New rules on slow play have been introduced for the Ryder Cup - and the two teams are being warned of the consequences. "The regulations brought in will be strictly enforced," said chief referee John Paramor. "There's now a time limit of 60 seconds on every shot and if a player has three bad times it will mean loss of hole. We're not looking to penalise players, but I think we all know that there are some who play at different paces."
"What we hope is that they will all play at a pace that is reasonable. We've allowed approximately four hours for the singles, four hours 15 minutes for the foursomes and just over five hours for fourballs," Paramor added.
On their appointment as captains, Sam Torrance and Curtis Strange agreed that practice putting should be banned in a bid to speed things up. There will be an instant loss-of-hole penalty for anyone breaking that rule - but officials following each match will be expected to step in and prevent it happening if they see anybody preparing to putt again after a hole is completed.
"It is part of a referee's duty to try to prevent any rules breaches," added Paramor. "The no practice putting rule was brought in for the Seve Trophy (Britain and Ireland v Continental Europe) in April and I don't think anybody was even close to doing it. But we still had a fourball match on the second day (Clarke and Westwood against Raphael Jacquelin and Miguel Angel Jimenez) taking five hours 52 minutes and we're keen not to see that repeated."
"It was after that happened that the slow play rules were decided upon. We're trying to take the responsibility to act away from the captains and make it a matter for the referees. We're not asking the players to play any quicker than they do any week on tour. On the PGA Tour in America the limit for a shot is 60 seconds if you are the first in a group to play and 40 seconds if you are the second or third, while in Europe it is 50 seconds and 40 seconds."
Filed by Sinéad Kissane
