'Finally' - Nelly Korda 'Excited' By LPGA Tour's New Slow Play Crackdown

The LPGA Tour announced a number of new changes to its pace of play policy this week in the hopes to get rounds played faster.

New measures included fines to players who take 1-5 seconds over their allotted time, a one-shot penalty for 6-15 seconds over time and a two-shot penalty for 16 seconds or more over time.

World No.1 Nelly Korda, who is known as a fast player, has been critical of pace of play in recent months, stating that it is a "pretty big issue."

“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. I think that it really, really needs to change," she said in November.

“Players just need to be penalized. Rules officials need to watch from the first group.

“I think people just need to be ready faster. People start their process a little too late and they stand over it too long. Again, I think we need more people on the ground to monitor pace of play. I don't think we have enough people to monitor it.”

Charley Hull was also very opposed to slow play late last year, with the Englishwoman proposing a 'ruthless' idea to cut players' tour cards for multiple slow play breaches.

Many would have thought that Korda would have been very happy by the LPGA's latest changes to the policy, and that's exactly how she's feeling.

The Floridian, who is teeing it up in her hometown of Bradenton this week in the Founders Cup, says she is "very excited" about the new pace of play crackdown.

"Finally," she said. "Yeah, I'm very excited about it. I think that's one of the things that I've just noticed over my time on Tour, is that we used to go from five hours, under five hours, to now you it's just five and a half, typically, our rounds.

"So I think that implementing harsher rules is going to be good for the game of golf. They were saying at the meeting, at the end of the day we're a form of entertainment. If we're taking really long out there, I mean, that's not entertaining."

The news was announced in a meeting on-site this week on Tuesday evening, with Korda explaining that her fellow players reacted to the news in a positive manner.

"I would say it was pretty positive around, yeah. I think it was more of people were asking how the rules officials time exactly. Like what if a rules official times - they don't see the ball still moving on the green and they start the timer, but it's not necessarily you're time to hit because the other person - theoretically the ball is still moving, right, so your time shouldn't start yet.

"There were questions about that. I think over time that's going to be ironed out, and it's going to be better for everyone that the rounds are going to be moving a little faster."

Korda's fellow multiple-Major winner Minjee Lee was one of those players in the room in Florida, and she is another big name in support of the LPGA Tour's new policy.

"I think it's great. I would probably say that something had to be done at some point," Lee said.

"It's 2025 and we are just implementing a little bit harsher rules to start with, and it's going to be a great policy.

"Then hopefully we can go from strength to strength and get a little bit more and more quicker."

The LPGA Tour is currently in a transition period following commissioner Mollie Macoux Samaan resigning in December. Liz Moore, the LPGA's chief legal and technology officer, is currently serving as interim commissioner until a new commissioner is found.

It seems like her first major move has gone down well with the players.