Charley Hoffman wrote a letter to his fellow PGA Tour players addressing slow pace of play and other issues within the ranks.
The letter, which was shared on social media by Golf Magazine on Sunday night, follows the lead of Justin Thomas, whose memo last month implored golfers to be more accommodating to the sport’s broadcast partners as a means to connect with the fans and improve television viewership.
“We’ve taken a lot of heat over the past few weeks about slow play,” Hoffman wrote in the letter. “And yeah, it’s an issue — for our fans, for us as players. Cutting down field sizes will help, but only by a few minutes a day. As players, we still need to make a concerted effort to speed up. Pace of play has been a challenge my entire 20 years on Tour, and it was an issue 20 years before that.
“Golf is a tough game, and when conditions get extreme, it takes time to play it the right way. We all need to take responsibility to be ready when it’s our turn to play and having the awareness to realize that we are out of position and speed up even before the rules official shows up. We do it all the time, we just need to be more aware of it!”
The 48-year-old Hoffman is a four-time winner of the PGA Tour, with his last victory coming at the Valero Texas Open in 2016. He has served multiple terms on the Player Advisory Council and twice served on the higher-level policy board of the PGA Tour.
“We have a responsibility to work with our broadcast partners — whether that’s doing on-course interviews or just giving fans a better look at what we do out there,” Hoffman wrote in the letter. “But just as we help them, we need to make sure our Tour and our players are being properly highlighted. We’re the best players in the world competing on the best tour in the world. That should always be the focus — showcasing the thought, skill, passion, and competition that makes our game great.”
He commented about limited opportunities for golfers to play their way into Signature Events, pledging as a Player Advisory Council member to monitor how the AON Swing 5 is included in the process.
He was more critical of players reducing their PGA Tour participation yet finding time to play in the new TGL (which features 24 players) and other non-tour events.
“If we truly care about strengthening our Tour, we should be supporting as many PGA Tour events as we can,” Hoffman wrote. “Many of you keep saying you want to play fewer events, yet you still find time for TGL, Race to Dubai, and other non-PGA Tour events, and that’s going to continue regardless of field size.
“The best competition happens when the best players go head-to-head in a deep, competitive field — not in small, limited-entry events that leave deserving players on the outside looking in. This Tour was built on open competition, where anyone with the game to compete has a chance to prove it against the best. That’s what has made our Tour special for generations, and we need to keep pushing for that.”