I agree with you in principle that all matches should be under the same ruleset. However, with pool's limited budget, I think this is good compromise. I never, ever, ever, want to watch a match with no shot clock as a fan.
Limited budget isn’t the issue, the want to do things right, increase engagement and turn around a dying thing in the USA is the problem. Why not have some volunteers run the clocks, give them a year DrillRoom, Salotto or something for helping for 2 matches. Bam problem solved plus you may gain cross engagement for other things trying to help the pool world. It isn’t hard to come up with ideas to do things correctly and for the long term,they may fail…then you come up with new ideas. You don’t half ass if you want real growth. Tournament series failing doesn’t kill pool, pool in America has done nothing but bleed for the last 20 years due to short sighted, short term results oriented thinking. It will eventually bleed to death as all the old people die and there is a smaller and smaller crop of players and fans coming up.
The limited budget is a product of this and other factors that make the pool world extemely undesirable and unprofitable for anyone to come in from the outside in a big way. Not the other way around.
I’d prefer there be shot clocks too, slow play in rotation is unbearable to watch live or after the fact.