current weather sticks around. Davis went out with a 6-under 30 en route before stumbling slightly on the returning nine holes when wind started to pick up. Still he’s only six back of leader Justin Thomas.
Davis — and the rest here — are playing efficient, world-class golf at a viewer-friendly speed. Outstanding. So the usual questions, comments and complaints about the pace of play in pro golf aren’t being voiced this week.
There isn't hope for anyone who still isn't satisfied, though. They should just change the channel..
