Slow play in the LPGA circuit has become too prevalent as of late. Many top women golfers have voiced their concern. For instance, Stacy Lewis pointed to the sluggish pace and flawed course setup as the twin culprits for the multiple slow-play rounds at the 2025 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship. So, the growing concern over the years has led to a revamping of the slow play policy. However, Charley Hull believes that the solution is still far from near.
“Yeah, it is quite hard, but I think they could do a lot more,” said Hull in a conversation with Sky Sports Golf. Former Commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan convened a dedicated pace-of-play committee, which laid the groundwork for this policy change. However, Charley Hull demands stricter action from the new LPGA commissioner, Craig Kessler.
She even shared some tips, “But I think in a general, I’ll probably be hated for saying this, but I’ve always thought cutting the fields down in normal events. So it’s like, I think it’s 65, maybe even doing 55, and then just going out with two balls on the weekend, like sometimes you can play in three and a half hours, and sometimes you can play in four and half hours.” said Hull. “But, that bit, quicker, would help speed up, but I don’t reckon they’ll do that. I’m just saying in an ideal world or like give them shot penalties, and if you’ve too many shot penalties, you are banned for the rest like 3 months of tour,” she continued.
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Hull’s frustration over the issue is not new, as instances have happened time and again. For instance, during The ANNIKA event in November 2024, Hull and Nelly Korda had to play the 18th hole in darkness. Both players had to grind through the last round without being able to see the hole clearly. Therefore, even Nelly Korda backs the new policy. “Yeah, for sure. The LPGA has already implemented some new rules this year for slow play, so I think that’s improved on our Tour a tremendous amount,” she said.
Hull is one of the quickest women golfers, but many others are not. In the end, she sometimes has to pay for the slow pace of the rounds. Therefore, she has repeatedly called for the LPGA to clamp down on the leniency towards slow play. After the event, Hull had expressed the same suggestions that she is talking about today, “Listen, like, if you get three bad timings, every time it’s a two-shot penalty. If you have three of them, you lose your tour card instantly. Go back to Q School.’ Because I’m sure that would hurry a lot of people up, and they won’t want to lose their tour card. That’d kind of kill the slow play, but they’d never do that.”
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Further, when asked how serious an issue it is, she also expressed how sorry she feels for the fans because of the slow pace, “Oh, it’s ridiculous. And I feel sorry for the fans. How slow it is out there. Because we’re out there for … was it five hours and 40 minutes yesterday? We play in a four-ball at home on a hard golf course, and we’re around in 3½ hours, 4 hours. So it is pretty crazy.”
Charley Hull may be the loudest in demanding ruthless penalties, but she is not the only one. Many other elite golfers have expressed concerns. Besides Hull and Korda, 41x LPGA winner Karrie Webb also admits that new penalties alone are not enough to address slow play.
With elite golfers becoming a part of the conversation, slow play is no longer just a nuisance. For the LPGA, the spotlight now rests on the new commissioner, who must devise ways to speed up play without compromising the game. The tour revamped the pace-of-play policy that was established in February 2025, prior to Kessler’s takeover. The new policy added fines and penalties based on the overtime a player took to take a shot.
Since then, the pace of play seems to have been in control, with fewer reports of it. However, can we deem it to be eradicated? Nelly Korda’s experience in the 2025 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship tells a different story.
Nelly Korda showed that the LPGA still needs to work on the pace of play
At the 2025 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, Korda found herself in the midst of a slow-play game. Her group’s round stretched close to six hours. “I think we played a two-ball in like six hours,” Korda said, expressing her frustration. “That’s just a little ridiculous, but what can you do? I just told myself to be patient.” It was not solely because of the players. The course setup and the conditions at Fields Ranch played a significant role.
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She doesn’t blame golfers usually. When asked about the topic during the PGA Frisco in June, she said, “You just kind of have to go with it. Everyone is going through it, everyone is dealing with it, and everyone is playing the same golf course.”
Her comments suggest that despite the policy changes, the LPGA hasn’t really found a reliable way to mitigate the issue. This shows why Charley Hull’s demand for stricter action makes sense. The LPGA’s new policy falls short of completely solving its most visible problem, and it is up to the new commissioner to enforce tougher standards.