I would be interested to hear what the NM coach says. The team and the individual handled it well, at least in public. I guess there was a lengthy discussion with the rules officials. Here's my take on your comments and other thoughts:
1. I have no idea how the lead groups were doing with their time. I was following the final groups.
2. I wish I would have timed the start of the final round, but the last group finished after 5 PM. There was a frost delay which pushed starting back an hour, but with that, they should have started by 11. They did not because they always had to wait for the players on #1 to clear the fairway before they could tee off. I would say that at the latest, they teed off at 11:30 but no later.
3. The conditions on Friday were tough and they had to stop the tournament for about an hour, but Sunday, although breezy at times, was pretty nice.
4. The hole positions were set up in generally tough positions, but not a whole lot tougher than we have for our club tournaments. The rough was way down because of the cold and dry winter. Really, not that bad overall. In past years, the rough has been 4 inches, greens hard and fast. Rain on Friday took care of the latter.
5. All of the players I watched played composed golf with rarely an outburst even when they blew up on a hole. Good examples of who should represent golf.
6. That said, they all seem to take a lot of time to walk to their balls, figure out clubs, read putts etc. Seems there are only a couple of coaches out there per team, so they are certainly not in the ears of the players for the majority of the day.
Most people I talked to thought penalizing the one NM player was a bit rough considering they could have made the same ruling for many of the players. That's why I brought this up. I'm a Cal fan, so I'm not being a homer on this. Somewhere along the line, an official or two focused on this group or player. He did receive three warnings according to the official, so you can't say he didn't know. On the 18th green, one of the last players was off the green by 20 ft and had a tough pitch to a back pin. He walked all the way to the back of the green and back with his coach with the NM player and team watching. The penalized NM player pointed out to his coach that this player was doing what he was penalized for but no one was addressing it.
As I read others comments and thoughts, it seems to me that there is one big factor that is often overlooked. The stakes are now huge. The top players turning pro get equipment contracts etc. Sponsors exemptions depend on being one of the top players in the country. Becoming a successful pro golfer is a huge pay day. You don't think these guys know that? Couple that with all the instruction that says read your putts from all sides, don't take your shot until you are absolutely committed, if it's gusting, wait for the the wind to come down, make sure you follow your pre-shot routine, meticulously fix imperfections in the greens... you know, all the stuff on the golf channel.
One last thing... I want to say that I really enjoyed seeing these guys play. I know it took awhile, but it did not bother me. Sunny day, 65 degrees, nice lunch... It's fun to see what they do to your home course and as always, Go Bears!!!