European Tour to use shot clock at Austrian Open

The European Tour will be using a 40-second shot clock at every hole at the Austrian Open.

The June 7-10 event will feature referees walking with every group, timer in hand. Players will be given a warning the equivalent of a yellow card in football for their first offense, while every subsequent shot that takes longer than 40 seconds will incur a one-shot penalty.

This is the second time in as many years that the European Tour has introduced an innovation designed to speed up play. The inaugural edition of Golf Sixes in May featured a digital, 40-second shot clock behind players on one hole. The shot clock was viewed by many to be one of the more successful innovations of the Golf Sixes event.