Collin Morikawa Makes 'Hard-Hitting' Suggestion To Combat Slow Play On PGA Tour After Claiming 'Monetary Fines Are Useless'

At The Players Championship, PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan revealed that the circuit will be "publishing speed-of-play-related statistics later this season," whilst also testing a "new speed-of-play policy" at Korn Ferry Tour and PGA Tour Americas tournaments.

The news was welcomed by many but, prior to Monahan's press conference, two-time Major winner Collin Morikawa was asked for his opinion on the matter of slow play, with the American believing harsher punishments should be enforced.

Speaking on Tuesday, Morikawa was asked about whether the PGA Tour's data on average stroke time among players should be released publicly, with the 28-year-old responding: "I think it should be."

He went on to add "I don't know why you wouldn't want it to be released. I think after talking to some guys, I think you just have to start stroking guys and giving guys actual penalties, whether it be strokes or FedEx Cup (points).

"What I've learned is that monetary fines are useless. We make so much money, and some guys frankly couldn't care less about... I don't know how much the fines are, but whatever X amount they are, and I think they care more about playing good golf and making sure they make the playoffs and making sure they make, you know, 70, 50, 30.

"That's where it hits hard. And I see no issue with it. I think what is there to hide, right? If you're slow, you know you're slow. I mean, if you don't know, then there's an issue.

"To me, there's no issue with letting it out, right. It's only going to make things better because then you're either going to have a target on you, put a little more pressure and hopefully you pick it up, or you get penalized.

"Like it's very simple. But I think the fans need to realize that slow play is not going to fix -- like if we pick up 10 minutes of pace of play for this week, the fans won't realize that at all. Like zero. So that's not the issue with watching golf."

Morikawa isn't the only player who believes the data should be shared publicly. Also speaking on Tuesday was Justin Thomas, who stated: "It's something I've said, if we put it in the locker room or put it out, which would obviously end up getting out, but nobody wants to be known as that (a slow player).

"I mean, I'm the first to admit I mean I'm on the slow side of players. It bothers me, but I've talked to many officials about it, like I want to know why I'm slow because obviously the first thing that any slower player thinks is that they're not slow...

"I do think it would be something that would be helpful, but I just think there's a lot of little things that go into it.

"The fact we played Torrey Pines, Genesis we played in twosomes on the weekend and we played in four hours, versus a couple weeks ago at the Farmers (where it) was like 5 hours and 30 minutes, and Dottie said on air how long it was taking.

"But the difference it makes of twosomes and threesomes and the amount of people in the field, it's a big deal. So I think that we're making progress, but at the same time it can always get better."

One other way the PGA Tour is attempting to improve pace of play is via the introduction of rangefinders, with Monahan explaining that they be tested at tournaments between The Masters and PGA Championship.

Rangefinders are already used on the LPGA Tour and, although the circuit doesn't name-and-shame those in the slow play category, it is set to implement a number of measures to combat slow play, specifically enforcing more penalties on those who don't follow the guidelines.

The new measures include fines to pros who take 1-5 seconds over their allotted time to take a shot, a one-stroke penalty for 6-15 seconds over time and a two-stroke penalty for 16 seconds or more over time.