Golf
Scott Van Pelt: Golf Would Benefit From A Shot Clock
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ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt believes golf should implement a shot clock on the PGA Tour.
Scott Van Pelt Talks Shot Clock In Golf
Van Pelt zoomed in from Augusta to discuss The Masters with Dan Patrick on The Dan Patrick Show.
Patrick pondered adding a shot clock to the PGA Tour to force guys to speed up and keep the pace of play.
Patrick mentioned Brian Harman, the 2023 Open Championship winner, as an example of a golfer known for his slow play.
Van Pelt called Harman a “good dude” who knows he has to play faster but struggles to speed up.
“He [Harman] knows that it takes too long,” Van Pelt said about Harman’s slow play. “He doesn’t want to take that long. He’s kind of got these tics pre-shot that he’s working through.”
Patrick brightened up baseball and how it has benefited from a pitch clock. Van Pelt agreed and cited how TGL incorporated a shot clock, which improved the pace of the game.
Logistically, it’s much easier to incorporate a shot clock in TGL, an indoor golf league, than at a competition like The Masters.
Still, Van Pelt believes golf would be better at a quicker pace.
“The bottom line is, yeah, golf would benefit greatly if there were sort of a clock that we knew when it started and when it hits zero, you get a warning. And then you get a penalty,” Van Pelt said. “Because the game does take a long time to get moving.”
Players can be penalized for slow play. However, it’s rare. The last time a player was penalized for slow play came in 2021.
Scott Van Pelt On PGA Innovation
Looks fake, but it’s not. The office for the afternoon is absolute perfection. pic.twitter.com/L0yX6kvv4H
— Scott Van Pelt (@notthefakeSVP) April 9, 2025
Later in the conversation, Patrick mentioned the LIV Tour and what the PGA could learn from the other professional golf league.
“Taking money from the Saudi fund,” Van Pelt joked.
After sharing a laugh, Van Pelt said the only innovation needed is to combine leagues so the best players in the world compete at more tournaments.
“The game benefits when [Jon] Rahm and [Bryson] DeChambeau and [Brooks] Koepka, etc., are playing with all the other guys on the PGA Tour,” Van Pelt said. “The innovation is just figure it out, and let’s get back together.”
