Slow play doesn't pay

   Here's hoping Carl Alexander, Greg Bisconti and David May learned a lesson from the final round of the New York State Open at Bethpage Black Thursday. They started the day in the top three spots and none of them was in the playoff or within a shot of it. That is, they all shot themselves out of contention in their interminable round.

        Maybe they will learn that there is absolutely no reason to play a six-hour round, no matter how much is at stake in a tournament. Those three guys were almost two full holes behind the next-to-last group, which included Keith Dicciani, who won, and Jamie Miller, who lost in a one-hole sudden death playoff.

        The last group's pace was tedious to the point of being hideous. it was unbearable to watch. If those guys are in contention again, they should know that they will have a better shot of winning if they step up the pace. As pros, they know that slow play generally is one of the greatest headaches in all of golf, one that inhibits people from playing more. Pros need to set a better example.