Tour Timing: How Long Does It Take Pros to Play 18 Holes? (And Why It Matters)

Watching the world’s best golfers can be mesmerizing — until the clock keeps ticking and the groups seem to crawl.

Slow play has become one of the hottest debates in professional golf, frustrating fans, broadcasters, and even the players themselves.

Whether it’s Rory McIlroy’s six-hour marathon opening round of his thrilling Grand Slam win at the 2025 Masters or Brooks Koepka’s visible frustration during the final round of his own attempt to win at Augusta a couple of years before, the pace-of-play issue continues to cast a shadow over the professional game.

But in reality how long does it take pros to play 18 holes?

And more importantly — what’s causing lengthy rounds, and can anything be done to speed things up?

Here we’ll explore the realities of tour timing, share factual pace of play insights that will surprise you, and examine potential solutions that could benefit golfers at all levels.

Golfing Focused Takeaways For Time Pressed Golfers

• Pro tournament rounds regularly exceed 5 hours, sometimes stretching to nearly 6 hours at majors like the Masters.
• Slow play disrupts player rhythm and focus, potentially affecting crucial shots and tournament outcomes.
• The PGA Tour, LIV Tour, LPGA Tour, and England Golf are testing innovations like rangefinder trials, checkpoint systems, shot clocks and publishing player pace statistics.
• According to pace-of-play expert Bill Yates, the solution isn’t simply about rushing players — it’s about smarter course setup and field management.

How Long Does It Actually Take Pros to Play 18 Holes? The Numbers

When Golfing Focus examined how long it takes amateurs to play a round of golf, we discovered the “4-hour standard” is more myth than reality.

But when it comes to professional golf, the rounds are undoubtedly longer – much longer than most casual golfers or TV viewers might expect.

Here’s how the times compare:

EVENT	AVERAGE 18-HOLE TIME
PGA Tour Pro Tournament (3-ball group)	4h 45m to 5h 30m
Major Championships (Masters, USPGA, US Open, British Open)	5h to 5h 45m hours
Top UK Amateur Events (3-ball)	Under 4h 30m

On his way to winning the Grand Slam at the 2025 Masters Rory McIlroy’s first round took nearly 6 hours, despite very favourable weather conditions and a smaller field.

By comparison, three ball rounds at top amateur tournaments in the UK, even on extremely testing courses over 7,000 yards, invariably beat the four and half hour mark according to England Golf’s data.

This creates an interesting contrast: professional golfers, who hit fewer shots with greater precision, actually take much longer to play than the vast vast majority amateur groups.

What explains this paradox? Let’s explore the factors behind professional golf’s pace problem.

Why Do Professional Golf Rounds Take So Long?

Professional slow play is rarely just about “slow players” holding up the field.

Instead, it’s a complex web of interconnected factors that can often combine to create those marathon rounds we see on TV.

And the causes fall into two main categories:

1. Systemic issues related to tournament structure
2. Player specific behaviours

Systemic and Environmental Causes

Tour events create natural bottlenecks through their organization and setup.

Most PGA Tour tournaments fields for example are large and between 140–156 players, creating inevitable congestion on the course.

Once a lead group falls behind schedule even slightly, the backup ripples throughout the day, affecting dozens of groups behind them.

The PGA Tour also typically uses 10-11 minute intervals between groups – relatively tight spacing that contributes to what Gary Young, the Tour’s Senior Vice President of Rules and Competitions calls the “accordion effect” – where any delay ripples throughout the field once the course becomes saturated with players.

And this spacing is also used in spite of expert recommendations, from the late great Godfather of pace of play – Bill Yates – recommending 12-13 minutes spacing to maintain round speed.

Yates, who spent thousands and thousands of hours studying the pace of play across the world, and his research were very clear – tight-tee time intervals create bottlenecks out on the course for both pros and amateurs alike.

The course set up, especially at major championships, then adds another layer of complexity with narrow fairways, lightning-fast greens, and punishing rough compounding problems.

Walking distances between greens and tees can also be significant on Tour, often adding up to 30+ minutes to total round time.

And then there are the media requirements of the professional game which also slow down rounds.

Televised events sometimes pause groups to better align player shots with broadcast commercial breaks.

While these delays may be minor they can add up significantly over 18 holes and accumulate into full-group slowdowns by the end of the day.

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Player Behaviours and Routines

Although the Tour system does create challenges, individual player habits also clearly contribute significantly to slow play.

Today’s pros have dramatically expanded their pre-shot routines to the extent that they now often take 30–45 seconds per shot as they:

• Consult caddies, study conditions and yardage books
• Take multiple practice swings, and
• Read greens from multiple angles.

Some players especially have developed reputations for particularly methodical approaches.

Patrick Cantlay, for instance, has often been singled out repeatedly for his deliberate pace, especially during pressure situations at big events while Bernhard Langer has been renowned as a slow player throughout his incredible PGA, DP World and Champions Tour career.

The very methodical approaches of such players can add significant time to a round.

As we noted when looking at pace of play in the amateur game however it is mistake to attribute slow rounds to the players themselves.

“The myth that slow rounds are caused solely by slow players needs to go. Structural issues are at the heart of pace problems.”

bill yates, pace of play expert

How the Major Tours Are Trying to Speed things up

Faced with mounting criticism from players, fans, and broadcasters, professional golf organizations have begun implementing various measures to address slow play.

From innovative timing systems to technological solutions, here’s how different tours are approaching the challenge.

PGA Tour’s Multilayered Approach

The PGA Tour employs a comprehensive system centered around the concept of “time par” – a predetermined time allocation for each hole:

HOLE TYPE	TIME PAR ALLOCATION
Par 3	12–14 minutes
Par 4	14–16 minutes
Par 5	17–19 minutes

Overall, time par for the entire round is therefore 4hours 45 minutes for threesomes, and four hours even for weekend pairs.

But when groups fall behind this schedule, a progressive discipline system kicks in.

The PGA Tour places particular emphasis on monitoring the first groups off each tee, as these effectively set the pace for the entire field.

If a group falls significantly behind time par, officials issue warnings and can put players “on the clock.”

At this point, individual shots are timed, with escalating consequences:

• First excessive time violation = warning (one free warning per year)
• Subsequent violations = financial penalties.

Critics have questioned though whether these penalties create sufficient deterrence, especially for top-earning players.

So in 2025 the Tour took a more transparent approach by promising to publish player pace statistics – a move supported by several prominent players.

“I think [individual pace of play stats] should be released.
What I’ve learned is that monetary fines are useless.

collin morikawa, 2-time major champion

The PGA Tour has also experimented with technological solutions.

In early 2025, rangefinders were permitted in six events between the Masters and PGA Championship, though player reception was mixed.

“Is it going to help pace of play? Maybe a few minutes. Will it be anything significant? No.” — Scottie Scheffler

LPGA Tour’s Streamlined System

The LPGA Tour by contrast has implemented its own pace initiatives with promising early results:

• Widened tee intervals to 11 minutes between groups
• Implemented more consistent warning procedures
• Created clearer time expectations for players

And early internal data suggests these changes are reducing average round times, though official results are still being compiled.

England Golf’s Innovative Checkpoint System

And although admittedly not in the pro ranks perhaps the most successful approach has been found in leading amateur golf in England, UK where officials have developed a checkpoint system that focuses on group progress rather than individual shots.

Rather than timing each player’s pre-shot routine, England Golf established time targets at strategic points throughout the round – typically after holes 6, 12, and 15.

The penalties work as follows:

• Miss first checkpoint = yellow card warning
• Miss second checkpoint = one-stroke penalty to all group members

This group-based approach has created peer accountability and the results have been impressive.

In the 2024-25 championship season, no group incurred a penalty stroke, and threeball rounds consistently finished in under 4 hours 30 minutes.

And this checkpoint system has now caught the attention of professional tours, with some officials suggesting it might offer a more practical solution than focusing on individual players’ shot times.

“I don’t see any reason why (it can’t transfer to the pro game). I think we just have to potentially get away from this concept that slow play is all around how long it takes just to hit your shot.”

James Crampton, England Golf’s director of championships

The Real-World Impact of Slow Play

While discussions about pace of play often focus on policy and enforcement, the consequences of slow rounds extend far beyond administrative concerns.

Slow play affects both the competitive integrity of the sport and its commercial viability.

Even the world’s best golfers struggle when their natural rhythm is disrupted by excessive waiting and a perfect illustration of this impact occurred during the opening round of Rory McIlroy’s career defining 2025 Masters win.

McIlroy was forced to wait nearly three minutes to play a tricky chip at Augusta’s 15th hole, as a result of delays caused by his playing partner’s drop procedure and a backup on the next tee.

When he finally hit, he dumped the ball into the water — a costly mistake that lead to a double bogey on a very birdie-able hole and that many analysts linked directly to the interruption in his rhythm.

Had he ended up not winning it might have been this single shot, influenced by an extended delay, that ultimately cost him the title rather than his much more focused on missed putt at the 72nd hole.

Brooks Koepka also partly attriubed his final round collapse at the 2023 Masters to slow play disruptions.

And these high-profile examples illustrate a phenomenon that sports psychologists have long recognized: golf’s stop-start nature during slow rounds creates additional mental challenges.

When players stand over a crucial shot after waiting several minutes, their focus and execution often suffer.

The competitive disadvantage is real.

Research suggests that golfers perform significantly better when they maintain consistent timing between shots.

And this explains why tour professionals can often struggle when forced to adapt to someone else’s pace.

Impact on Viewer Experience

From a broadcast perspective, slow play creates numerous challenges:

• Television windows frequently run long, forcing networks to adjust programming
• Critical closing holes sometimes shift to different channels as prime-time programming takes precedence
• Viewers in different time zones may miss tournament conclusions entirely.

Industry data shows that viewership tends to drop significantly during extended coverage, particularly when groups are visibly waiting on tees and fairways.

Casual fans, in particular, find these delays frustrating.

And renowned CBS commentator Dottie Pepper has expressed this frustration during coverage:

“It’s not just about pace — it’s about respect. Respect for fans, for competitors, and for sponsors who invest millions in this game. When we normalize five-and-a-half hour rounds, we’re doing the sport a disservice.”

The commercial implications are also significant.

As streaming platforms compete for viewers’ attention with increasingly engaging content, golf’s prolonged broadcasts risk losing market share among younger demographics who prefer faster-paced entertainment.

For tournament organizers therefore, the challenge lies in balancing these concerns with the practical realities of professional competition:

• Players deserve sufficient time to prepare for shots with millions of dollars at stake
• Difficult course conditions and complex holes naturally require more time
• Media and spectator movement adds unavoidable delays.

The solution therefore likely requires a multifaceted approach that addresses both player behavior and tournament structures while preserving the integrity of competition.

⛳ What Do You Think?
Have you experienced slow play frustration yourself — on the course or from the couch?
Drop your thoughts in the comments — we’d love to hear your take.

Do Any of The ‘Pace of Play’ Solutions Actually Work?

As golf’s governing bodies and professional tours grapple with pace-of-play concerns, various solutions have emerged – some of which we have already touched on and some more effective than others.

By analyzing the results of different initiatives, we can identify the most promising approaches to this persistent challenge.

Comparing Pace-of-Play Solutions

PACE OF PLAY SOLUTION	WHAT IT DOES	EFFECTIVENESS	IMPLEMENTATION
Rangefinders	Allows players to determine distances without caddie calculations	⚪ Limited impact (saves ~2-3 minutes per round)	Used in select PGA Tour events in 2025
Two-ball groups	Reduces on-course congestion, particularly in final rounds	✅ Highly effective (saves up to 1 hour)	Standard for weekend Tour And Major rounds
Publishing pace statistics	Creates transparency and peer accountability	✅ Promising early results	Introduced by PGA Tour in 2025
Shot clocks (TGL)	Strictly limits time per shot with countdown	⚪ Effective in controlled environments but challenging to implement broadly	Used in TGL league, LIV Tour and exhibition events
Checkpoint system	Focuses on group progress rather than individual shots	✅ Proven success in leading UK amateur events	Successfully implemented by England Golf

The Expert Perspective

While individual solutions show promise, pace-of-play experts emphasize the need for a systems-based approach rather than focusing solely on player behavior.

The late Bill Yates, the leading pace-of-play researcher who consulted with the USGA, R&A, and numerous professional tours, frequently challenged the common myth that slow rounds are just caused by slow players.

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His research consistently showed the reality is much more complex and that meaningful improvements come from addressing fundamental structural elements including:

• Optimizing tee time intervals based on course design
• Adjusting field sizes to match course capacity
• Implementing strategic course management during tournaments
• Creating effective movement patterns for players, caddies, and officials.

And this systems perspective is gaining traction among tour officials who previously focused primarily on individual player timing.

The most promising approach therefore appears to be a combination of structural changes and individual accountability measures:

• Course design considerations: Working with architects to create tournament venues with improved flow between holes
• Field size management: Limiting fields to 144 players when possible to reduce congestion
• Checkpoint systems: Adapting England Golf’s successful group-progress model to professional golf
• Transparency initiatives: Continuing to publish individual pace data to create accountability
• Format innovations: Using two-ball groups more frequently, particularly in early rounds.

Professional golf faces unique challenges that recreational golfers don’t encounter: massive galleries, broadcasting requirements, and the immense pressure of competition with millions at stake.

Finding solutions that preserve the integrity of the competition while improving the viewing experience remains the ultimate goal.

The Path Forward

The future of professional golf likely involves continued experimentation with pace initiatives.

The most successful tours will be those that find the right balance between:

• Preserving the strategic, thoughtful nature of the game
• Creating a dynamic, engaging product for modern viewers
• Respecting players’ needs for adequate preparation
• Ensuring consistent, fair conditions for all competitors.

While the perfect solution may remain elusive, by aligning with research from people like Bill Yates and listening to frustrated fans and players, the sport has a roadmap.

The combined impact of structural improvements and individual accountability measures offers the most promising path toward reasonable round times without compromising competitive integrity.

Whether the PGA Tour and other major tours will follow it through consistently — that’s the real question.

Until then, bring a snack, maybe two… because watching 18 holes of pro golf isn’t getting faster just yet.

Before You Go ….

The game’s governing bodies – the USGA and R&A – publish lots of pace of play guidelines for amateurs as well as pros.

Check out our next article to compare the ‘time par’ we amateurs are allocated by the guidelines to the amount of time the pros are allowed!

How Long Does A Round Of Golf Take – For 1, 2, 3 & 4 Players? (With Calculator)

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