'It's Not Rocket Science' - Bryson DeChambeau Suggests Pace Of Play Fix After Being Put On The Clock At Royal Portrush

Slow play has been a big talking point at The Open Championship, with the first rounds at Royal Portrush taking a near six hours to complete.

Although play sped up on Friday, rounds were still over the five hour mark and, on Saturday, two-time Major winner, Bryson DeChambeau, found himself on the clock on the 17th hole.

Confirming to reporters that he was put on the clock at the par 4, DeChambeau stated: "He (rules official) timed me on 17 after I striped the drive down there. 16, difficult hole, got up-and-down in a difficult spot.

"Understand we were struggling with pace the whole day. I was moving my butt as fast as I could. Greens were really tricky. I was trying to read them right. We just kept losing time.

"Unfortunately on the 16-17 exchange, you've got a downhill drivable hole you can play pretty quick if you get in the right spot. They did that, and we just lost more time to the group in front of us, and they put us on the clock, which is unfortunate."

After his explanation, DeChambeau, who carded a three-under-par 68 to go alongside his six-under 65 on Friday, then gave his thoughts on how pace of play could be improved, something fellow LIV Golfer, Jon Rahm, spoke about following his third round.

"It's very simple. It's not difficult at all. You eventually time everybody for their whole entire round. Very simple," explained the DeChambeau, who sits at two-under for the championship.

"Nobody wants to do it because people are too scared to get exposed, which I am an advocate for. I'd love to be timed, and I have no problem with that. My putting, I'm more deliberate, take more time on that, but when it comes to iron shots, off the tee, I'm pretty fast.

"It's like DJ (Dustin Johnson), he's really slow on the putting greens, and then he's incredibly fast on his full swing shots, second shots into it. Everybody plays a different style of game, and that's just the way it is. I wish it was just a new system.

"I think it would be more fair towards everybody. If somebody is playing slower, the guy can go up to him and say, hey, man, you're over par with your time. All you do is you just time them for every single shot.

"He gets there and puts the bag down, and how long it takes him to hit that shot and how long it takes him to walk to the green. It's not rocket science. You time how long someone takes individually, and then you separate that from the other person playing."

Back in 2018, the European Tour introduced the Shot Clock Masters, which used a timing element for each shot.

The idea was to reduce slow play, providing the first player in the group with 50 seconds to hit, while the remaining players had 40 seconds each to play their shot.

A one-shot penalty was given for exceeding the time limit and players could use two 'time-outs' for extended time.

Following the event, which was staged in Belgium and lasted for one year, it received a mixed response from those playing.

As mentioned, Rahm was also asked about slow play at Royal Portrush and, playing on the LIV Golf League, where it takes around 4.5 hours to complete their rounds, the Spaniard accepts the fact that slow play is going to be an issue in a larger, Major field like The Open.

Speaking about his first round in Northern Ireland, Rahm stated: "We had a lot of rain come in and out, so umbrellas out, glove out, put the rain gear on, take the rain gear off, give the umbrella to the caddie. It becomes a lot longer that way.

"Like I said to them, it usually is very much related to the amount of players in the field. When you have 150 plus the first two rounds, every single Major, except the Masters, obviously, is going to be longer rounds. It's just what it is. We don't have -- in smaller fields when you have less people, and even in threesomes in small fields, you don't really have that issue...

"It's a bit of an adjustment after playing on LIV because we absolutely fly. The one thing we do, I feel like every round is less than four and a half hours unless the weather conditions are crazy.

"It is an adjustment when you get to play a six-hour round a little bit, but I also know it's going to happen. So talk to your caddie, talk to your playing partners. While there's nothing you can do, just try to keep your mind engaged in something else but the game."