New world No. 1 Jason Day won his second consecutive tournament Sunday in Austin, Texas, beating Rory McIlroy and Louis Oosthuizen over 32 holes of match play, which made for a very long day both for the golfers playing and for fans watching on TV.
There were only four players on the course Sunday - Day, McIlroy, Oosthuizen and Rafael Cabrera-Bello - which means that instead of cutting to a new shot every 10 seconds, commentators had to fill a lot of dead air, and the final round consisted mostly of watching four guys walk around the golf course rather than play it. This format Jason Day's very deliberate routine on camera for more than eight hours Sunday, and many fans were fed up by the time he raised the trophy.
I love golf. I love to watch golf. I'm a big fan. But I've just about had enough of Jason Day, fine player though he is. #too slow #numbing
— John Huggan (@johnhuggan) March 27, 2016
Watching Jason day on sky plus +30 and he's still slow if he's in contention at the masters he'll take it into a 5th day @SkySportsGolf
— Colin Joyce (@beast_gbgolfer) March 27, 2016
Golf needs to really do something about slow play. Jason Day is an incredible player but making people stop watching. @gcw @GolfPunk_Mag
— Dave Hall (@DaveHall118) March 28, 2016
Jason Day's the best player in the world by far at the min but Jeez he's slow and hard to watch #DellMatchPlay #JustHitIt
— Andy Beadsley (@AndyBeadsley) March 27, 2016
Earlier this year, the Secret Tour Pro (who anonymously dishes on golfers on Twitter), eviscerated Day for being slow.
Via Golf Digest:
Pace of play is a real problem in golf, but is Day really too slow? He may have lagged on Sunday, but you have to consider that:
1. He played nearly two full rounds in a single day
2. He played seven matches in the span of five days
3. He could barely walk off the course Wednesday after suffering a back injury
4. There was more than a million dollars on the line
I'd take my time, too.
