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Honolulu. Luke Donald took to Twitter to vent about a contentious issue on the PGA Tour. If nothing else, it was refreshing to see golf with a No. 1 player who was willing to express his opinion freely and publicly.

The issue that stirred Donald from his holiday in Barbados? Pace of play, a topic that is not going anywhere in a hurry.

Players can question whether the tour should change the FedEx Cup points system. A week from now, they might really get worked up when they hear details of a proposal to revamp Q-school.

Still, nothing gets them going like slow play.

Donald joined the fray during the final round at Kapalua, where the final four pairings featured Kevin Na, Ben Crane, Webb Simpson and Jonathan Byrd.

It didn’t take long for Byrd and Steve Stricker to fall nearly two holes behind.

“Sounds like slow play is already an issue in the 1st week of the PGATOUR season and it’s 2 somes. Sort it out please ...” came the first tweet from Donald. He followed with some advice: “It’s not that hard, be ready when it’s your turn. Slow play is killing our sport.”

Two tweets later, Donald got off his soap box with a final thought: “I could rant all day long, don’t think anything will ever change as the slow players don’t realize they are slow.”

Criticism is less meaningful when not accompanied by solutions, and there is no simple answer for slow play. If there were, it would have been fixed by now.

Tim Herron took about two minutes to figure out how to play his second shot to the green on Friday of the Sony Open. His ball was in the rough, 187 yards to a flag tucked behind the bunker. Was the ball going to take off on him from that lie? How much? 6-iron or 7-iron? If it had been in the fairway, caddie Lance Ten Broeck told him it would be a smooth 6-iron. Aim at the corner of the trap and cut it back toward the flag? Play for the middle of the green?

The entire conversation took place while the group ahead was putting. As soon as the group left the green, Herron’s shot was in the air. That’s how golf is meant to be played. Beautiful.

This spring will mark the 20-year anniversary of the last time a player was given a one-shot penalty for pace of play. To change the policy and make it a one-shot penalty when a player is over his allotted time sounds simple but wouldn’t work. There are too many extenuating circumstances.

Until someone gets a penalty shot, the stiffest punishment starts with a $20,000 fine for the 10th time a player is part of a group that gets put on the clock. How about docking him 50 points from the FedEx Cup standings? Consider that a year ago, 50 points marked the difference between 125th (qualifying for the playoffs) and 143rd (getting a month off).

Television cannot be underestimated when it comes to slow play. It would seem that TV could at least draw attention from the pace by not showing a player until he is ready to pull the trigger. However, several players have perfected the art of repeatedly backing off shots.

Furthermore, the beauty of television is spending time with the player before the shot, allowing the fan to anticipate the possibilities. It worked well when Nick Faldo took forever before deciding on a 2-iron to go for the 13th green, a key moment when he won the 1996 Masters. Padraig Harrington walking up to the 17th green to check the hole location at Brookline in the Ryder Cup? Not so much.

Mark Russell, one of the chief rules officials, made an observation about recreational golf years ago that is worth considering: Slow play is only a problem when you have to wait.

Associated Press