Because golf is an unending search for perfection. So, while its best player grinds away to correct flaws only he can see, golf should consider a few tips to get even better in 2001. Play faster Lanny Wadkins finally finished the first round of the PGA Championship six hours after it began and was greeted with the wrong kind of question. Public courses post signs saying rounds should be completed in four hours. The PGA Tour should require nothing less, especially since its players hit the ball straighter and have a posse of eager marshals to look for those balls that stray from the short grass.
Slow play is inexcusable, and fines are insufficient.
The tour should think seriously about assessing strokes for first-time offenders. That should take about one penalty stroke to get a guy's attention the rest of the year. Otherwise, it will only get worse. Arnold Palmer watched a high school tournament at Bay Hill in October and was shocked to see teen-agers studying every putt from every conceivable angle. It's time to do something about slow play.