Slow play has long tested the fans’ patience with five-hour-plus rounds and endless routines. To curb this, the PGA Tour launched the Fan Forward initiative in 2024. Additionally, former Commissioner Jay Monahan announced a ‘Speed of Play Working Group’ to prioritize the viewer experience. So, the league started testing stroke penalties on the Korn Ferry Tour. But fast forward to now, and the slow play debate has ignited again.

A popular golf account, Skratch, recently posted a video clip on X, captioned, “Is Ludvig Åberg fast or is everyone else just…slow?” It featured a candid conversation between broadcaster Dan Rapaport and the Swedish golfer, in which Rapaport asked whether he feels he is actually that fast or if the standard for professional golfers is simply too slow. Åberg didn’t hesitate before answering: “Absolutely.”

And when Rapaport pressed him further about the golf world’s obsession with his rapid pace, Åberg answered, “Yeah, it’s more of a perspective, isn’t it? I think in college, I never thought of it once. That was just the way it was. And then turned pro, and it became more of a thing, like I’m pretty fast over the ball, but I’m not that fast when it comes to routine and process and talking to Joe [Skovron]. I don’t like to rush things. But is golf slow? Absolutely.”

Now, that isn’t just big talk. The data back him up. Golf Digest writer Christopher Powers put this reputation to the test at THE PLAYERS Championship. Powers used a stopwatch app to time every single shot Åberg hit on the front nine, and the results were massive, proving Åberg’s average time from arriving at the ball to impact was just 33 seconds. PGA Tour official Stephen Cox noted that the average time for a shot is typically 38 seconds.

Though five seconds seems small and might not sound like much, compared to the standard Tour pace it adds up significantly over a full round of 70 shots. So, the veteran writer complimented, “It’s something every player, regardless of status in the game, should aspire to. More importantly, it’s something we should celebrate.”

And you might think playing fast leads to sloppy mistakes, but the young Swede changes that stereotype entirely.

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Ludvig Åberg’s 2025 season silenced that argument

In February, Åberg claimed his second PGA Tour title at the Genesis Invitational. He fired a final-round 66 to win by one stroke at the historic Riviera Country Club. Then he contended brilliantly at the 2025 Masters, finishing 7th after a late Sunday stumble. Even in the pressure cooker of Augusta National, he refused to slow his natural speed. Then came the heroics at the Ryder Cup at Bethpage when his singles victory over Patrick Cantlay helped Team Europe to secure their back-to-back Ryder Cup in a hostile environment.

Åberg’s profile for the season tells the same impressive story of efficiency. He ranked 14th in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee and 14th in Driving Distance during the 2025 season.

“I would like to think that I’m quick, and I would like to think that I make my decisions pretty fast. I think that’s something that is a good thing,” Åberg said. “When I played, I didn’t want to be the guy that people were waiting for. I just don’t like playing slow, and I want the round to sort of have a nice tempo and a nice flow to it, I guess. So if it comes from that, I don’t know. But it stuck with me.”

While Åberg is the face of pace, not everyone is well-equipped with that speed. Patrick Cantlay faced criticism during the 2025 season for his lengthy routines. Phil Mickelson famously tweeted that Cantlay “shuffled his feet 26 times” before hitting a single shot. At the Tour Championship, a viral video showed Cantlay taking too much time to play one shot. And there are several other players, such as Alejandro Tosti, and even the World No.1 Scottie Scheffler isn’t immune to that problem.