As previously announced – and as part of a continued commitment to address speed of play – the PGA TOUR and Korn Ferry Tour will test multiple speed-of-play recommendations beginning this week.
On the PGA TOUR, distance-measuring devices will be permitted at six events over a four-week period, beginning at the RBC Heritage and Corales Puntacana Championship (April 17-20) and continuing through the Truist Championship and ONEflight Myrtle Beach Classic (May 8-11).
Meanwhile, the Korn Ferry Tour will test distance-measuring devices at three consecutive events beginning with this week’s LECOM Suncoast Classic (note: the Korn Ferry Tour previously tested the use of distance-measuring devices at four tournaments in 2017). PGA TOUR Americas and PGA TOUR Champions already permits the use of distance-measuring devices during competition.
The use of distance-measuring devices is one of three recommendations from the TOUR’s player-led Speed of Play Working Group formed in 2025, which aims to positively impact speed of play in response to survey feedback from the TOUR’s Fan Forward initiative.
Players who elect to utilize a distance-measuring device must ensure the device measures distance only. All other features such as course mapping, club selection advice, and measuring slope, elevation and wind must be disabled prior to using the device during competition. The penalty for the first breach of this rule is two strokes. A second breach results in disqualification.
The second recommendation from the Speed of Play Working Group is a revised Pace of Play Policy that includes assessing a one-stroke penalty for the first “bad time,” which occurs when a player exceeds the applicable time to play a stroke while being timed. Previously, a one-stroke penalty was not applied until a player received a second “bad time.”
The Korn Ferry Tour will begin testing the revised Pace of Play Policy – which will be in effect for the remainder of the 2025 season – at this week’s LECOM Suncoast Classic. PGA TOUR Americas adopted the revised Pace of Play Policy prior to the start of its 2025 season.
Data will be collected across the two Tours to evaluate the overall impact on pace of play, which could lead to a new Pace of Play Policy being implemented on the PGA TOUR as early as 2026.
The TOUR previously announced a reduction in field sizes starting in 2026 to help the overall flow of play and better account for events with limited daylight.
A third recommendation currently in development is the publishing of pace of play data for PGA TOUR members on TOUR media platforms. Details on the makeup of the data will be made available in the near future.