A missed opportunity? Furyk's slow play

[Jason Thurman]

And quite frankly, my reaction has been the same...of course referees change the outcome of a game, thats the point of having a 3rd party official.  Specifically in basketball, you are there to right a wrong as best as you see it.  Why should it matter if you are fouled in the first minute of the game vs the last minute. If a game is lost by only one point, are the 1st two points of the game any less important than the last two? A foul is a foul and the fouled player should get compensation for that. 

Exactly. If it's not a penalty in the first 68 holes, or in any other tournament since 1995, it's not a penalty in the last four holes of the US Open.

I'd love to see slow play addressed, but the last four holes of the national championship is not the time to start.

[Dan_Callahan]

For a long time, we were told that hockey could never get rid of the bench-clearing brawls. And then it was that hockey could never get rid of all the grabbing that goes on behind the play. But for a number of reasons (mostly having to do with growing the fan base), the NHL decided to change the culture. They put rules in place and enforced them. The same is true with head injuries. The NHL has some seriously long suspensions for those who actively target an opponent's head. Over time, I'll bet that there are positive results there as well.

If the USGA and/or PGA wanted to quicken the pace of play, they could do so practically overnight. Obviously, it's an issue that isn't important to them.

[Carl Nichols]

By the way, of all the places the USGA could address slow play in the US Open the final group on Sunday would not be my first choice. Unfair, arbitrary, yada, yada, yada. But at this point ANYWHERE is better than NOT AT ALL EVER UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, don't you think?

If they had hit the Furyk-GMAC group with a slow play penalty down the stretch on Sunday it would have been a regrettably poor and arbitrary choice of timing. But still a good thing in the larger picture.

Except for the possible backlash.  Better to do it right, in my view.

[Jason Thurman]

I recall the final group in the Open Championship played fairly quickly last year. Is the R&A or Euro Tour better at enforcing slow play penalties?

[Kalen Braley]

It seems somewhat odd that a sport that loves to pimps itself so hard of how it follows the rules, seems to be so blase/non-committed on this issue.

Did they cut DJ any slack in the PGA a couple years ago at Whistling Straights because he grounded his club in the bunker, which doesn't even play as a real bunker for non-tourneys?  I mean hell that seems a lot more harmless than guys playing slow and holding up the entire field.  NO they didn't, they said "here are the rules, you broke em, you get accessed the penalty and you miss out on the playoff.  You don't like it that's tough beans, see you next year". Its as simple as that!!

That's why I don't get the kiddie gloves things on this issue, when they are such "bad-asses" for rules otherwise.

[Jim Franklin]

If the USGA is really interested in growing the game, they had to be horrified to see Furyk on the final pairing.

Has there ever been a player who looks like he has less fun on the golf course? Furyk looks absolutely miserable 100% of the time he is playing.

If I had never seen golf before, and watching Furyk was my first exposure to the game, I'd rather pick up something like ultra-marathons or swimming the English Channel ... either of those look more enjoyable than what Furyk was exhibiting.

This.