Justin Thomas recently became the subject of a conversation that didn’t even start with him—and for good reason. On the latest episode of Fried Egg Golf & The Shotgun Start, hosts Andy Johnson and Brendan Porath discussed how the slow pace at golf events has continued, especially on courses like Merion and Pebble Beach.

The 126th U.S. Amateur arrives this week—but behind the scenes, a pace-of-play crisis is unfolding. Rounds at the Merion Golf Club, even with just two golfers on the course, have been stretching past three to four hours. Many analysts pointed out that this has become a recurring issue at multiple golf clubs, and Johnson blames Thomas.

“I feel like JT started this,” he said. “Oh, God. He walks out… It’s like you’re 80 yards away. You can’t walk to the green to look where the flag is.

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“There are a lot of guys doing that at the 4th hole, you know, on their third shot, and you’re… You’ve got, yes, 40, 50 yards.” Porath agreed, stating that a real trend is forming among the current amateur ranks.

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The trend in question is part of Thomas’s pre-shot routine. He leaves his ball on the fairway, walks ahead, and checks the pin position and surrounding contours before committing to a swing. That leads to slow play. In fact, Thomas and his group (Keegan Bradley and Cameron Young) were put on the clock for exceeding time pars in the second round of the 2026 PGA Championship at Aronimink. Thomas pushed back, arguing that time pars shouldn’t be applied during 25 mph gusts. Thomas needs to have his strategy in place, even if it costs time.

Yet Thomas is not alone in slowing the game. Johnson and Porath pointed out that junior and amateur players are now mimicking a habit that eats up time on courses that are not built for it.

Johnson backed his argument, saying he witnessed the issue firsthand at the Western Amateur, where players were still working through their front nine well into the afternoon.

The pace crisis ties into a larger debate: are these courses obsolete, or are modern players simply playing too fast?

The USGA and R&A’s ball rollback, set for 2028, was specifically designed to address this problem. But it has been delayed for now to allow discussions with the players first. USGA CEO Mike Whan previously warned that continued gains in distance would eventually make these courses obsolete for championship golf.

While the discussion continues and the officials still decide how to plan out the issue, Johnson floated a fix of his own. He proposed a hard limit: enforce the sport’s recommended 40 seconds per shot with penalties. There is also heavy emphasis on penalties for the players who blow past it. For now, the U.S. Amateur and the three-hour-plus matches remain the norm at Merion this week.