Nelly Korda and Charley Hull both hit the headlines recently after calling out slow on the LPGA Tour.
During The Annika, which Korda won, the pair were forced to finish their third round in near darkness after playing for nearly five hours.
Korda called the speed of play ‘ridiculous’, and Hull pitched a radical idea to punish those who take too long on their shots.
Unfortunately, the pair’s recent comments appeared to have made little impact. Carlota Ciganda, a notoriously slow player, was timed taking a shot on the Ladies European Tour, and it sparked quite a reaction among golf fans.
Golf fans tear into Carlota Ciganda after footage emerges
Ciganda, who eventually won the Andalucia Costa Del Sol Open de Espana on Sunday, took over 90 seconds to hit an approach shot. For context, the 34-year-old’s playing partners took a matter of moments to play.
Online, fans haven’t held back in their criticism. “Carlota Ciganda: 9 to 12 hours seems reasonable [to complete a round],” this fan wrote on X.
Rick Golf added, “This video of Carlota Ciganda is making the rounds. Notorious slow player, she takes 1:20+ on every shot, double the legal time allowed, 40 seconds. I get that she’s wrong, but why do the tours allow it? Every golf tour ignores slow players. Why?”
“What is she doing the whole time she’s waiting for her turn,” Adam Becker wrote.
This fan, Matthew Terry, pitched a solution. “Add a stroke for every 10 seconds over 40, there is an obvious lack of incentive,” he wrote.
Another fan said: “OMG! I almost threw my phone across the room – HIT THE BALL ALREADY!”
Finally, Greg Mitchell said, “It’s an absolute joke that the tours allow constant slow play and don’t do anything about it. They need to have a shot clock with each group, and the first time they have a bad time, they get a warning and the following times a 2-stroke penalty. That will resolve the issue immediately.”
LPGA Tour must act after Carlota Ciganda slow play footage emerges
Some comments attempted to defend Ciganda, suggesting the plane flying overhead was a good reason to back off from the ball.
However, this isn’t her first offence. Ciganda is regularly asked to speed up her play, and, like all slow players, she looks for an excuse not to hit.
If Korda or Hull were over the ball, they would’ve hit regardless of the noise overhead. It’s time the LPGA Tour started cracking down on players who aren’t proactive.
If Ciganda doesn’t want to make the headlines going forward, she must start working out her numbers and pre-shot routine while her playing partners are hitting. Good Initiative is currently absent from her game.
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