Ryan Fox has claimed that players not being ready to hit when it is their turn is a much bigger problem on the PGA Tour than slow play.
When golf fans think back to The Open Championship in 2026 in the years to come, one of their strongest memories will almost certainly be how quickly Fox played when the pressure was at its most intense.
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It was remarkable how the New Zealander took just 22 seconds from the moment Sam Burns finished his final round to hole the putt that ensured that he would be lifting the Claret Jug at Royal Birkdale.
It has certainly put to shame those who believe that it is important to be methodical over every single shot out on the course.
Ryan Fox says what annoys him more than slow play on the PGA Tour
Interestingly, Jon Rahm suggested that slow play was less of an issue than many realise.
And it seems that the Champion Golfer of the Year would agree.
Speaking on the Fore Play Podcast, Ryan Fox insisted that he finds it much more frustrating when players are too casual while waiting to hit.
“I think everyone’s different. I’m not going to pick on anyone for slow play, but my personality’s fast. If I did something slow, it would be against my personality. Some guys are just that slow, loping, everything just happens slowly. And I’m good with that,” he said.
“My biggest pet peeve, and I think a lot of guys on tour would say the same thing, especially the guys who are fast, is just not being ready. There’s too much of that on tour, and that annoys the hell out of me.
“It’s someone’s turn to go, and they haven’t even talked to their caddie about what they’re going to do. Or they haven’t had a look at the putt when they had a chance to, and then they go and do their whole routine and it takes two minutes to do the whole thing. You’re like, ‘you can get around that’.
“There’s times where you’ve got no choice and you’re in someone’s way and you’ve just got to let them go, then you’ve got to do your own thing. For the most part, you can do your work when someone else is doing something and just be ready when it’s your turn. If you take 40 seconds over the ball to hit a shot, I’m cool with that. That’s your routine.
“But if you take a minute to get ready when it’s your turn and then take 40 seconds over the ball, that’s annoying.”
How the PGA Tour considered tackling slow play after a nightmare start to the 2025 season
There seemed to be a real issue with slow play at the start of the 2025 PGA Tour season, with the final round of the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines proving to be particularly painful to watch.
The PGA Tour considered a range of measures, including allowing measuring devices and publishing the average time that players took over each shot.
Obviously, there have been tournaments this year where the pace has been extremely slow. But the issue has not been quite so noticeable this season.
Perhaps Fox’s comments should convince the PGA Tour to act when it comes to those who take too long to even get ready, rather than those such as Patrick Cantlay and Brian Harman who can take an extremely long time to pull the trigger once they are addressing the ball.
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