More LPGA stars are speaking out about the tour’s slow play problem.
On Sunday, after Charley Hull and Nelly Korda’s final round at the Annika took over five hours to finish, Hull offered a “ruthless” idea to speed up the pace of play.
“Listen, if you get three bad timings, every time it’s a tee shot penalty,’” Hull said. “If you have three of them, you lose your tour card instantly. I’m sure that would hurry a lot of people up and they won't want to lose their tour card.
“That would kill the slow play, but they would never do that.”
Two days later, ahead of the LPGA’s season-ending CME Group Tour Championship, players were asked what they thought of Hull’s proposal.
“Hers was a bit of an aggressive comment,” Lexi Thompson said. “I don't disagree with it. It has to be done. Something has to be done to quicken up the play out there, whether it's fines or whatever it is. Needs to be done because we need to play quicker. Fans aren't enjoying being out there for five and a half hours in the heat.”
Though many players might not want Hull’s idea to come to fruition, mostly everyone agrees that the pace of play has become a headache.
“I personally think it's a pretty big issue,” Korda said. “I think it's not good for the fans that come out and watch us. If it was me personally, I would be very, very annoyed watching for five hours, over five hours, five hours and 40 minutes, close to six. I just think it really drags the game down.”
What would be Korda’s solution?
“Players just need to be penalized,” the world No. 1 said. “Rules officials need to watch from the first group. Once they get two minutes behind, one minute behind, it just slows everything down.
“To be standing over a putt for two to three minutes, that's ridiculous.”
LPGA Hall of Famer Lydia Ko also gave her two cents on the topic, but isn’t sure there’s a one-size-fits-all remedy.
“It depends on the situation,” she said. “U.S. Women's Opens tend to take longer because we have a bigger field. It is really one of the toughest tournaments we play all year.
“So just is case by case. I think the slow play topic is talked about on every tour. I can't say that like our tour is slower than others just because I don't have that experience, nor knowledge, to back that kind of statement.
Ko, however, is bullish that players are working towards speeding up their rounds—but change may not happen overnight.
“I was lucky enough to be able to serve on the LPGA board and be a player director for three years,” she said. “Before that time I would think things and say things. Why would they make that kind of decision? After serving on the board I realize there is a lot more to it than what we see.
“I believe that everybody is doing their best, and as players, we're always going to continuously do better to try and keep up with the pace of play. I don't know if one strategy or one way is going to instantly make a round 30 minutes faster.”
This article was originally published on www.si.com as More LPGA Stars Offer Thoughts, Solutions on Tour's Pace of Play Issue.
