Henrik Stenson Blames PGA Tour Officials

The theme of 54-hole leaders not being able to close things out on Sundays continued this week at Bay Hill. Henrik Stenson’s two under par 70 in the final round wasn’t terrible, but still not good enough to hold off the defending champion Matt Every’s blazing six under 66. Any time you shoot a number like that you deserve all the credit in the world for going out there and winning the tournament. On the other hand for the second best golfer on the planet it was a tough loss to swallow, in more ways than one.

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Stenson was far from the same player who led the way after three rounds, and the putter was a big reason why. After struggling for most of the final round he still had a chance to win the tournament late on Sunday until he was undone by back-to-back three putts on the 15 and 16. Ironically enough he and playing partner Morgan Hoffmann were placed on the clock on those two holes, something that Stenson says may have cost him a chance to win.

"“Obviously I’m a little disappointed in the outcome,” Stenson said. “I’m just as disappointed at the PGA Tour officials for putting us on the clock starting at 15 and then chasing us down the stretch, I didn’t see the reason for that.”"

The PGA Tour’s slow play policy has plenty of gray areas and can cause its fair share of debates on tour. To penalize the entire group for slow play rather than the individual player makes no sense. It was apparent on Sunday that Hoffman was the one causing the bad time. With little chance to win the tournament Hoffman should have been an after thought, but instead it affected Stenson who was right in the thick of things.

"“I didn’t even read my putt on fifteen, just one quick look and three-putted that from long range,” Stenson said. “Morgan got a bad time for his approach on 16 so I kind of rushed my putt from the fringe. It’s just hard when you can’t take the time you feel like you want to take.”"

Slow play is a problem in all of golf, not just for the professionals. Heck Michael Jordan is so fed up with it he reportedly is going to build his own private golf course. Tournaments seem to be dragging on more than ever this year on the PGA Tour. Sure there have been a number of playoffs, but plenty of final rounds are pushing well beyond the four and a half hour mark. It’s not good for the players, or the fans.

Stenson could be coming off as a bit of a sore loser, but he does have a point. His round and rhythm were obviously affected by what happened out there on the final holes. Golfers are creatures of habit, they have a routine before each round and before each shot. You disrupt that routine? Well then you get what you saw on Sunday. Something needs to be done about this, but that is a solution that should be figured out in a boardroom somewhere, not with four holes to go in the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

Quotes from Golf Channel

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