US Open champion JJ Spaun was hit with a warning for slow play on day one of The Open at Royal Portrush.
The American, who claimed victory at Oakmont last month for the first major of his career, is now one warning away from a penalty.
Spaun was with 2024 champion Xander Schauffele and Jon Rahm, and the whole group was put on the clock near the end of the first round.
This isn’t a penalty, and it is simply a request for the players to pick up the pace, but if things don’t improve, then things can change.
As the trio arrived at the 18th hole, they had been on the course for five-and-a-half hours, and Spaun was informed he’d been given a bad time on the 17th hole.
This is because he ran over the allocated 50 seconds he had to take his shot.
This warning is carried on into round two, meaning if Spaun is penalised one more time, he will get a one-stroke penalty.
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But he wasn’t the only one who struggled.
Some players were seen putting out on the 18th green around six hours after teeing off on the first hole.
The slow speed of play could be attributed to a multitude of factors.
Despite there being a whopping 156 golfers taking part at the open, no players start simultaneously on the first and 10th tee, which is widely the case at majors played in the United States.
Weather conditions were not favourable on Thursday with spells of gusty wind and rain wreaking havoc on play.
Tee-shots regularly went off target and landed in the rough, leading to players spending extensive time looking for their balls.
Those involved were far from impressed with how the day’s play unfolded with Masters champion Rory McIlroy not completing his round until 9.04pm having teed off at 3.10pm.
“It felt like we were on the golf course for about 12 hours,” said Australia’s Marc Leishman, who plays on the LIV Golf tour.
“We’ve been on the course for three hours through eight holes.
“That was tough to deal with, especially coming from somewhere where we play in under four and a half hours every week.”
Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre added: “We couldn’t have gone any faster. I guess golf courses are too long.”
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Meanwhile, England’s Aaron Rai said: “It was a little on the slow side. But naturally with the challenging course, pace of play is going to be a little bit slower than normal.”
Golf podcast host Michael McEwan was particularly critical of how the day unfolded.
He wrote on X: “The pace of play today has been diabolical. I get that it’s a major, that there’s a lot at stake and blah blah blah. But let’s not kid ourselves on: six-hour rounds are just s****.
Pace of play is not solely a problem at The Open with problems reported at last month’s US Open at Oakmont.
A field of over 150 players were grouped in threes white facing the prospect of a challenging course with millions at stake.
And the same can be said of this week’s opening round at The Open with backlogs forming at the 5th hole due to players waiting on the tee for the green to clear.
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And at one stage, five groups aligned on the 7th hole according to American golfer Keegan Bradley.
The field will hope the pace of play during the second round of the Open picks up, which you can keep up to date with via talkSPORT.
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