‘Finally’: Nelly Korda’s Stance Clear While Colleagues Pushed Into Hot Water by Harsh New LPGA Policy
The LPGA Tour has been grappling with a crisis that threatens the very essence of golf as entertainment—the slow play epidemic. Tournament rounds routinely stretch beyond five-and-a-half hours, with three groups often backing up on a single hole. At the 2024 AIG Women’s Open, fans dubbed the event “barely watchable” as groups took over two hours just to complete six holes. The FM Championship’s first round was even suspended due to darkness, a direct consequence of the glacial pace that has become all too familiar on the Tour.
Enter the LPGA Tour’s most aggressive pace-of-play policy yet, where players now face stroke penalties for delays as short as six seconds. This unprecedented move marks a dramatic shift in professional golf’s battle against time, but will it be enough to save the entertainment value of the women’s game? Nelly Korda, thinks so.
You see, she has been voicing her frustration against slow play for a long time now. “Honestly, I despise slow play. It drives me up a freaking wall. Like, it’s just that I just can’t stand it; it’s probably my biggest pet peeve.” said Korda once. So, her validation does carry a weight.
“Finally, Yeah, I’m very excited about it,” exclaimed Nelly Korda at the LPGA player meeting as she revealed in the Founders Cup press conference. For the World No. 1, this moment marked a turning point in her long-standing battle against golf’s biggest entertainment killer. The Tour’s groundbreaking policy, effective March 27, 2025, introduces a three-tier penalty system that’s unprecedented in professional golf.
Players exceeding their time by 1-5 seconds will face fines, while 6-15 second delays result in a one-stroke penalty. The harshest punishment—a two-stroke penalty—awaits those who take 16 or more seconds over their allotted time.
