‘It’s all in the past,’ claims Na as he hits back at slow play taunts

Kevin Na has hit out at those that still label him a ‘slow’ player and claims his lengthy pre-shot routine is a thing of the past.

Speaking with Alan Shipnuck on the Golf.com Podcast, Na addressed the issue that has followed him since Bob Estes, PGA Tour professional, deemed the American’s routine as “embarrassing” during the 2012 Player Championship. “I’m not the fastest, I’ll tell you that. Am I slow? I can be at times, but I don’t think I’m that slow. People don’t realise that what they saw at the 2012 Players was the yips. It wasn’t my normal pre-shot routine, so you can’t call it slow play,” Na said.

The PGA Tour has always come under fire for pace of play, and while the average round at The Masters took nearly six hours to complete, Kevin Na still comes under huge criticism for his slow play, even from outside the golfing world.

In February, English cricketer Kevin Pieterson took to Twitter to criticise the slow play, and posted a video of Na taking his time over a short putt at the Genesis Open, writing: “SERIOUSLY, Kevin Na?!?! That Is A Tap In, MATE!”

The one-time PGA tour winner believes it’s all a thing of the past, though, but claims he still gets taunted by fans.

“Am I the fastest player on Tour? No, but what you saw there was the yips- so let’s get over that. It was six years ago. But I still have some people say to me, ‘Pull the trigger!’,” Na said.

Despite all of this criticism, and only one PGA Tour victory, Na has made steady progress as regards to earning and currently sits 42nd on the career money list with $25,328,240 (€20,747,606) banked.

At just 34, Na is in the middle of his 15th year on Tour, and a staggering 17th as professional.

He continued: “I want to play until I’m, like, 42 or 43, then go on the Steve Stricker schedule, where you only play a dozen or so events a year.”