LPGA SILENTLY SHAKES the PGA TOUR – No Words, Just IMPACT

The LPGA is officially done with the slow-play nonsense. They dropped the hammer this week, adding a new wrinkle to their already excellent pace-of-play policy. Starting with the Ford Championship (March 27-30), if players drag their feet, they’re going to pay for it. Literally.

If you’ve ever dozed off watching a five-hour final round because some guy took three minutes to read a two-footer, this one’s for you.

LPGA Slow Play Rules:
1-5 seconds over your time? You’re getting fined.
6-15 seconds? One-stroke penalty.
16 seconds or more? Two-shot penalty.
Now they’ve added a new layer: if a player racks up 40 or more holes timed over the course of the season (outside of a few specific events), they get fined again. The LPGA isn’t just trying to scare players straight—they’re building a culture where pace matters. Because it should.

LPGA means business with new pace of play policy:
The LPGA means business with its new pace of play policy. Announced today that fines are coming for those players who have 40 or more timed holes for the remainder of the schedule. New policy goes into effect next week. Applies to the Epson Tour as well. pic.twitter.com/NnLMZNtPyR

— Meg Adkins (@megadkins_TFE) March 19, 2025
The players are actually on board. World No. 1 Nelly Korda basically stood at the podium and said the slow pace of play makes the game of golf and the LPGA Tour not entertaining. She’s not wrong. At its worst, slow golf sucks the life out of a tournament. Nobody wants to see a guy back off a shot three times and still chunk it. Fans want tempo, flow, and urgency. The LPGA is delivering it.

We’re still watching pre-shot routines that look like the final scene of “The King’s Speech.” Every week, there’s at least one group falling behind, turning a casual Sunday afternoon watch into an endurance test.

The PGA TOUR has had every chance to fix this. They’ve flirted with fines. They’ve mentioned “internal data.” They’ve tracked players who “fall out of position.” But here’s the problem: none of that actually matters unless you take away what golfers value most—strokes.

The LPGA gets it. The only way to force change is by messing with scorecards. You start slapping players with two-stroke penalties on national TV, you’ll see routines speed up real quick.

Look, we all love drama on the course. But the good kind. Clutch putts, wild approach shots, playoff tension. Not slow-motion nightmares where the featured group is still on hole 14 when the sun goes down.

So hats off to the LPGA. They saw a problem, did something about it, and now they’re holding the line. The product will be better for it.