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TSN Senior Reporter

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For those who know him, Keith Pelley has never been about subtle. Not when he was running TSN or the Toronto Argonauts or Rogers Media. It’s one of the reasons he’s been successful at every stop – he’s not afraid to shake things up.

So you knew when he took top spot at the European Tour, there were bound to be changes of the dramatic sort.

And the effervescent Pelley hasn’t slowed down one bit. This week, as the tour gets its Middle East run underway, the new CEO pulled out a new policy on slow play and then followed up by allowing players to wear shorts during practice rounds and pro-ams.

Just imagine what’s next – maybe letting them use laser range finders or allowing them to keep their own score.

While the PGA Tour seems often to move at a glacial pace, swimming against the tide, Pelley is shaking things up and at the same time, getting players to fall in love with him.

His move to combat slow play, for example, was approved on Tuesday evening in Abu Dhabi at a players-only meeting. Under the new rule, a group that falls out of position will be “monitored.” A player who exceeds the time allotted to play a shot (40 seconds plus an additional 10 if you’re the first player to hit) receives a monitoring penalty. Two penalties in a round results in a fine (about $4,000 CDN) with the amount doubling with every infraction.

And, in a break with all previous slow play rules, officials can now deem one player as a violator instead of punishing an entire group.

But the biggest part of this? The tour will name the offenders. As much as the fines will hurt, the peer pressure and public awareness on the dawdlers will be massive.

“Our goal is to knock 15 minutes off rounds,” Pelley told reporters in Abu Dhabi. “The reaction from players has been extremely positive.”

If that wasn’t enough to get the players on his side, he threw in a bonus. After some lobbying by golfers led by Darren Clarke, the tour let players in last week’s EurAsia Cup in Kuala Lumpur wear shorts in the practice rounds. And that carried over to this week in Abu Dhabi. At the players meeting, it was approved for the rest of the year.

The golfers’ reaction was overwhelmingly positive, although it may take some adjusting.

“I think it's a good idea to let guys wear shorts in practice rounds,” said Rory McIlroy at a press conference ahead of his first start of 2016. “I probably just need a couple more weeks in the sun to get my legs out in public, that's what it is, sort of pale Irish skin doesn't go so well. Yeah, I think it's a good idea.”

Jordan Spieth, who was in long pants only because he wasn’t aware of the ruling, was also on board.

“Guys seem to all love it over here,” he stated. “I've not heard one person, one Tour player complain about it.”

Spieth added that he hopes the PGA Tour will take a look at a similar policy.