LPGA Tour penalizes rookie Averyhardt for slow play

With all the well-deserved noise erupting over the creepy crawly pace of play on the PGA Tour (we’re talking to you, Kevin Na), the rules officials on the men’s side might want to take a page from the LPGA’s playbook. Because on Thursday, the honchos at this week’s Kia Classic actually assessed rookie Shasta Averyhardt a two-stroke penalty for holding up play.

You read that right. The 24-year-old Averyhardt, playing this week on a sponsor’s exemption, told the San Gabriel Valley Tribune that she and playing partners Jennifer Song and Lindsey Wright were "on the clock" during the first round of play at Industry Hills Golf Club.

Christina Kim, who famously remarked that a 2010 playing partner was "slower than evolution," must be so pleased. Averyhardt, not so much.

"Obviously I disagreed, but I can't do anything about that," Averyhardt said, blaming her 7-over 80 on poor course management.

"I have to make better decisions on the golf course," the golfer told the publication. "I want to manage the course better do a better job at that. I think everything will be fine after that."

Now, about Kevin Na. There’s no truth to the rumor that the fellow Gene Wojciechowski called "slower than frozen maple syrup" was responsible for the three-hour delay to the start of the Kia Classic’s second round Friday. Na, however, was to blame for Wojciechowski wanting to pull his remaining hair out strand by strand after the ESPN.com writer walked the entire nearly five-hour first round with Na’s threesome at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

"Time doesn't stand still when Na plays; it goes backward," Wojciechowski wrote on Thursday. "The only thing brief about him is his last name."

Wojciechowski had a few more choice adjectives for Na in his entertaining column about slow play -- and Na’s tortoise-like pace in particular. J.B. Holmes, Webb Simpson, and Ben Crane were the objects of Wojciechowski’s wrath as well. "And there are others...who play as if they’re being paid by the hour," he wrote.

Wojciechowski may have made his point with humor, but he was serious when he observed that the PGA was loathe to penalize any player and probably never would. As tour golfer Pat Perez told Wojciechowski, the slow play is a never-ending source of discussion among the guys.

"We talk about it every [players] meeting," Perez said. "Every meeting we talk about pace of play and we talk about course setup. But it never changes. It's a waste of time to talk about it. People aren't going to change their routine. We're playing for millions of dollars a week out here. Guys are not going to change their routine just to finish. In their mind, they're in no hurry."

Maybe a couple extra strokes on the scorecard would do the trick. Bubba Watson’s all for kicking the slowpokes in the rear.

"I'd tell them to start handing out [penalty] strokes," Watson said.

Since that’s about as likely to happen as Na taking less than a minute and a half (by Wojciechowski’s count) for each putt, looks like golf fans will have to get used to what Wojciechowski termed "a typical Na putting routine:

"Place ball at marker...look at line from front...look at line from back...pick up ball...caddie lines up putt...caddie plumb bobs with wedge...place ball back at marker...line up putt...caddie plumb bobs again...two practice strokes...pick up mark and put in right pocket...two more practice strokes..."

No Doz, anyone?